The weather briefing we had reviewed a half hour earlier promised a 20-knot headwind that would require two fuel stops on the 130-mile trip from our home airport in Kennett, Missouri (KTKX), to Little Rock Air Force Base (KLRF) in Arkansas. The windsock promised that getting the little yellow bird into the air would be a white-knuckle affair. We knew the flight would be anything but smooth.

The J-4 differs from its more recognizable cousin, the J-3, in that it features side-by-side seating instead of the tandem arrangement more commonly found in tailwheel aircraft from the prewar and postwar era. It went through several variations between 1938 and 1942 before the attack on Pearl Harbor brought to an end any future iteration. The J-4’s cockpit is wider than the more common J-3, and the second generation brought about the replacement of the open cowl with exposed exhaust ports with a fully enclosed cowl.

I watched the stick flutter to and fro in sync with the rudder pedals as Wilkins fought to maintain the centerline, all the while pushing in the throttle. The little plane leapt into the air almost immediately as the wind seemingly swirled from every direction along the 5,000-foot runway. Wilkins guided the craft along the invisible roller coaster, working to keep the wings level while maintaining a crab as the Cub climbed the first 500 feet. Once there, he put us in a slight right turn toward our first fuel stop 60 miles ahead, continuously fighting the stick as the gusting left crosswind did its best to push us off course. 

Twenty minutes into the flight, he called, “Your plane,” and I gripped the stick, doing my best to maintain 2,500 feet, where we had found just a slight respite. The sun had already reached its apex, creating invisible waves of air as the flat farmland of southeast Missouri gave way to the forested hills of northeast Arkansas. We were delivering the J-4 to Little Rock, where it would be on static display throughout the weekend at Thunder Over the Rock, an airshow that had been dormant since the COVID-19 pandemic three years prior.

In its early life during World War II, NC32775 had served as an industrial courier with the Civil Air Patrol at Reading Courier Station in Pennsylvania and was owned by Frances Nolde, who would go on to become station commander and one of the first female colonels in CAP. Nolde, the wife of wealthy hosiery manufacturer Hans Nolde, was fascinated with flying and set out to earn her certificate with her husband’s encouragement. She was completely seduced by aviation, and when the U.S. entered WWII, Nolde joined the CAP, ferrying cargo and personnel around the country. Efforts like this freed male pilots for combat missions, and her dedication led to her appointment as commander of Reading Station. After the war, she remained active with the group and was promoted to the rank of colonel, having logged some 4,500 hours of flying for CAP.

It was because of this CAP history that the plane we were now flying had been invited to participate in the airshow where it would share ramp space with more modern glass panel Cessna 172s and 182s operated by the Air Force’s civilian auxiliary. Wilkins, a captain in the Civil Air Patrol, had shared photos and history of NC32775 with Lieutenant Colonel Marchelle Jones, who immediately began making preparations for the J-4’s appearance at the upcoming event.

The discovery of the aircraft’s pedigree almost did not happen. The J-4, also known as a Cub Coupe, had been dropped off in Kennett for annual in 2008 by its then-owner and ended up becoming a permanent resident when Hurricane Ike stretched inland all the way to the Missouri Bootheel, lifting it from the ground and depositing it on top of the FBO’s maintenance hangar. Airport manager Sam Jewell agreed to purchase the damaged plane and set about fully restoring it. Both wing’s spars had been damaged, requiring them to be stripped down to the skeleton for repair. Fabric on the fuselage also had to be replaced. (In more recent years, the original 65 hp engine had been replaced by a Continental 85 hp engine with Stroker conversion that provides 100 hp, and an electrical system had been added to eliminate the need to hand-prop.) 

By the time it was ready for the paint shop, its previous CAP lineage had been discovered, and the CAP livery was affixed to the fabric body, but little else was known about its service in WWII. That is, until Colonel Frank Blazich, former CAP national historian, discovered it was the same aircraft flown by Nolde. In his book, An Honorable Place in American Airpower, Blazich chronicles the legacy of the Civil Air Patrol and how the use of civilian aircraft in the war effort was the first step in the organization becoming a vital component of the country’s air power. 

Arranging for the delivery of civilian aircraft to a military airbase takes considerable time, but that would not stop Jones, who cut through the layers of red tape with the efficiency of someone familiar with the inner mechanisms of bureaucracy. Further complicating matters was the fact that the plane would be delivered by civilian pilots. Wilkins’ service with CAP proved valuable in that he would not have to provide anything other than his credentials. His copilot (me) had to be properly cleared before the Air Force granted permission for a nonmilitary pilot to land at a military installation.

