EAAers in action
members forum
Thanks, EAA!
Thank you for highlighting the Max Conrad story in
the June issue. It came on the heels of a visit by several
members of the International Comanche Society (ICS)
to N110LF, shown on the album cover in your piece.
The plane is in the Mid-America Air Museum in Liberal,
Kansas. Donna Holaway, a founding member of ICS, spoke
and mentioned that three of the distance records Max set
in the Comanche decades ago still stand. Ed Swearingen
(SX300 fame) helped Max fit all of the fuel tanks needed
for the flights in the cockpit. Max actually sat on a seat-shaped fuel tank; the tanks filled the fuselage and had
to be built inside the plane. While the plane remained a
stock model Piper Comanche, the fuel-tank-filled interior
was very much an EAA spirit aircraft.
As a Vintage Aircraft Association member and the
owner of the only U.S. aircraft to have raced twice around
Concorde Simulator: You Can Fly It!
The Concorde simulator that was used to train pilots for
the British Concorde fleet is now back in service—and
you can fly it! It does not have the sensations of motion
that the original simulator had, nor is the visual program
the same. But the Brooklands Museum in Surrey, not far
from London’s Heathrow Airport, is in the process of
refurbishing the simulator, so that the thrills of flying
the Concorde will not be lost forever.
What is more, any fan with a little cash can rent the
simulator in the afternoon or evening and fly it with
friends, with a former Concorde pilot in the right seat.
As of June 2009, it is open to the public. Progress on its
restoration has been steady, and when all the instruments
are connected again, the Concorde simulator will have
all the major components of flight: the basic flight
instruments, the autopilot, the throttle, landing gear
levers, nose-cone position levers, the engine instruments,
and even the radio altimeter.
When the simulator was first built, at a cost of 3
million pounds (approximately 5 million dollars), it did
not have the sophisticated programs of today. It had a TV
screen that showed a model Concorde doing what the
pilot directed it to do over a model landscape. In 1989
this system was upgraded, for another 3 million pounds.
Now pilots could visit virtually any major airport in the
the world, PA- 39-10 Twin Comanche N33322G, I also
appreciated the photo on page 12 of the Comanches
taxiing in after their mass arrival at AirVenture 2008,
which celebrated the 50th anniversary of Comanches.
Patricia Jayne (Pat) Keefer, EAA 562429
Trophy Club, Texas
A big thanks to the EAA for being an incredible host for
mission aviators around the world that was represented by
Fly 4 Life and IAMA at the AirVenture Oshkosh 2009. As a
mission pilot myself, I am thankful for the opportunity
for the world to see the oftentimes unseen work and
commitment of these dedicated pilots and mechanics.
Thanks a bunch!
Jack Sluiter
JAARS - Aviation Training
world and experience realistic conditions.
When Concorde stopped flying, in October 2003,
the British Airways Concorde simulator was also
decommissioned. It was donated to the Brooklands
Museumandarrivedtherein2004.Vi sit www.
BrooklandsMuseum.com to learn more about the Concorde
Experience.
Having written the book Flying Concorde, I would love
to hear from anyone who goes to the simulator.
George Denniston, EAA 1004872
More About Hand Propping
I read with interest the comments on hand propping
in the September issue and thought I might share a few
ideas as well.
Cubs, J-3s, L-4s, and other planes are often propped
from behind the prop because you enter the airplane in
front of the lift strut, and with proper technique, you
can maintain a firm grip on the fuselage tubing while
throwing the prop. Cub drivers have been doing this for
years without consequence. When I propped a Cub, I
always did it from the front of the prop because that was
how I was taught, but I was very conscious of the fact
that I had to get between the lift strut and that prop to
enter the airplane. In some ways, propping from behind
