The Aspiring Pilot

RIP Amanda Franklin - passed 5/27 after March Air Show crash

This is a tough one for the aviation community. I'll just let my article do the speaking: 

 

Kyle Franklin, of Franklin's Flying Circus and Airshow, announced last night that his wife and team partner, Amanda, passed away at 10:10 pm Friday night. Amanda had been hospitalized at the Brooke Army Medical Center since the March 12th accident where the airplane she was wing-walking crashed and caught fire after an engine failure. Amanda suffered third degree burns to over 70% of her body along with multiple bone fractures. Kyle was also hospitalized and released March 28th to receive outpatient care and still faces a long rehabilitation. They have been performing their wing-walking act since the summer of 2009.

Through the difficult time, Kyle kept fans and friends updated with daily notes on the team's Facebook Page. On May 26th, Kyle made a post about having just made the difficult decision to remove Amanda from life-support and provide 'comfort care.' Doctor's had informed Kyle and the family that they did not believe that Amanda would survive the two weeks until her next skin graft surgery. Amanda was suffering from multiple infections of her burn injuries which were not responding to the antibiotic treatment, near complete failure of her kidneys and her liver was beginning to fail as well. 

In the May 26th note, Kyle stated, 'I made the hardest decision of my life today and put her on Comfort Care. They have taken her off most everything with the exception of the ventilator, sedation meds and pain meds. They placed her in a more comfortable position and are doing everything to make her as comfortable as possible... Amanda my love, I love you with all my heart, soul and everything I am. Our life together here was supposed to be seventy years not seven, but I look forward to seeing you in my dreams every night my love.'

On May 27th, Kyle posted the update following update to the team's fans, 'It is with a broken heart that I tell you that my beautiful girl Amanda passed away at 10:10 central time this evening. Beside her was her adoring husband Kyle, her mother Jeanie, her brother Matt, her sister-in-law Michelle and her devoted mother-in-law Audean.'

Continue reading for more as well as for Fundraisers to help Kyle with the mounting HUGE medical expenses on Examiner.com Amanda Franklin succumbs to injuries suffered in March air show crash - National General Aviation | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/general-aviation-in-national/amanda-franklin-succumbs-to-injuries-suffered-march-air-show-crash#ixzz1Nfz4GPZX

 

Blue Angels relieve Cmdr. Koss of his command of the team.

To go along with my prior post, and my new Article in Chicago General Aviation Examiner, the Blue Angels will now be appearing at Rockford's 2011 Airfest.  The show will still be great; however. I have at least one more article coming with another exciting addition to the show. With 60+ aircraft on static display and over a dozen acts scheduled to perform, it's still worth a visit! 

Blue Angel's press release:

Blue Angels C.O. Relieved 

Chief of Naval Air Training, Rear Adm. Bill Sizemore, relieved Cmdr. Dave Koss, Commanding Officer of the Naval Flight Demonstration Squadron Friday, May 27, at his request following a lower-than-normal maneuver during the team’s last performance at the Lynchburg Regional Air Show May 22. 

“With deep personal regret I shared with my command today that I will be voluntarily leaving the greatest flight demonstration team. I performed a maneuver that had an unacceptably low minimum altitude,” said Koss. “This maneuver, combined with other instances of not meeting the airborne standard that makes the Blue Angels the exceptional organization that it is, led to my decision to step down. I have the utmost respect for the Sailors and Marines of the Blue Angels organization and all that they embody. The reason this team is so successful, brings thrills to millions of fans across America, and represents the U.S. Navy so superbly is because of the absolute commitment to safety and perfection by every member of the team. I am honored to have been a part of this organization and I look forward to watching its success in the future.” 

Koss will be replaced by Capt. Greg McWherter, who was the previous Blue Angels’ Commanding Officer, for the duration of the season. 

This move requires the cancellation of the Blue Angels’ scheduled performances at the Rockford Airfest June 4-5 and the Evansville Freedom Festival Air Show June 11-12. The Blue Angels will remain in Pensacola for additional training and air show demonstration practice. Any potential changes to the team's future schedule will be announced at a later date. 

The Blue Angels regret any inconvenience and look forward to continuing to represent the Navy and Marine Corps service members serving around the world. 

-CNAF- 

 

Blue Angels appearance at Rockford Airfest in danger now...

Just moment's ago, I wrote an article in the Chicago General Aviation column of Examiner.com on the Blue Angels 'safety stand-down.' It appears that during the Lynchburg Air Show, the diamond formation descended below the hard deck upon exiting from a maneuver.  The show was stopped at that point and the Blue Angels returned back to the airport and landed. There was no threat to the safety of the audience; however, the hard deck is established to ensure that enough altitude remains at the end of each maneuver to ensure the safety of the crews, audience and equipment. 

