December 12, 2023 The Colditz Glider

The Liberty Gazette

December 12, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Not long after Nazi Germany executed 50 prisoners who had escaped from Stalag Luft III, which had caused the Allied High Command to discourage such attempts, a captured British Lieutenant had a brilliant idea.

Lt. Tony Rolt, one of several prisoners being held in the old castle at Colditz, Germany, not far from Leipzig, noticed when he went into the castle’s chapel that the guards couldn’t see the roofline from their look-out. The Germans were watching for signs of digging, but they were apparently oblivious to the opportunities for escape from on high. The chapel roof seemed a right good spot to launch a glider if his fellow prisoners could build one that would make it across the River Mulde about 200 feet below. Lt. Rolt wasn’t an airman, but there were plenty of them at Colditz. Fortunately, the castle’s library was maintained, and in it was a two-volume set of books called Aircraft Design, by fellow Brit and aviation inventor, Cecil Hugh Latimer-Needham.

Bill Goldfinch and Jack Best studied the physics and engineering explained in the books. There was even a detailed diagram of the wing section, which was a huge help to their lofty plans.

Goldfinch and Best selected 12 men to assist in building the glider. They called them their 12 apostles, and they worked in secret in the attic above the chapel. Bed slats became ribs, floor boards became wing spars; old electrical wire found in unused places of the castle served as control wires. The prisoners gave up their cotton sleeping bags to make the aircraft’s skin, and set aside some of their rationed millet, which, after boiling, would seal the pores in the fabric.

In addition to building the glider, they needed some kind of surface from which to launch it. Using tables carefully collected from around the castle, the men constructed a 60’ long runway. Since they didn’t have access to a tow plane (not to mention that would be a dead give-away of their escape), they’d have to catapult the engineless aircraft. For this, they filled a metal bathtub with concrete, linked it to a pulley system, and when the tub was dropped, the glider would bolt out.

The finished vehicle would weigh just 240 lbs., and only two men would be picked to fly out in it. They were planning to make their escape in the Spring of 1945 when they heard Allied guns. They knew the war would soon be over, and the Nazis would be defeated. While they waited, they agreed to keep the glider available for use in case the Nazis ordered a massacre. It was nearly completed when the American Army liberated the prisoners on 16 April 1945.

The Soviets got a hold of the glider, so there’s no telling where it ended up. But Goldfinch kept his drawings, and one single photo was discovered, so a few replicas have been built, some even tested – and they launched successfully in the field across the river, all according to plan.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

December 5, 2023 Brittany and the Blue Angels

The Liberty Gazette

December 5, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

“I still can’t believe it happened,” says 6th grade schoolteacher Brittany Moon of her ride with the Blue Angels. The second-generation pilot earned her private pilot certificate and tailwheel and high-performance endorsements this year. 

The young wife and mom to two little boys grew up around airplanes and now flys a blue and white 1946 Aeronca Champ she named Betty. When Brittany was small, her dad bought a 1929 Waco (named Cream Soda) and rebuilt it. He re-built it again when her kids were born. She loves the photos of her at age two, standing on one of the Waco’s tires, and a photo of her oldest son (now eight) in the same pose. 

But getting to fly with the Blue Angels has long been a dream. In December 2021, they posted their two-year schedule. After a 10-year hiatus, the air show was returning to her hometown, Indianapolis. Brittany called the Navy to inquire about a flight. “Watch for social media posts,” they advised. Finally, in August this year, the application was opened for the October 25 ride-along opportunity. Two lucky people would be selected. 

On October 10, as she was teaching both her own students and those of another teacher who was out that day, Brittany got a call from Pensacola, Florida, with the news that she was a finalist. She’d have to pass a medical exam (even though she already had her aviation medical certificate). No problem. The day of the flight, she and about a dozen friends and family came to the Indianapolis Regional Airport. Her entourage witnessed her pre-flight discussion with Commander Thomas Zimmerman, Blue Angel #7. Instructions included how to breathe during maneuvers (they don’t wear G-suits) and how to eject in case of emergency (you go out with the seat). She climbed in the F/A-18 Super Hornet, and they strapped her down good – ankles, thighs, hips, chest.

They flew to southern Indiana and did some G-warm-ups, up to 4 G’s: a loop, a maximum radius turn, a sneak pass, aileron rolls, a carrier break. They flew inverted, too, but she’s not a big fan of hanging upside down (she lasted 12 seconds, not the full 30). Then, traveling at 700 mph (Mach 0.95), at 500’, they went straight up like a corkscrew, pulling 7.6 G’s. That’s when she grayed out. “It was exhausting, a total body workout, focusing on squeezing glutes, breathing, to counter the effects of G-forces. I loved it!” 

It's been a great year for Brittany. She’s a new pilot, took her son to Oshkosh, and flew with the Blue Angels. She has four goals for 2024. In April, attend the annual WASP reunion in Sweetwater, become a certified flight instructor in the Light Sport category (her Champ is in that category) – she’ll have to take spin training as part of that goal, and fly her Champ to Oshkosh with her son and land on a dot. 

