Page 5 - Volume 15 Number 7

The Larger TruthAirMail Letters to the Editortunately, the weather was excellent and alternate airportsI am a subscriber to Twin & Turbine Magazine. I enjoy each issue and I keep back copies on my bookshelf along with B&CA, Aviation Week and Pro Pilot.I was very sad to read the recent editorial wherein you were apparently threatened. There is no place for that in human relations. I am sorry to read that some nut job was able to disturb your life. I think we both know that your first statement, “You meet the nicest people in aviation” is the larger truth.I have two daughters and I encourage them every day to aim high and achieve as much in life as they want to do. I’m certain they will both go to college and run circles around most men. I am every bit as proud of them as I am of my three sons.Keep up the good work.Kevin CurranCitation Mustang Owner Hollis, N.H.Effortless ReadingWith my desk covered in paperwork that seems to never end, I wanted a break and found it in your article on the Piper Meridian. While the details on the plane, and your fly- ing it, were very interesting what struck me was your almost effortless writing style. Since I have been at work for five hours now, and am hungry, it took more than an average article to keep my interest.Currently I fly a King Air 350 with a Pro Line 21 and a Mer- lin IIB with Garmins so it was easy to follow you through the flight as if I was in a jump seat. The few minutes spent were informative and gave me just the diversion I was seeking.Thank you again for your work that makes Twin & Tur- bine a welcome monthly treat!Scott Sutton Newport News, Va.Identify, Verify, Feather – Now What?Having experienced three engine failures on twin-engine aircraft at cruise, I especially appreciated your excellent arti- cle in the May issue. My first failure occurred when flying as co-pilot in a Martin 404 over the Rocky Mountains with 20 passengers. The left engine (Pratt & Whitney R2800 radial) ran out of oil, and had to be shut down. We declared an emer- gency and landed without incident in Grand Junction, Colo.Second failure occurred when the left engine in my Twin Commander threw a rod while level at 11,500 feet. Afterfeathering and securing the engine, I declared an emergency and landed immediately at the airport directly below. Third failure was on the right engine in cruise when the nose case and magnetos somehow vibrated loose and caused the engine to quit. This time I flew the short 20-minute flight back to home base with the failed engine feathered and secured. For-were available if needed.Many of the suggestions in the article came to mind as I experienced each of these incidents. The most important action I can think of that influenced the successful outcome of these engine failures was to “keep cool, be professional, and fly the airplane.” Thanks again for the great article.Randy Dettmer AIA,Twin Commander 680F Owner Commercial, MEL, CFISan Luis Obispo, Calif.Kudos to DingerI appreciated Kevin Dingman’s inclusion of John Gil- lespe Magee Jr.’s classic poem, “High Flight,” a piece which inspired me as a very young boy to pursue the footless halls of air (it was the 5 a.m. television network sign-on before Saturday morning cartoons!) Since later becoming a pilot at age 16, I’ve trod the sanctity of space for 35 years.It is especially fitting that Magee’s poem graced the very issue where you celebrated our Freedom to Fly, as you wrote of your entire family all being aloft in GA planes, at the same moment in time. I’m already anxious for the Editor’s Briefing that is sure to come in just a few years, when you and your daughters are again airborne at the same time, this time each of you aloft in your own eager craft, dancing the skies on laughter-silvered wings.Please keep up your good work inspiring us to enjoy flight, and to do so safely.Jon Frantsvog AngelFlight Volunteer P210 OwnerAbout Our CoverLast spring, renowned aviation photographer Paul Bowen had the unique opportunity to photograph two military aircraft from two completely different eras in American air power: The AT-6 and the P-51D Mustang.The Hawker Beechcraft AT-6, foreground, is a state-of-the-art aircraft built to provide close air support and light attack capa- bilities. The dual-control AT-6 is outfitted with a single Pratt and Whitney Canada PTA-68D powerplant, CMC Esterline’s mission modified Cockpit 4000, Lockheed Martin’s A-10C-based mission system and L-3 WESCAM’s MX-15Di EO/IR sensor pod. The air- craft is also equipped with an ALQ-213 EW Management System, ARC-210 radios with secure voice/data and SATCOM capabilities, and a wide variety of weapons capability required to excel in meet- ing irregular warfare mission requirements.The P-51D “Crazy Horse” is owned by Stallion 51, a Kissimmee, Fla.,-based aviation company that offers orientation and checkout flights in the P-51D and the T-6 Texan. “Crazy Horse” was built in 1944 as a P-51D and later converted to North American stan- dards as a dual cockpit/dual controlled TF-51 Mustang•. It wears the authentic colors of the 48th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group, 8th Air Force at Asche, Belgium, 1945. It is one of an esti- mated 16 dual controlled Mustangs existing in the world. T&TJULY 2011TWIN & TURBINE • 3