The team returned to Pensacola to go through training to re-establish their level of skill and ensure that the error will not be repeated. This led to the cancellation of US Naval Academy performance on May 24th and 25th. It now appears that other events are being cancelled. 

A video of the problem formation, hard deck violation is on YouTube and I've embedded it here. The issue occurs at the very end of the video and you can see that they level off from the loop probably around 50' AGL or less.  EDIT - watching the video, it appears they also had an error on the first day since they never did do the barrel roll break at the bottom of the loop, they stayed in formation and cut off the smoke.  The next day, the broke the hard deck as seen in the second half of the video. 

 

The Blue Angel's have now announced that the USNA Graduation Flyover and the MillVille air show are both canceled as well. This leave Rockford's Airfest as the next scheduled airshow for the Blue Angel's. As of right now, no determination has been made on Airfest. Let's hope they get their level of safety back where it should be in the next few days as they usually head out for airshows a few days prior for practice routines at the actual locations. 

The Blue Angels cancelled their May 24th and 25th practices and shows at the US Naval Academy (USNA) at Annapolis, Md. The reason for the cancellation was that the Blue Angels have announced a safety stand-down as a result of an error that occurred during the Lynchburg Air Show, in Lynchburg, Va., May 22nd. During one of the formation flights, the main 'diamond' formation of 4 aircraft descended below the established hard deck. The hard deck is the minimum altitude established for the safety of the spectators and Blue Angels. It was not stated how far they deviated below the minimum altitude, but the performance was cut short and all the aircraft landed safely. 

Continue reading on Examiner.com Blue Angels announce show cancellations, no decision on Rockford Airfest - Chicago General Aviation | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/general-aviation-in-chicago/blue-angel-s-announce-show-cancellations-no-decision-on-rockford-airfest#ixzz1NT3t9MvA

 

FAA electronic NOTAM system will be down this weekend

If you plan on doing any flying this weekend, and I expect plenty will be given it's Memorial Day weekend, this is a very important notification! Please read and ensure you are familiar with the times of the outage and the backup methods of obtaining NOTAMs. 

(excerpt from my General Aviation column at Examiner.com)

The FAA announced today that a planned outage will make Notices to Airman (NOTAM's) unavailable for a 4.5 hour period over memorial day weekend. The outage is planned to last from 0600Z to 1030Z. The outage will affect the ability of pilot's planning flights over that period to obtain NOTAM's electronically. 

The FAA is in the process of moving the US NOTAM System from Herndon, Va, to its new location in Oklahoma City, Ok. The servers that handle the electronic NOTAM's will be taken offline while the data is moved to new servers at the new location. The FAA states the move is part of its efforts to relocate the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) to a new location in Warrenton, Va. 

Continue reading on Examiner.com: FAA announces planned NOTAM outage May 28, 2011 - National General Aviation | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/general-aviation-in-national/faa-announces-planned-notam-outage-may-28-2011#ixzz1NHWL5JIG

 

National Air and Space Museum's Become a Pilot Family Day and Aviation Display

The 7th annual 'Become a Pilot' Family Day and Aviation Display will be held June 18th at the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I unfortunately will NOT be attending due to prior commitments, but would have absolutely loved to be in attendance. This year sounds like it may be one of the best yet! I wrote an article off their press release in my Examiner column (except below, with link to full article at the end) and I encourage you to read it. The plans for this year sound very exciting. 

There will be a modest Navy presence in honor of the Centennial of Naval Aviation celebrations as well as the dedication of a new aircraft to the Air and Space Museum collection during the day. The museum is also holding a Tweetup for 25 lucky people who are follower's of their Twitter account and I will write an article focusing on the tweetup itself shortly. From the sounds of it, it's a MUST for any aviation geek! 

It's a good few weeks for aviation fans trying to get others interested in flying, betweenInternational Learn to Fly day this week (see prior posts on my blog) to the Become a Pilot day, there's no excuse not to get introduced to the world of flight. 

Excerpt from my General Aviation Examiner Column:

The Smithshonian's National Air and Space Museum will be hosting it's annual 'Become aPilot' day June 18th this year. The event will be held at the Museum's Steven F. Udvar-HazyCenter in Chantilly, Va., near Washington Dulles International Airport. (Google Map of the Center) 

The 2011 'Become and Pilot' day is the museum's seventh event of it's kind and continued growing the event to what should be one of the best events yet. There are 50 airplanes scheduled for static display, including a mix of vintage, recreational, military and home-built aircraft. The airplanes will be flown in to Dulles International Airport (KIAD) and taxied into position outside the center's Boeing Aviation Hanger. There, visitors will be able to examine the aircraft and possibly even sit behind the controls. The owners and pilots of each aircraftwill be present to answer any questions and to discuss their airplanes with visitors. The museum has a stock pictures of a few of the types of aircraft that will be present on theevent's Aircraft Display page.