Ambitious and exciting goals, and we bet Brittany will meet each one with gusto.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 28, 2023 Stories, Stories, Everywhere!

The Liberty Gazette

November 28, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

A pilot’s logbook is full of stories of adventure, of amazing views and exciting journeys. Aircraft, too, have tales to tell. Lean in and hear them whisper, and they’ll tell you what it’s like to be lifted by the wind beneath their wings, from stories of practice flights around the patch to far-off jaunts, some civil, some not so. Aviation museums are a great place to indulge your imagination and hear the machines relive their stories. 

East Fortune, a village in East Lothian (near Edinburgh), Scotland, is home to an airfield built in 1915 to help protect Britain from the Germans during World War I. Since 1975, the National Museum of Flight has been opening its civil and military hangar doors to the curious and interested, to those who want to see a Spitfire, a Red Arrow, the Concorde, and the record-breaking airship, R34. 

The morning of July 2, 1919, eight officers, twenty-two men from England’s Army, Navy, and Air Corps, and two pigeons, to be used in case of emergency, took off from the East Fortune airfield on a mission. If successful, they would hold the record for the first direct flight between Great Britain and the U.S., the first east-to-west Atlantic crossing (nothing but headwinds all the way), and the first return flight across that same ocean (hooray for tailwinds). Mind you, this is a blimp, and it was equipped with only rudimentary instruments. 

Now, Billy Ballantyne was a rigger. He had been forced to give up his spot on the R34 for an American, but he didn’t want to miss out on these important, once-in-history flights, so he stowed away with the ship’s mascot, a tabby kitten named Wopsie. Twelve hours into the flight, crews discovered Ballantyne, overcome by leaking hydrogen. Since they couldn’t throw him overboard, not even with a parachute, into the churning waves below, the Air Commodore, Edward Maitland, put him to work cooking and pumping gas into the bags that fed the engines. 

At one point, they found a leak in one of the gas bags. The quick-thinking crews gathered their whole supply of gum, chewed it up nice and soft, and plugged the leak. But approaching the east coast of North America, they were dangerously low on fuel. They considered their options. If they ended up in the ocean, they could be refueled by a destroyer or be pulled onto land by some other capable ship. Or they could try to make it to Boston. Eyes on the prize, they went for Boston. As they got closer, they realized they could get to New York. Landing at Long Island 108 hours and 12 minutes after take-off from Scotland left them with one hour’s worth of fuel in the bags.

Remember they wouldn’t drop the stow-away into the drink by parachute? Well, crewmember Major John Pritchard had to help the ground crew, so he actually did parachute into the U.S., becoming the first person to come to America by air. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 21, 2023 A War Against Ice

The Liberty Gazette

November 21, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: My first cross country air race was nearly 16 years ago. The four-day race began in Bozeman, Montana, and ended in Mansfield, Massachusetts, with seven mandatory check-ins in between. Our first timed fly-by after launching out of Bozeman was Miles City, Montana. After fueling, we took off, crossing over the Yellowstone River, which flows between the airport and the town, and raced toward Aberdeen, South Dakota, the next checkpoint. It was that very river that, 64 years before, had drawn a different kind of race – a race against time.

The 1943-44 Montana winter was about average, and the weekend of March 17-18 was normal, untilSunday evening, March 19, when Spring’s thaw came out of the gate like a triple crown champion. The quick heating caused ice to break up, sending chunks careening down Yellowstone River. Ice jams began to form, increasing as they collided with ice from a tributary, the Tongue River. The five-mile-long jam caused severe flash flooding and hasty evacuations. Between the time evacuations began and when first responders were on the move, the river rose to 19.3 feet, 15 feet higher than normal. There were many boat rescues as an entire square mile of Miles City, population 7,300, was completely flooded. 

On Monday, Mayor Layton Key called local pilots, who, with permission from the feds and explosives from a coal mining company tossed 12 homemade bombs out of a Piper Cub. But they only dislodged a small amount of ice. They’d have to step up their defense with bigger bombs and bigger planes. The mayor called the governor and asked him to contact the Army. 

Blizzard conditions and low clouds prevented use of a dive bomber. Their last hope lay in the high-altitude crews training at the Rapid City air base. On Tuesday, ten Army volunteers fused and loaded 250-pound bombs onto a B17 and took off into instrument conditions. The weather was so bad, they couldn’t see out of the airplane. Picking up a local pilot in Miles City, they took off again around 5:30 pm, ready for war against the ice. 

The first bomb, a test, seemed to go in the right direction, but they couldn’t tell whether it broke up the ice dam. The bombs had a delayed fuse; they would explode under water. The B17 crew made a few more passes, dropping six more bombs each time. Finally, a 150-foot plume of ice, mud, and water exploded from Yellowstone River. Within an hour, the water was draining, leaving shard-peppered ice along its banks. The operation was a success! 