Nearly an hour and a half after takeoff, having traveled only 60 nm, I turned the controls back over to Wilkins as we plodded through the prelanding checklist for our first fuel stop in Newport, Arkansas (M19). The plane has no internal radio, so cockpit and external communications were running through a portable intercom plugged into a portable radio. The single push-to-talk button had been mounted onto my control stick so that I could handle communications while Wilkins focused on landing the tailwheel plane in the expected gusty crosswinds.

Hearing no other traffic in the area, Wilkins opted for a relatively straight-in approach to Runway 22, once again dancing on the rudder pedals and wrestling the ailerons as the gusty winds threatened to shove us off the pavement. Knowing that even a favorable forecast could change quickly, Wilkins had spent several weeks preparing for the worst, practicing takeoffs and landings at our home airport on days when most pilots in more modern aircraft chose to stay on the ground. The landing was uneventful, and we were soon taking on fuel for the second leg of the journey.

I announced our departure intentions, receiving well wishes from the airport attendant who had come out to admire the plane, and Wilkins once again pointed us down the runway and into the blue sky. Such would be our routine for the next three hours. Wilkins would handle takeoff and landing duties, and I would, thankfully, only handle cruise. 

The remainder of our flight would follow U.S. Highway 67, a four-lane divided route boasting a 75 mph speed limit. We joked as we watched the traffic below zoom past us, wondering whether we might actually be moving backward. With an average cruise speed of 70 mph while sipping 5 gph, the Cub was barely making 50 across the ground as it struggled against the headwind. Due to our limited speed and the fact that we had an assigned 15-minute window in which to land at the Air Force base, we made plans to make one final fuel stop at Searcy, Arkansas (KSRC), which was only 30 miles from the airbase.

Once again, Wilkins mastered the landing, ballooning once before settling down on Runway 19 and taxiing to the fuel pumps. We took a much-needed 20-minute rest and then briefed the final leg. Our plan was to fly to the eastern edge of the restricted airspace surrounding the airshow center and hold until contacted by the tower. Knowing a B-52 was scheduled to land behind us, we were abundantly aware of the need to precisely time our arrival.

As the sun began its descent, we began the final leg of what would end up being a four-hour trek. The afternoon turbulence had subsided a bit, making it easier to maintain a holding pattern over the town of Cabot, located 6 miles from the approach end of Runway 25. We notified the tower of our location, mainly for the benefit of the two F-35s practicing maneuvers nearby, conscious of the fact that we would never be able to avoid them—and that they would never see us—if they did come our way. Without a transponder, we were hiding in plain sight, all other aircraft oblivious to our presence, a sobering fact that became all too apparent when we noticed the KC-135 passing 3 miles in front of us as we circled counterclockwise around the town.

Just before our appointed entry time, a privately owned performance jet somehow missed the approach to the 12,000-foot-long runway and then declared a low-fuel emergency. We were asked to hold our position a few more minutes before finally being cleared to begin our approach after the jet made a successful landing on the second attempt. Not knowing the B-52 had arrived ahead of schedule, the four minutes that passed during the 5-mile final seemed like an hour, and when the mains touched down just inside the threshold, we both let out a sigh of relief. It was only after exiting the runway that we noticed the B-52 ahead of us awaiting its own taxi instructions.

Finally, after being marshaled to parking and completing the shutdown checklist, we exited the aircraft for the last time that day with big smiles and a high-five, euphorically congratulating each other on completing the exhausting mission.

Throughout the weekend, the little canary-yellow airplane with a wooden propeller proudly posed for photos with old and young admirers alike, her much younger and far more advanced siblings in the background. Little girls, especially, were enamored with the aircraft after hearing Jones tell stories and show photos of the woman pilot who flew it in WWII. 

The monstrous cargo planes and nimble fighter jets soaring overhead could no doubt travel faster, but only the little Cub could offer a journey back in time.  

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on Plane & Pilot.

The post When Flying a ‘Little Yellow Bird’ Became a White-Knuckle Affair appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Bolinger, a pilot, aircraft owner, and aviation enthusiast at heart, brings more than 30 years of experience in developing a voice for leading aviation brands, including Cirrus Aircraft, Gulfstream Aerospace, Civil Air Patrol, and other aviation/aerospace brands through CAP. 