The military will have a modest presence as well, with static displays of the F/A-18 Super Hornet, E-2C Hawkeye and the MH-60S Knighthawk and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters. Also slated for a performance are the Navy's internationally renowned Navy Ceremonial Drill Team and the Navy Jazz Ensemble. 

Continue reading on Examiner.com: National Air and Space Museum announces 2011 Become a Pilot Day events - National General Aviation | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/general-aviation-in-national/national-air-and-space-museum-announces-2011-become-a-pilot-day-events#ixzz1Mv4BxJkh

 

Close call at O'Hare, media hops on fact it occurred shortly after Air Force Two arrival

Again, there was another ATC error on Monday (this time at KORD, O'Hare), and even though it DIDN'T involve Air Force Two, the mainstream media had to include it in the story. Air Force Two's mention seems almost to add sensationalism, as some news organizations then reference the close call with Michelle Obama's plane a few weeks back. 

In this instance, Air Force Two wasn't part of the reason for the close call; however, the increased traffic congestion as a result led to a much higher workload and may have led to the lapse.  Just prior to the incident, traffic began to back up as departures and arrivals were held during the landing of Air Force Two. Then, controllers had to deal with the helicopters hovering over, then escorting the vice-president's motorcade to downtown, off the departure paths for the East/West runways. 

The incident had an ExpressJet flight departing 32L with a Skywest flight cleared for landing on 9R. (View .pdf of the ORD Airport Diagram here.) You can see that the approach end 9R is just east of the midpoint of 32L.  So a regional jet departing on 32L will lift off across the path of any incoming aircraft into 9R, which is what happened in this instance.

The controller handling the arrival saw the conflict as an alert sounded notifying them of the loss of separation. That controller proceeded to immediately order the Skywest flight to go-around. Some news reports have stated the distance was less than 300' vertical and 200' horizontal between the two aircraft. 

You can't hear the go-around call, but you can hear one controller notify the secret service helicopter ('Hunstman 1') of the plane going on a missed approach and then clearing the departing Skywest jet to 4,000', (Skywest 6958). Audio courtest of LiveATC.net. 

KORD-Twr-May-16-2011-1430Z_edit

The departing ExpressJet flight is believed to have delayed it's rotation off the runway due to seeing the approaching aircraft about to cross the runway which possibly helped to avoid a collision as well.  

According to reports, a few choice words were issued by the departing pilot, and the controller apologized for the error.  The Skywest flight made a second approach without incident after being vectored back around for a landing. 

Also, reports are the the controller in error was also just recently certified, with some reports saying as recently as 2 weeks ago. There will obviously be discussions on if such a new controller should have been at the scope during such a hectic, busy, time as a VIP arrival at a peak traffic period for ORD. 

Finally, some people have called for the FAA to increase the required separation between landing aircraft on 9R, when 32L is in use for departures , to 10 miles, to allow ATC more time to get planes spaced for landings and takeoff and avoid close calls such as this. So far, nothing has come of this, but we'll have to wait and see how the new and additional runways play into the mix once the O'Hare modernization program is complete in a few years. 

Anyway, just another close call, another ATC PR issue in the public eye and another story sensationalized further by the media by bringing Air Force Two, a plane not involved in the incident, into the story.  Further proof as well of the need for the new runway's and configuration at O'Hare to limit the number of operations that cross as they do in these instances. 

Air Force One missed approach draws surprising media attention

Looks like Air Force One executed a missed approach during it's instrument approach into Bradley International Airport (KBDL), Windsor Locks, CT.  

Most pilots blew off the news; however, pretty soon a few news sites, from ABC News (video of second landing attempt), to local papers like the Chicago Tribune, picked up on the story and took a routine occurrence in aviation and made it into a breaking news story. I blame the recent spat of 'bad' press coming from the aviation community during the ATC sleeping dramas, but as seen in the storys, the reporters seeking any kind of juicy news were left disappointed. 

FAA comments and media reports are that Air Force One went around during an instrument approach due to the weather being below minimums for a landing. Per LiveATC recordings and a transcript at CBS news, this appears to be the case as well. 

ATC: Air Force One you're three miles from honey turn right heading zero four zero...

ATC: Air Force One your capture ok?

AF1: Air Force One we're established

ATC: Air Force One contact Bradley tower...

AF1: tower Air Force One's executing missed approach

ATC: Air Force One roger maintain three thousand...

ATC (?) TO ANOTHER AIRCRAFT: VIP just missed approach so he's gonna come back for another try... 

 I like the comment later about the VIP going missed! not sure if that's ATC saying that or another pilot to someone another on the frequency.   

The weather at the time was fluctuation with a cloud deck right around minimums to about 700' above minimums. It simply appears that on the first attempt, the clouds just prevented the pilot from seeing the runway at the decision height and they did the right thing by executing a go-around. For non-pilots, ATC just had them fly a pre-designated missed-approach profile and then just vectored them back in for a second attempt, during which they were able to complete the instrument approach and land successfully. 