By midnight, the river had dropped three feet. Mayor Key put the bomber crews up at his hotel and fed them steak dinners in gratitude. By Wednesday morning, the Yellowstone was back within its banks, and the crew of the B17 wagged their wings on a low pass over the town as they headed back to Rapid City in the only U.S. bomber asked to bomb a U.S. city during the Second World War. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 14, 2023 Good for a Laugh

The Liberty Gazette

November 14, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Every once in a while, usually at the busiest airports in the world, where time is of the essence, a pilot forgets to change frequency and inadvertently gives the passenger briefing over an airport’s ground or tower radio. This faux pas is met with teasing by controllers and fellow pilots who had to wait to get a word in. 

After a combined 70 years of flying, we’ve heard a few comical things over the airwaves. We thought we’d compile some for you. Not that we personally heard all of these live at the time they were spoken, but they have been preserved for the audio pleasure of us all.

Coming in at number 4, a pilot in Toronto, after being given a frequency for Toronto Radio from air traffic control, questioned why he was being given that frequency. “Alright, do you wanna talk to a Center controller, or do you wanna talk to the radio? The radio people give you weather and stuff. The Center people keep you away from other airplanes.” Good call by the pilot: “I wanna be kept away from other airplanes!”

Amusing transmission number 3 goes a little retro. Taxing out for departure from JFK Airport, a pilot reports something on the runway that “looks like a beanbag chair.” This controller can’t help but laugh, adding, “Is there a lava lamp and a six pack out there too?” What could the pilot do but answer? “Absolutely. A disco ball as well.” The controller has the best answer: “Alright, let me get the Port Authority out there to party with it.”

At number 2, one can only imagine… “We’re picking up eh… some pretty heavy interference on the Tower frequency, sounds like a small child singing … Justin Bieber.” After the tower controller gives the pilot a heading for the approach, the pilot obviously felt the need to set the record straight. “Just like to point out that I’m not the one who identified the singer!” This controller had a sense of humor. “That’s your story? Are you gonna stick with it? Okay, I’ll try not to sing next time.” 

And in this batch of pilot-controller exchanges that elicit a chuckle, number one has to do with the word, “awesome,” these days, an overused response. Apparently, there’s at least one air traffic controller who agrees. After approving the request from a pilot who wanted to land on the left runway instead of the parallel runway to the right at the Bedford, Massachusetts airport, the pilot giving that popular response, the controller had to ask. “Is it really that wonderful, ma’am?” Of course, the left runway was closer to where she was going to park the Airbus A320, but we’d have to side with the controller on this one. However, her gentle reminder to him to “Be happy,” seems to have warmed him at least a little. “You sound like you’re gonna make some guy very happy.” She didn’t miss a beat. “That’s why I’m tryin’ to get home!”

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 7, 2023 Silent Wings

The Liberty Gazette

November 7, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

You might have known that balloons have been used in military operations since the earliest days of flight, but did you know gliders have been enlisted as well? The non-motorized aircraft are quiet, so they could sneak in behind enemy lines without being heard. If they came in at night, which they frequently did, all the better, as they often landed undetected. They brought in men, weapons, food, and other supplies, and even vehicles. 

Since our annual birthday hike in Palo Duro Canyon was shortened to just one day due to inclement weather, we took a trip down to Lubbock for indoor activities. The Silent Wings Museum honors veterans who flew gliders during WWII and is dedicated to the memory of all who received advanced glider training and earned Silver ‘G’ Wings at this airfield. While the ‘G’ was officially for Glider, it was said that it really stood for Guts, because these men were flying a one-way trip. There was no turning around. They flew fragile, unarmed gliders on eight major airborne invasions of Europe and Southeast Asia, including Market Garden (invasion of The Netherlands), Varsity (invasion of Germany), and Overlord (the D-Day allied invasion of Normandy, France). Many paid the supreme sacrifice for their country.

The museum also does a tremendous job of educating the public on these heroes and this facet of war.

There were nine preliminary and advanced military glider pilot training fields in Texas. The one in Lubbock was one of the most prominent, The U.S. Army Air Force leased the airport from the city, and from October 1942 to April 1, 1945. This was where about 80% of the combat glider pilots who served in the major operations were trained to fly the 15-man Waco CG-4A glider. 

Did you know that Steinway and Sons piano craftsmen in Long Island, New York built many of the wooden components for the Waco CG-4A glider, including wings and tail assemblies, benches, floors, and cockpit frameworks? It was a time when our country was more cohesive, and the infiltration of commies hadn’t exploded to the level it is today. Businesses and individuals proudly sacrificed to do what was needed to help defend and preserve freedom.

A short documentary film with interviews of some of the pilots, fascinating artifacts, and impactful reenactment scene displays make this museum a must-see. They even have one of these huge CG-4A gliders on display in the hangar, and one of its tow planes, a DC-3, greeting visitors at the entrance.

