EAA Sport Aviation

More Than One Turbine Biplane

IN THE ARTICLE ABOUT Dave Morss, the caption to the photo of the Turbine Toucan states it’s the world’s only turbine-powered biplane. Busted out my Jane’s and verified that there is (or was) an An- 3 turbine-powered biplane.

Dale E. Utz, EAA 764099 Austin, Texas

WITHOUT DETRACTING FROM his accomplishments, you’ve made an error in the caption for the Turbine Toucan photo in the Dave Morss article, describing it as the world’s only turbine-powered biplane. It must share that category with more than 100 production units of the PZL Mielec M- 15 Belphegor, an unusual eastern-bloc turbojet biplane crop duster dating from the late 1970s. (For a link to a photo of this aircraft, visit www.SportAviation.org.)

Jon R. Stark, EAA 0370785 San Jose, California

Waddington Woes

I THINK I AM GOING to rename my Glasair and call it Waddington!
My plane is a Super II RG first flown in 1995. I’ve got about 900
hours on it and now fly it about 25 hours per year. It is hangared
and always dry. Even so, each August I’ve got to drag it down to
the maintenance shop at the other end of the field and rip it apart
simply to satisfy the FAA and my insurance company. Nothing is
ever found wrong, as leaky and broken things are fixed throughout
the year as they occur. With only 25 hours since the last time it was
torn apart, the compression checks reveal no new information,
the oil is free of metal, the plugs are clean, and the emergency
gear extension works. In short the “annual” is a big waste of time
costing about $1,700 and three days of time. Inevitably, each annual
somehow creates a problem that shows up in the first couple of
flight hours after the plane was “made perfect.”
If the FAA were not such a risk adverse agency, this would
change. There is no reason in the world why an annual inspection
should be performed on a machine that had run only 25 hours since
the last inspection.

W. Kern Hendricks, EAA 402624 Enumclaw, Washington

INTERESTING READ (Savvy Aviator, March 2011) and it brought back a common lament heard when I was in the Army in the late 1960s. Hueys were the norm! At the time, scheduled maintenance was a big thing, and it caused all the problems mentioned in the article.

Those who had not partaken of the Kool-Aid recognized this; the common lament was, “Stop taking it apart to find out why it is working so well.” But, of course, it was the Army, and rules were rules. So all scheduled maintenance, whether needed or not, was done. And first flights after maintenance were done with great trepidation.

I am glad to know that “on condition” maintenance is now more the rule.

Steve Dorr, EAA 298099 Orlando, Florida

The weather events at this year’s Sun ’n Fly-In captured the attention of all of us in the aviation community. While we’re all humbly grateful for the near-miraculous lack of serious injury, or worse, we wouldn’t be who we are if broken airplanes didn’t break our hearts. We published a series of photos of the damage on our Facebook page, and the outpouring of feedback and support from around the world was just as strong as you’d expect.

Here’s a look at some of the comments we’ve received:

The sight of the destruction makes me want to cry. :( —Dave Kalwishky

There’s a lot of pride ’n joys balled up at that airfield…devastating losses for their owners. —Star Novak

That was one of the most terrible storms I’ve been through. I feel bad for the owners of the damaged airplanes. —Holly Baldwin Scheibner

Thoughts and prayers are with you all from the volunteers at the Australian International Airshow. —Mark Sellars

Our thoughts and prayers are extended to those who were injured today and to those who lost (or received damage to) their beautiful airplanes. —John Burton

My heart goes out to all of the aircraft owners who have put their hearts and souls into their planes. —Larry Eckstein

All of this is so sad… :( My heart goes out to those who were injured, and to those who lost or had damage to their beautiful airplanes. —Jim Zazas

I know the determination of EAAers. I know this tragic event will reinforce the airmanship between all our souls, and no effort will be saved to repair/ rebuild/recover every plane. We’ve got it…under our skin! —Carlos Costa, Chapter 1297 President, Portugal

Really hard to look at all these photos. I hope everyone is okay and can recover. —Jamie Stukenberg

Total mayhem. Real tough to look at. Very thankful there were no serious injuries. —Ray Johnson

This is so very sad. While I’m happy nobody was seriously hurt, and insurance will cover the losses, it’s heartbreaking to see so many homebuilts hurt, knowing their owners likely poured lots of hours, heart, and soul into building. —Jonathan Fee

I really hope that at least some of these aircraft can be salvaged; my heart goes out to those who have to deal with the bent metal. Best of luck! —Jay Bryon