So after all this 'drama' in the national media, it was simply a non-event. Take any airport, where there are low clouds and limited visibility and you will here multiple go-arounds. Just about every pilot has done one (even if just in training!). Anyway, media saw something that they didn't fully understand and ran with the story, trying to break the story first. 

Please feel free to comment on the story, but political attacks will be removed. 

Awesome Aviation Geek Groupon, 51% off EAA Airventure Museum!

I'll be hopping in on this deal. Hopefully, along with a visit to 2011 Airventure, I can make two trips out there with the family.  I'll even aim at making the groupon purchased trip via airplane as a daytrip with the kids! 

(excerpt from my Chicago General Aviation Examiner column (see full article for details on the museumas well)) 

Are you interested in aviation and looking for a quick day-trip or mini vacation within a few hours drive of Chicago? Groupon today is featuring an $18 discount off admission for two people to the EAA AirventureMuseum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. (KOSH) The Groupon also includes two simulator ride passes as well. This comes to a discount of 51% as normal admission, plus two simulator rides, comes to $37.  (Don't have a groupon account? Sign up HERE.) In addition, admission is also included for EAA's Pioneer Airport. 

The Groupon needed 15 deals bought to become active, and this was easily reached this morning. Currently, 83 of these groupons have been purchased and there is just over 32 hours of time remaining before this opportunity expires.  (Offer expires midnight central time tomorrow, May 17th.) 

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Groupon offering 51% discount for EAA Airventure Museum - Chicago General Aviation | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/general-aviation-in-chicago/groupon-offering-51-discount-for-eaa-airventure-museum#ixzz1MYDTtt5K

 

May 21st - Int'l Learn to Fly Day events at Dupage Airport (KDPA)

I'm planning on being there, to cover the event and participate! This is a great event held nationwide and the second year since it's inception. Hoepfully interest continues and it returns for a third year. I'm going to assume that the national numbers of attendees will easily surpass last years count.  See you there?! 

(excerpt from my Chicago General Aviation Examiner.com article)

EAA's International Learn to Fly Day is coming to the Chicago area with 13 event's planned within 100 miles of the city. On May 21st, aviation industries, airports and flight instructors will be holding the event to introduce interested adults and kids to the world of general aviation and provide insight into learning to fly. Some locations will have the option for participants to take introductory flights. The introductory flights will be based off the Young Eagles flights offered to kids, aged 8 to 17, but will also include adults as well. 

Dupage Airport (KDPA) will have the event from 10 AM to 4 PM at the 'big red hanger' sponsored by Travel Express Aviation (TEA). The hanger is located at 3N060 Powis Road, West Chicago. Food will be provided throughout the event as well as events for the kids and adults. TEA will provide introductory flights for people considering learning to fly. 

Continue reading on Examiner.com: International Learn to Fly Day event planned for Dupage Airport - Chicago General Aviation | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/general-aviation-in-chicago/international-learn-to-fly-day-event-planned-for-dupage-airport#ixzz1M4IK2pf6

 

2011 International Learn to Fly Day coming May 21st

(crosspost from my General Aviation Examiner.com column)

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) released news that there are currently over 130 events planned for International Learn to Fly Day (ILTFD) which falls on Saturday, May 21st this year. In 2010, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution naming the third Saturday in May as International Learn to Fly day. Per the EAA, the House wanted to recognize the contributions of flight instructors, flight schools, aviation groups, and industry in promoting and teaching the nation’s next generation of pilots. The EAA hopes the events will offer aspiring pilots an opportunity to experience the fun and freedom that is offered by learning to fly. 

According to the EAA, kids that have taken free introductory flights through the EAA Young Eagle program are five times as likely to become pilots. The introductory flight offers the ability to not only experience flight in a general aviation airplane, but to also see that obtaining a pilot license is an achievable goal. Over 7% of the current US pilot population under the age of 35 participated in the Young Eagles program. 

This will be the second annual ILTFD, with the inaugural event held last year. EAA statistics show that over 40,000 people attended the multiple events last year held across the country and a much larger crowd is expected this year. To locate a scheduled event near you, you can go to the International Learn to Fly Day website. Events are still being added so be sure to check back as the day approaches for new events that may be closer to you. 

Events can also still be scheduled and added to the official website. The EAA is encouraging other airports, organizations, aviation business and pilots to help create a local event. Event planners along with local EAA chapters can offer introductory flights, seminars and airport open houses. To submit your local event, visit the International Learn To Fly Day website as well.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: International Learn to Fly Day events planned nationwide - National General Aviation | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/general-aviation-in-national/international-learn-to-fly-day-events-planned-nationwide#ixzz1Lt7QCoti