We were surprised, however, to see how long ago air combat was discussed. Here’s a quote from lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson, whose house we happened to visit while in London this summer: “What would be the security of the good, if the bad could at pleasure invade them from the sky? Against an army sailing through the clouds, neither walls, nor mountains, nor seas, could afford any security.” Dr. Johnson realized the possibilities of aerial attacks in 1759. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 31, 2023 We'll Take the Treats

The Liberty Gazette

October 31, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

The wind played trick-or-treat on our last trip to Amarillo. We slugged our way head-first into it. Twenty knots, on the nose, at 3,000 feet, the altitude with the least amount of headwind. A few thousand feet higher, winds were racing across the sky at over 70 knots. We were attending a couple of social events, but not spending the night. You can bet we collected what was due us on the way back. Coming home, altitude was our friend, where screaming tail winds chopped off an hour and a half flight time – no need for a fuel stop. 

Sometimes, it can be difficult to find the sweet spot, where winds are favorable but turbulence minimal. That sweet spot can change over the miles. It might be 2,900 feet for a while, then 3,200 feet later. Sure, it was a tricky wind heading northwest, but a real zippy treat and smooth sailing at 9,500 feet in the evening. 

Speaking of treating ourselves to good things, we’ve been binging on a few video channels lately, and one of them is Dave Hadfield’s YouTube channel. We happened upon Part One of his half-hour documentary of a test flight in a 1928 Moth with a Gipsy II engine, at a grass airfield in Southern Ontario, Canada. 

Dave is from a family of pilots. His wife, Robin, is an air racer and president of the Ninety-Nines. His brother, Chris, is an astronaut. Numerous other relatives are pilots as well. 

Recently, Dave was asked to fly the DH60, DeHavilland Gipsy Moth, across Southern Ontario to its new owner in Quebec. This was the oldest plane Dave had ever flown and the oldest aircraft of the Royal Canadian Air Force that’s still flying. It’s a rare biplane with folding wings. 

In Dave’s video, he shows viewers what he does when he test-flies an aircraft. This one had been flown from New York for considerable maintenance and repair, so his first job was to check all the maintenance paperwork. After he reviewed the documents, he carried the camera while explaining his detailed examination. They removed a bit of water and rust in the fuel tanks, and once it passed his critical eye, we got to ride along atop his helmet.

He talks through every maneuver, commenting on how the airplane feels. Climbs, descents, turns. Then a little more aggressive, with wing-overs and stalls. Dave is licensed by the Canadian authority to perform low-level aerobatics (he performs in air shows), and as a former Canadian Air Force pilot, he is well-acquainted with proper testing procedures. He discovered an issue on landing when the Gipsy Moth swerved right. He put in full left rudder, but it wasn’t enough. He went around the patch to try once more, ready for the right swerve. Something was wrong. But then the rain came, so he left it with the experts. He’ll be back. We can’t wait for Part Two, the delivery flight to Quebec! It’s a must-watch on www.hadfield.ca.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 24, 2023 Sharah the Sunshine

The Liberty Gazette

October 24, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: We have this friend, AnnElise. We've written about her a few times before. She’s been through so much. One of the most painful things in her life was the death of her youngest daughter, Sarah, in an accident ten years ago this past March. The pain doesn’t go away, but it somehow becomes part of who we are, and we learn to walk with it. AnnElise has found things to help her, one of which was a gift from Sarah.

Sarah was in college, just days from graduation. She was a ray of sunshine, brightening the lives of everyone who knew her. One thing she used to do was post pictures of doing handstands, just any place, any time. Handstanding became something AnnElise could do to “water the flowers and not the weeds.” To fight pain by spreading sunshine. Each of us travels that journey in our own way, and this pilot, air racer, crossfitter extraordinaire faces grief like a pilot-in-command.

And so, in her mid-50’s, she began to do handstands. To fight the sorrow and to tell the world about the funny, blissful girl Sarah was, causing happiness.

It started during a family healing trip abroad with her sister, Carol, a niece, and her older daughter, Lauren. Sometimes joined by others, they broke out in spontaneous handstanding. In Moray and Lima, and all over Peru. She and Carol returned home with an undeniable urge to do handstands; the upside-down way that helps turn pain into Sharahing Sunshine.

In the family’s Easter portrait is AnnElise, handstanding. Against a Southwest Airlines B737 engine nacelle, next to the windsock on her grass runway, handstanding. Carol, a concert cellist, went feet-up in the orchestra pit, at a housewarming party, while broken down on the side of the road awaiting a tow truck, upon a suspension bridge, up against a police car (officer in photo too, smiling), against a ladder truck as the firemen were grocery shopping. She titled one photo, “Chilling-With-The-Maestro-Before-The-Concert-Handstand.”

When Carol posed for the camera with a cat atop her feet, AnnElise replied with a photo titled, “I’ll-See-Your-Cat-and-Raise-You-A-Rooster-Handstand.”

Then Carol found a photo of Sarah at the beach–doing a handstand. 

Friends posted handstand photos–under water, in front of the U.S. Congress building–and the sunshine spread because these handstands make a statement. At the time, I supported my friend through prayer, encouragement, a listening ear. But it’d been decades since I’d tried a handstand. And I wasn’t exactly in great shape.