During his time at Gulfstream, one of Bolinger’s many responsibilities included  leading content development for Nonstop magazine, its premium global aviation lifestyle publication. In his most recent role with CAP, he executed a complete rebranding of the 80-year-old organization, helped grow the pilot population through a recruitment strategy, and led the redesign and content strategy of its in-house publication, Volunteer magazine.

“Randy’s relationship with FLYING is a long and prosperous one,” said Lisa deFrees, Firecrown’s aviation group lead “We have worked with him in all his previous roles and partnered with him on past events. We are excited to bring this full circle and put his creative genius and competitive drive directly to work for FLYING’s content strategy.  His diverse background makes him uniquely qualified to lead FLYING into the future and will undoubtedly contribute to the success of our family of aviation media titles.” 

“I’ve been fortunate to turn a lifelong fascination for flight into a dynamic career, and FLYING has been a significant part of that journey every step of the way,” said Bolinger. “Working for powerful world-class brands fuels my passion, and in the realm of aviation journalism, there is no more powerful, prestigious, or familiar brand than FLYING, and I’m thrilled to be part of it.” 

The post ‘FLYING’ Announces Hiring of New Editorial Director appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The new additions, which were handed over at Textron Aviation’s location in Independence, Kansas, included four new Cessna Skyhawks, one Cessna Skylane, and one Cessna Turbo Stationair HD. The aircraft join a fleet of 540 Cessnas currently owned and operated by CAP.  The organization also has a contract for an additional 14 172S Skyhawks and one 182T Skylane, which it awarded to Textron in September.

“Civil Air Patrol is thrilled to welcome these new Cessna aircraft to the world’s largest fleet of single-engine piston aircraft,” said CAP national commander and CEO Major General Edward D. Phelka. “CAP is proud to continue to partner with Textron Aviation as we utilize their outstanding products in executing complex and varied missions for America.”

• READ MORE: Civil Air Patrol Responds to Wildfires on Maui

Founded on December 1, 1941, as the official civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, CAP now counts its membership at more than 60,000 volunteers organized into 1,414 squadrons across the U.S. According to its annual report, the organization flew more than 95,000 hours and is credited with saving 151 lives last year. CAP’s missions include joint training and other military operations, assisting federal, state, and local agencies, search and rescue, disaster response, and emergency services.

“From search and rescue to disaster relief and homeland security, the missions CAP undertakes daily are as broad as their footprint across the U.S.,” said Bob Gibbs, Textron Aviation’s vice president for special missions sales. “We are honored that Cessna aircraft continue to be the organization’s platform of choice for these crucial operations.”

The post Civil Air Patrol Expands Fleet appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

On this day, the airport was rapidly emptying of people. A storm that promised thunder, lightning, and hail was approaching from the west. It was supposed to be me, another CFI, and the dispatch person on duty, but they had taken off early because people had canceled flights. The aircraft, although tied down with their noses facing into the wind, were straining against the ropes as the wind picked up.

Lucky for me, the airport has an active Civil Air Patrol unit. The CAP cadets were drilling in the parking lot behind the building. I quickly briefed them on the situation. With the approval of the adult member, they swarmed the ramp. Each aircraft had a cadet on the tail and each wing tip. I controlled the towbar while two other cadets pushed on the struts of the Cessna 172s. All three airplanes were safely and carefully secured in the hangar before the winds increased so much they were blowing the cardboard from the recycling container onto the ramp. I thanked them profusely for their help. The oldest teen cadet thanked me for the opportunity to put their training to use. I decided I liked his attitude. 

While moving aircraft on the ground is not the most glamorous of aviation jobs, it is necessary and is a skill that should be learned and practiced.

Part of the Job

No one is ever “too good” to move an airplane. I say this because I have worked with CFIs who insist they are too good to be repositioning or refueling airplanes, or they don’t get paid enough to do it, and gripe loudly about having to do these things. That’s the wrong attitude. A professional CFI will use these events as teachable moments with their learners.

Stacking aircraft in a hangar is not a quick or easy process. There is a method to the madness—aircraft that are scheduled to go out first thing in the morning are the last in. You must make sure there is adequate distance between the hangar doors and the aircraft so someone opening a door doesn’t damage them.

There are some flight schools that forbid customers from using tow equipment. In these instances, the customers can be wing walkers.

Extra care must be taken when there are aircraft partially disassembled in the hangar. You don’t want to shove things aside, as this can disrupt or corrupt the maintenance process. You learn to position other aircraft around them.

