AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2022 - 16

LETTERS
lifting this concern up to us. Disney is not a good
location to make lifestyle changes, but those have
been implemented upon my return.
Lee Myers / AOPA 976452
Charlotte, North Carolina
Be Prepared
I read Barry Schiff's " Proficient Pilot: Be
Prepared " (October 2022 AOPA Pilot) with a
mix of empathy, amusement, and pain. Despite
40-plus years of soaring, I've never gotten done
my Silver Duration. Three-hour flights usually
end with a quick trip behind the hangar. Even
with adequate prep of an external catheter and
hospital bag, the combination of a four-point
belt, parachute straps, and being of a certain
age seems to conspire to restrict my abilities.
Sufficient practice in the reclined seat of my car,
belts fastened, enables the occasional exception.
Fortunately, my soaring philosophy dovetails
with that famous line from Treasure of the Sierra
Madre: " We don't need no stinkin' badges. "
Tom Witkin / AOPA 597133
Sudbury, Massachusetts
I, too, laughed uncontrollably at Barry Schiff's
" Be Prepared, " but in a much more cathartic manner
than his celebratory pilot pals after his flight.
While I haven't yet had the same experience,
I was on a commercial flight as a passenger from
Portland, Oregon to Salt Lake City-a connection
on the way back home to Cincinnati-a few
years ago with some colleagues, and during a
long approach into the airport, I began sensing
that certain physiological necessity, which
I expected not to be a problem as we were pretty
low on what I assumed was our final approach.
Fast forward 15 minutes, and we're still
cruising along at a fairly low altitude with panic
beginning to set in. Nearly bursting and coming
to the realization that I would not be able to
hold back the flood gates while everyone slowly
shuffled off after finally getting on the ground
and taxiing to the gate, I quickly unbuckled and
sprinted to the lavatory at the back of the plane,
for which I received much ribbing from my colleagues
afterward.
James Melone / AOPA 11379773
Blue Ash, Ohio
Anatomy of a Slip
I enjoyed Catherine Cavagnaro's article on slips
( " Anatomy of a Slip, " October 2022 AOPA Pilot).
Alas, it raised a question or three that I should be
able to answer but haven't yet figured out how.
16
AOPA PILOT / December 2022
Senior Director of Photography Chris Rose may look happy in this
photo of him standing on a truckload of donations for the Navajo Nation
Christmas Airlift (see " Giving Back: Christmas in the Nation, " p. 58) held
November 2021 in Gallup, New Mexico, but he wasn't smiling for a part
of the trip. " When we can't fly GA to a story, we have to rely on my driving
and navigating skills, " says Senior Features Editor Julie Summers Walker.
The pair had several stories in the Midwest last year, and Walker isn't great
at navigation-nor is Rose who once drove north with his wife and children
only to realize an hour later that they had taken a wrong turn and ended
up back home. " I have to remind him of that story when I do things like
estimate a 30-minute drive that is actually a three-hour one, " says Walker
of the drive on Route 66 from Albuquerque to Gallup. " For this Maryland
native, the West is truly a big country, and it's why we always wish we
could fly GA. " Three hours on a two-lane highway in the dark, out and
back-and you thought this job was glamorous.
Long ago I flew gliders from a confined field in an
area of uneven topography. On some days it was
common to carry a bit of excess speed in the pattern
as a hedge against wind shear. The technique
was to slip toward a landing but, approaching
the roundout/flare, reduce the bank angle to
zero while holding slip inputs. This (as I recall)
resulted in briefly flying sideways just above the
grass dissipating a bit of speed before aligning the
longitudinal axis with the track and sitting down.
Was that final portion of the approach a skid
or a slip? I am inclined to think it was a skid
because of the sideways motion. But slip control
inputs were being used so maybe it was still a slip.
Paul Burgette / AOPA 268216
Dallas, Texas
It all depends how you define a skid. I tend to
define a skid as a maneuver in which you're giving
too much rudder with respect to your bank
angle so that would mean, wings level, any rudder
in excess of that which makes sense for coordinated
flight would count as a skid.
I was taught the same
maneuver-fishtailing-as
a way to lose excess energy
before touching down in a confined
area. When I'm finished
with an aerobatic routine,
I fishtail right before I land
as an extra bit of flash. But,
I do consider it a skid that
deserves appropriate precautions
(maintaining a low angle
of attack) for safety.
I hope this helps.
Catherine Cavagnaro
We welcome your comments!
Send letters to
Editor, AOPA Pilot, 421
Aviation Way, Frederick,
Maryland 21701 or pilot@
aopa.org. Letters may be
edited for length and style.
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2022

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