A couple years ago, I began strengthening and practicing my handstands. I hoped that one day, AnnElise and I could make that statement together. 

The recent Grumman fly-in was held at Pecan Plantation airpark, home to AnnElise. In the pavilion next to the runway, finally, I got to dive down, kick up, and handstand alongside my good friend. We had plenty of onlookers, and so many smiles. It felt good to Sharah the Sunshine.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 17, 2023 Our Type of Club

The Liberty Gazette

October 17, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: The heat is finally giving way to Fall breezes. With the cooler yet not-so-cold temps, people are emerging from their air-conditioned abodes and hitting the road—or, in our case, the airways. October in particular boasts a large number of fly-in events. Wings Over Houston, the Ranger Old School Fly-In and Campout in Ranger, Texas, and club outings, to name a few.

Affinity clubs are popular for car and motorcycle owners. Think MG and Mustang, Indian and Harley. It’s the same for airplane owners with groups such as the Cessna Pilots Association and Piper Owner Society. The manufacturer of our plane was Gulfstream-American, more often called Grumman American, the previous builder. The Elyminator’s model designation “AA-5A” comes from American Aircraft Company, the maker before them. The airplanes are simply known as Grummans. The national group that encompasses all these planes is the Grumman Owners and Pilots Association, or GOPA. It’s a networking organization where owners and pilots socialize, learn maintenance and safety tips, get specialized training, and share experiences that help promote, maintain, and preserve their Grumman. GOPA and its regional chapters host weekend fly-ins, flight clinics, and sometimes just meet at airport restaurants for some good ol’ hangar flying. 

This summer, because of the record-breaking heat, not too many activities were planned by Region 5, of which Texas is a part. We missed the national convention at Palm Springs in May, but this past weekend, with the first cool period signaling Fall, we topped the tanks, slid the canopy closed, and let the Texas landscape slide beneath our wings on our way to GOPA Region 5’s “Grumman Gang” gathering at Pecan Plantation Airpark near Granbury. We made new friends and connected with old ones while munching on burgers at picnic tables under a shady pavilion at the end of the runway.

I had a great conversation with a young man who had brought his two-seat fixer-upper. A new private pilot, he bought the low-priced airplane to use for building flight hours. We talked about his maintenance, his hopes for the future, and his awe of the new-to-him world aloft. The discussion took me back 50 years when I saw the world of aviation through inexperienced eyes. 

Another gentleman, an older fellow, had a similar flying background as mine. Both of us spent much of our early flying years in Southern California. This man gave flight instruction at Torrance airport, a neighbor to the airport at Long Beach, where I taught people to fly. He flew charter flights out of Van Nuys Airport, while I flew canceled checks and cargo out of Burbank only six miles east. We exchanged tales about aviation legends we had met, challenging island, mountain, and desert destinations, the weather, and some airports that no longer exist.  

This Grumman Gang gathering brought 17 airplanes and 45 people from all generations to enjoy seeing the world again through memories and the hopes and dreams of those who are to follow. Now that’s our type of club. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 10, 2023 Celebration Hops

The Liberty Gazette

October 10, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: At the end of September, we celebrated 17 years of wedded bliss. My goodness, time flies! In that time, we’ve explored 16 countries in Europe and Southeast Asia, claimed the national gold title five times in the cross-country air racing championship in the Sport Air Racing League, published five books and over 850 articles, adopted five dogs, and so much more. Yet it feels like we just got started yesterday. 

The ups and downs life throws at us aren’t always as we would choose, and I thought Mike had a great idea for a way to celebrate our lives together thus far: take a day to bounce around a few airports. Mike enjoys logging landings at each airport in the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) Pilot Passport program. He’s been doing it for a few years now. He downloaded the app and uses it to check in, which earns him points, badges, and rewards. There’s also a community feature, so participants are encouraged to share their adventures with fellow aviators. In addition, the state aviation departments of Louisiana and North Dakota offer bonus badges and recognition for landing in the airports in their respective states. 

For our anniversary, he selected 10 airports and planned a route that would allow us to hop to each and get back home without having to stop for fuel. I would take the first five, and he would take the second five. 

Mike: It was still hot, 94 degrees, so taking off RWJ’s runway 8 and climbing out to the east, we wanted to get as much altitude as practical for the length of our first leg on the journey. Linda climbed to 3,500 feet, which gave us a brief respite from the heat, but it seemed so quick that we were suddenly upon our first airport of landing, Southland Field in Sulphur, Louisiana. We zipped down to pattern altitude, flew the traffic pattern for runway 33, joined by only a couple of other airplanes, landed, taxied back, and took off for airport number two, DeQuincy, a whole nine minutes away, even with a headwind. Twenty minutes to Welsh, and that scored her the honor of scooting in on the shortest runway of our adventure, 2,700 feet long and 50 feet wide. From there, she made the four-minute hop to Jennings. Six minutes from Welsh was Le Gros, giving her two very short skips in a row. The wind was beginning to pick up, but it was mostly right down the runway. It brought a fair amount of chop, but not much crosswind. This is where we got out and switched seats.