You have to watch wing tips and tails and be extra careful about items under and over the wings. You may want to put clean, dry towels over horizontal stabilizers, wing tips, and propellers to avoid hangar rash—the colorful name given to scrapes and dents achieved as a result of less-than-careful handling of an aircraft in a confined space like a hangar.

You also need to be careful about the fuel vents. Put a bucket beneath the underwing vents—especially if you leave the heat on. The warmth in the hangar makes the fuel expand and it will drip all over the floor if the bucket isn’t there.

Pro-tip: If it took a team to put the aircraft into the hangar, it will take a team to safely get them out. You must plan for this. No aircraft move unless there are at least two people working together.

This was learned the hard way. The CFI (we’ll call him Skippy) who was first to fly that day arrived early. He was anxious to go, and instead of waiting for me and another CFI who was supposed to help him, he tried to pull each aircraft out on his own with a manual towbar. 

When  the other CFI and I arrived—a half hour before we were both scheduled to fly—we found that Skippy had pulled two flight school airplanes that had blocked his aircraft out of the hangar, and parked them haphazardly off to the side without tie-downs or chocks. He’d also opened the vertical hangar door all the way—company policy called for it to go up three-quarters of the way because it had a tendency to jam if you put it all the way up. He had apparently misjudged the distance between his airplane’s right wingtip and the doorframe, because the position light was hanging by a wire. He apologized, saying he “may have bumped” the wing on the door frame.

This experience resulted in mandatory ground movement training for all CFIs and renters, along with a change in school policy that all aircraft movement into and out of the hangar required at least two people: one on the towbar, and one to watch the wingtips and the tail. Additionally, the one on the towbar has to be a CFI or flight school mechanic.

Learning to Steer

During movement in and out of the hangar is not the place to learn how to use a towbar to steer. It is much safer on the wide, empty ramp—this is the aviation version of learning to drive in the church parking lot on a Saturday.

Learning to steer the tail of the airplane by positioning yourself with the tow bar can be confusing. I have learned this is best taught kinetically. Have the learner do it a few times so they understand how much force to put on the towbar and what angle they need to facilitate the turns.

Communication is important. “Bring the tail more to the left! Straighten it out! Tail to the right!’ are phrases you will hear. For the directionally impaired, you may use “tail toward the runway or tail toward the ramp,” or other landmarks.

The tail and wing walker has to warn the person with the towbar if they need to keep pushing the aircraft back or stop. Keep in mind sometimes you have to yell to be heard over the ambient airport noise. This is one time when your outdoor voice is approved, yet there are learners who balk at the idea of yelling, even if it is to be heard over the sound of nearby aircraft.

If motorized transport like a golf cart is used to tow airplanes, always make sure the towbar safety pin is engaged. This keeps the tow bar from popping off and the aircraft from rolling into the golf cart. I worked at a school where a learner lost the use of his Piper Cherokee for several weeks when a CFI, in a hurry to get the airplane to the fuel pump, didn’t use the locking pin, and the aircraft became detached from the towbar and crashed into the golf cart.

Make sure you know where the tow bar attaches to the aircraft. Some have posts above the nosewheel. Others attach directly to the nosewheel. Some towbars are used for Pipers, others designed for Cessnas. Tailwheel-equipped aircraft often have handles on their tails.

If you are towing the aircraft behind a motorized vehicle, drive slowly and watch the corners. Jackknifing an airplane is not an experience you want. Please keep in mind most FBOs and flight schools only allow their staff to drive company vehicles—so you will have to ask someone to help you reposition your aircraft.

Parking an aircraft by pushing it into its space with a motorized tug is a skill that needs to be practiced. It’s like pushing a shopping cart backward, and you must go slowly and be patient. There are people who clamor to be trained to do this, but they are so rough on the controls that the owner of the business bans them from doing it, fearing damage to the aircraft.

I am not a fan of pulling aircraft forward or pushing it back by the propeller, although I have been trained to do it. I know to double-check to be sure the magnetos are off and to put your hands as close to the propeller’s hub as possible.

There will be sometimes when your best bet is to walk the aircraft into position with your hands on it. If you are unsure of where to put your hands on the airplane, ask a CFI who is familiar with the aircraft.

If there is a placard that says NO PUSH, don’t put your hands there. And always be sure you have good traction before you push or pull.

The post Wing Walkers, Wing Talkers appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

CAP flew two flights Monday—one at daybreak and a second in the late afternoon, according to CAP Hawaii Wing Commander Colonel Stacy Haruguchi. 