From Le Gros, we scooted southeast to Abbeville. The wind direction and intensity necessitated passing the next two airports, so from there, we flew northwest to Eunice and then to Chennault International before heading home. 

Louisiana has 67 airports and 7 museums on their badge list. I should rack up the points fast. It’ll take longer in Texas though, with 389 eligible airports.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 3, 2023 Remote Sensibilities

The Liberty Gazette

October 3, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Our recent trip to England via commercial airline was book-ended by our own flight to Denver and back. Fort Collins, to be exact. We needed an agreeable place to leave the Elyminator while we toured London and the spectacular English countryside, Cambridge, Ely, Stratford-Upon-Avon, the Cotswolds. We wanted to be “in place” to get to the famed Estes Park Scottish-Irish Highland Games, scheduled the day after the 787 Dreamliner (ala fun window-dimming technology) would whisk us out of Heathrow and drop us back in the Mile High City. We had an important appointment with thousands of other Scottish heritage lovers. 

Of all the smaller airports around Denver, Northern Colorado Regional Airport (Fort Collins/Loveland) offered the winning combination of proximity to Estes Park, along with services and amenities we would need, like a rental car for the weekend after England. The flight up wasn’t exciting, as we had a headwind the whole way. But we planned for the possibility of weather interference and arrived a full 24 hours before our international flight. 

Northern Colorado Regional has a remote air traffic control tower. I don’t know where the tower controller on duty actually is, but on approach, I spoke with a live human who cleared me to land. 

The Colorado Department of Transportation is hosting a Remote Tower Project, which they call “a revolutionary high-tech approach toward the future of air traffic control.” For sure, it cuts costs. No tall building to maintain and staff. That can make a difference for airports with seasonal traffic like the ones in Colorado. It’s a beautiful state, but the Rocky Mountains make it a challenging place to fly. The terrain is the most obvious threat. In adverse weather conditions, we definitely need to know where those big rocks are. But we also must pay attention to the reduction in aircraft performance due to altitude (thinner air means fewer air molecules to provide lift). 

With all the jagged, high peaks and low valleys, air traffic controllers who sat in towers at airport locations couldn’t see all the traffic with traditional radar. This project aims to prove that controllers can do a better, safer, more efficient job controlling the skies over their state if they have the right technology. They report that the Colorado Mountain Radar Project, of which the tower project is the third phase, has increased the volume of traffic safely, effecting a positive impact on the local economies.

They’re accomplishing this with a mix of satellite-based technology and ground-based video, so controllers can see aircraft in their airspace and at the airports they monitor. When they were deciding which airport would be the first testbed, the one in Fort Collins met all the criteria. It offered a great mix of aircraft and operational levels, nearness to a major airport, and local support.

While we remain averse to pilotless aircraft, I must admit, I had an uneventful experience taking off and landing at a remotely-controlled airport.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 26, 2023 Dateline: Greenwich

The Liberty Gazette

September 26, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: The impetus for a brief respite in England was to see the ancestral home of the Elys. That is, Ely, England. We built the whole trip around the one day we would spend in the small town with the giant cathedral. More on that in another episode. For starters, we knew better than to expect we’d have a ton of energy to do much our first day after an overnight flight, so we planned it light and leisurely. Arrive at Heathrow about 12:30 in the afternoon, catch the Heathrow Express across London to Greenwich, and do something touristy: straddle the Prime Meridian, so we can say we had one foot in each hemisphere at the same time. It’s the line of 0 degrees longitude, so it splits the earth from north to south, delineating the east and west. 

Flying is among the professions that use Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as a standard of reference. We use it for filing flight plans, getting weather reports and forecasts, and other tasks and communications. Wherever you are in the world, your location is measured from this position; you’re either east or west of the Prime Meridian. So, there we stood, at the center of time. Almost.

Mike: According to Royal Museums Greenwich (www.rmg.co.uk), the location for the original zero-longitude line was voted on by 23 nations in 1884. Before that, almost every town in the world kept its own local time. There was no international agreement on how time should be measured, when a day would begin and end, or even the length of an hour. By the mid-19th century, railways and communications networks were expanding, making an international standard for time absolutely necessary. Greenwich was selected because the U.S. had already decided to base our national time zone system on it, plus, observations made from there gave astronomers the ability to map the sky. That was important in a time when the vast majority of the world’s commerce moved by boat, meaning shipment of most goods was dependent on sea charts and sailors who could navigate by them.

A century later, after more precise measuring (by satellite) was available, the line was moved. The “true” Prime Meridian is only a bit more than the length of a football field to the east of the original line.

Linda: There’s an observatory, a museum, and a beautiful park in the lovely village of Greenwich. If you search the web for photos of the Prime Meridian, you’ll mostly find pictures of a thick brass line on concrete. That’s just outside the observatory and museum, on the back patio where you exit after touring the displays inside. The cost is £18 per person. But if you don’t intend to go inside, it’s easy enough to find the continuation of the line in the park below the observatory. It doesn’t cost a dime to straddle that, and you’ll have a few pounds saved for a pint at the Greenwich Tavern across the street.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 19, 2023 Gimme Some Shade

The Liberty Gazette

September 19, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: While being whisked away in a Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” for a much-needed vacation, I was intrigued by the electronic window dimming technology. No more shades to lift or pull. Just push a button below the window and you’ll send an electrical current through a layer of gel inside, between the multiple layers in the pane. The current causes a chemical reaction in the gel that changes its thickness and hence its opacity. The lowest voltage results in a clear view, while the highest voltage gives you pretty much total black-out. As we crossed the pond to London’s Heathrow, I played with the window dimming like it was a toy, pausing in the clear state to admire the enormous wing flexibility. I wonder what airplane lovers of the past would think of it. 

Mike: We visited the Churchill War Rooms Museum under the British Treasury building in the Whitehall area of Westminster on our visit to London. We were told it would take about 90 minutes to go through the exhibits. However, it was so interesting and informative we actually spent more than three hours and could have taken longer. Being in that bunker brings to life the world during what was then Britain’s “Darkest Hour.” It is a dark place lit by lamps where those assigned to the war room not only worked 16-18 hours a day, but for periods of time rarely saw daylight. Secretaries shared a sun lamp, each getting 20 minutes a day. While the building was fortified, it probably could not withstand a direct hit from a heavy bomb. We learned a lot more about Winston Churchill too, including his flying lessons. 

He took up flying lessons in 1913 at the Royal Naval Flying School in Kent after first being somewhat skeptical about the concept. He felt duty-bound to take his first flight but then became an enthusiast. But he wasn’t a natural, and he had several close brushes with disaster as did many flyers in the early days. He was finally convinced to give up training following a crash he had in 1919 in Paris. But he never stopped believing in the value of the airplane and supported it throughout his lifetime. 

He also took many opportunities to put his hands on the controls when he was a passenger. In December 1941, right after Pearl Harbor, he went to see President Roosevelt. His warship sailed through U-boat-patrolled waters to Norfolk, Virginia. After three weeks at the White House working out war strategies, when Churchill returned to England, he and his staff flew 18 hours in a Boeing 314, making him the first world leader to cross the Atlantic by air. On that flight, he took the controls of the lumbering giant as a relief pilot. Wearing his military sunglasses and chomping on his cigar, it is said that he enjoyed the view and a brief respite from the world’s troubles.

Linda: I guess his military shades were his own version of dimmable windows.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

Where Churchill slept

September 12, 2023 By George!

The Liberty Gazette

September 12, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: We’ve flown the Elyminator up to the Pacific Northwest a few times, and I’ll be darned if I didn’t just find out about something we’ve been missing, and it’s been literally right under our noses. We’ve flown over the area, but we didn’t know! Surrounded by Moses Lake, Wenatchee, and Ephrata – all of which are towns we’ve visited – in between Seattle and Spokane, sits George, Washington. It’s one square mile with a population of 516, and they clearly have a sense of humor. 

On the Fourth of July each year, the community of George, Washington hosts a celebration like no other. They start the morning with breakfast in the community park – biscuits and gravy or French toast. Then they take those full bellies for the two-mile “Cherry Bomb Run” to burn off some calories and make room for something special. But first, the Grand Parade. Anyone can join in the parade. They just have to be ready to line up at the Martha Inn staging area an hour before and sign a participation waiver. After the parade comes the signature event.

For sixty-six years, the community of George, Washington has been serving up the World’s Largest Cherry Pie. The pie is made by members of “the Georgettes,” a non-profit group that supports the town’s events and activities. They mix up 75 gallons of pie filling and bake it in an 8-foot by 8-foot pan in a specially-built brick Dutch oven for three hours, cool it for four, then serve it up fresh in the Pie Pavilion. Ice cream optional (but who wouldn’t want it?) It’s free, but a $1 donation per serving is suggested to help pay for the ingredients, which cost a bit over $800 this year. The whole pie weighs in at half a ton. Better be there by noon when they start serving or you’ll be out of luck! I really love the motto they’ve adopted: “If you believe that something is impossible, please do not interfere with those who are doing it.”

Of course, live entertainment by a few bands fills the afternoon, and then like all towns across America, a stunning fireworks show tops off the day. But it’s that whole big pie idea that gets the attention. I think if you’re going to name your town after America’s first president, you almost have to incorporate all the trimmings, and go big or go home – and that’s no lie! 

The city streets are named after varieties of cherry trees, and everyone knows the story of young George Washington supposedly having admitted that he chopped down a cherry tree, saying, “I cannot tell a lie.” History can be fun when it’s brought to life like this. And you can bet that there in George, Washington, they aren’t dealing with any of those kinds that think we should erase history. If our country survives the present and planned turmoil, George, Washington will be one place we can take our grandchildren to savor some history lessons.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 5, 2023 Rocking a Farmer's Wings

The Liberty Gazette

September 5, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: We flew to the northwest in the Elyminator in late spring to visit family we had not seen in a long time. After the loss of my older brother last year, we felt a more urgent need to spend time with those we love. That sense was almost prophetic as Aunt Delores passed away last month. With her gone, there is yet another piece of my past that seems to have been archived. 