The first flight, piloted by 1st Lt. John Bassett, took off at 6:45 a.m. from Hilo International Airport (PHTO) accompanied by a volcanologist and CAP photographer 1st Lt. Susan Bassett. The aircraft overflew the Mauna Loa summit and the North East Rift Zone.

A second flight—also piloted by Lt. John Bassett—launched at 4:42 p.m. Also onboard were 2nd Lt. Jason Dzurizin, aerial photographer, and 1st Lt. Jason Ozbolt, mission observer. The purpose of the flight was to gather photos and video as the aircraft circled around the Northeast and Southwest Rift Zones.

• READ MORE: Hawaii’s Volcano Eruption ‘An Exciting Thing’ for Pilots

The images collected are assisting the USGS in monitoring the lava flows with regard to possible danger to downslope communities. There is concern that if the lava flow continues it may block Daniel K. Inouye Highway, also known as Saddle Road, which is a main east-west road that goes across Hawaii Island.

“No flights were requested for Tuesday and Wednesday, in part due to how close the lava flow is to the highway, which allows scientists and other observers to closely monitor,” Haruguchi told FLYING. “We are monitoring the request channels as well as daily coordination meetings between Hawaii County, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and USGS, for additional tasking and are currently on standby should the need arise.” 

According to Haruguchi, flying in the vicinity of an active volcano is more challenging than regular mountain flying as the aircraft must stay well clear of the ash and smoke plume as well as possible flying lava. The hazards are not always clearly visible, even with weather overlays on ForeFlight, ADS-B or via normal FAA webpages, he said.

“Another hazard is the presence of sUAS [small unmanned aerial system] being flown in the area that will not show on ADS-B,” he continued. “Although sUAS are not supposed to be flown in national parks without authorization, are not supposed to be flying above 400 feet agl without authorization, and are supposed to land/stay out of the way of manned aircraft, this is not always the case. Even if the sUAS stay outside the TFR, they are still a potential fence line like obstacle for helicopters transporting emergency personnel into and out of the TFR.”

The post Civil Air Patrol Assists In Monitoring Hawaiian Volcano Lava Flow appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Barb Clevenger of Mesa, Arizona, donated the milestone blood at an emergency blood center at the patrol’s Falcon Composite Squadron 305.

“My mom gave blood, and that was something that was very important to her,” Clevenger said. “I just started giving, and I’m so excited to be doing this in honor of my mother.” 

Since World War II, the CAP has been part of the nation’s emergency infrastructure, conducting search and rescue missions and organizing blood drives and transporting blood during times of medical emergency. The CAP was created in 1941 as an auxiliary of the U. S. Air Force. Transporting blood by land and air is part of the CAP mission, with more than 500 trips to remote hospital locations by CAP aircrews and drivers. 

American Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern called CAP “an incredible partner in responding, not only to the urgent need for critical blood products, but also the need for facilities to host blood drives.”

Today Barb Clevenger of Mesa, Arizona, donated the 10,000th unit of blood collected during Civil Air Patrol’s Operation Pulse Lift mission. Operation Pulse Lift Collects 10,000th Blood Unit During Pandemic https://t.co/tCWcGSyHlr

— Civil Air Patrol (@CivilAirPatrol) February 10, 2022

About the Mission

According to Lieutenant Colonel Bob Ditch, CAP incident commander for Operation Pulse Lift, the mission was launched in Arizona before the start of the pandemic and kept going because the need for blood donations hasn’t stopped.

“Since the evening of March 17, 2020, when the surgeon general noted the critical need for blood donations during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, and the closure of nearly 7,000 blood donation centers, Civil Air Patrol has been engaged in the coordination, planning, and execution of the longest series of blood donation center operations in the nation by a single organization,” he said.

Since April 2020, CAP has sponsored 146 emergency blood donation centers to support the COVID-19 humanitarian assistance mission.The donation centers are located in:

• Alabama
• Colorado
• Kentucky
• New Mexico
• New York
• Oklahoma
• Texas
• Virginia 

Blood collected at these locations has been used to support hospitals in California and Oregon during wildfire season, Texas and Louisiana for hurricanes, and the Southwest for a major winter storm. The mission’s emergency blood donation effort collected 222 units of blood in response to the December 2021 tornados in Kentucky, Tennessee, and surrounding areas.

In addition, the mission has also supported blood collection activities at six U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force installations through the Armed Services Blood Program. This included blood going to hospitals in Washington, D.C., and Germany that treated casualties from the August 2021 Kabul Airport suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

The post Civil Air Patrol Hits Milestone in Relief Flying appeared first on FLYING Magazine.