My cousin’s grass farm in the fertile Willamette River Valley of western Oregon has been like a second home. When I was a kid, our family vacations were to the farm. We built hay-bale forts in the loft of the huge red barn, plinked with 22s, went fishing and swimming in the river that bordered one side of the property, and drove farm equipment, even as a preteen. It wasn’t uncommon to see a combine lumbering down a country road with a 12-year-old at the helm. 

One of my first experiences with airplanes was at an airport not far from the farm. At a jump zone in a neighboring town, we’d lay in a cut alfalfa field with our eyes scanning skyward. Black dots that emerged from a high-flying plane would get larger until their multi-colored parachutes blossomed and the jumpers zoomed, spun, and floated to a patch nearby. The glass-nosed, twin-engine plane landed and took another load aloft. There was a kid sitting in the nose looking out that window. How I wished I was him. 

Later, when I started to fly, the farm in Oregon became one of my favorite destinations. My first flight there was in a Cessna 172 from Fullerton in Southern California. I took Aunt Delores for a ride, to see the farm from a different perspective. She loved it.

Later, I took my sister and a coworker, along with her four-year-old son, in a bigger, faster plane. We made a fuel stop in northern California, so we could drop my coworker off for a grandparents visit. Sis and I continued toward the farm, landing at the nearby McMinnville Airport. At the farm, one of my cousins and I each hopped on a three-wheeler ATV and went out to measure the length of one of the recently harvested fields. I went back to the airport and flew the Cessna 210 to that field and anchored it to a windrower and a tractor while enjoying our farm-stay. 

The day we departed, we had a family reunion, where we gathered for a feast in the shade of towering old oak trees. In the afternoon, everyone accompanied us out to the field to watch us take off. As we lifted off and the landing gear folded up into the airplane, someone thought the wheels had broken until someone else explained that was normal. I climbed out a little way, banked the airplane, and made a zooming pass, rocking our wings to say, “so long.” I imagine Aunt Delores is now rocking her wings, too.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

August 29, 2023 "A" is for "Airplane"

The Liberty Gazette

August 29, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

“A” is for “Airplane.” So are “N” and “C” and “G” and many other letters. Have you ever noticed letters and numbers on airplanes and wondered what they meant?

Every airplane has an alpha-numerical identification similar to license plates on cars. It’s often called a tail number and is assigned when the airplane is registered to a new owner. When an airplane is new, it must have the number painted on a vertical surface, such as the tail or side of the airplane. 

Like cars, airplanes’ registration numbers help governmental entities tax people more. Unlike cars, when we’re traveling in our airplane, we are identified by air traffic control by our tail number. Scooting along the complex network of highways in the sky, when we press that mic button to communicate with a controller, we don’t say, “This is Linda,” or “This is Mike.” We say November-Two-Six-Niner-Fife-Eight, the correct pronunciation for our tail number. It’s also commonly referred to as a callsign. There’s a whole published glossary for pilot-controller communications for the standardized way in which we talk. But the “November” part of it is to identify the airplane’s home country, the U.S.A. “C” denotes an aircraft registered in Canada, while a “G”-registered airplane comes from Great Britain. This was decided in 1944 during the Chicago Convention of the International Civil Aeronautics Organization, a branch of the United Nations. 

But there were tail numbers before then. The idea came from the use of callsigns by radio operators. All around the world, as early as 1913, radio callsigns began with a letter, followed by four more letters, and each country was assigned its own first letter. This was the first format used in the aviation industry. 

In the U.S., owners can apply for a special letter-number combination of up to five characters after the N, but most airplanes keep the number series assigned to the manufacturer when the airplane was built. If an airplane is de-registered, that N-number can be assigned to another aircraft. 

There may be between two and five characters after the N, but the first of those must be a number between one and nine. There may be up to two letters, but they have to be at the end of the callsign. For instance, John Travolta, who started flying at age 15, has a fleet of a dozen or so jets and other aircraft all of which sport tail numbers ending in “JT”. His Bombardier Challenger 601 is N392JT.

So why an “N” for us? Because the U.S. Navy was the first to use it as an identifier way back in 1909.

Callsigns can also be nicknames. For airliners, these are followed by the flight number. British Airways still uses “Speedbird” from their glory days of the Concorde. UPS used to have the callsign “Brown Tail,” which unfortunately induced much mocking (and which we heard they paid an ad agency a lot of money to come up with). Now they use UPS. More letters for the alphabet soup.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

August 22, 2023 Safer Flights, Lower Costs

The Liberty Gazette

August 22, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Have you ever wondered why so many airplanes are mostly white? Well, there are a few reasons, and you can probably guess some of them. 

First off, as the saying goes, follow the money. When you consider that over time, aircraft have to be repainted, the cost of paint can really add up. Especially for larger jets, which can take 120 gallons to cover, costing a couple hundred thousand dollars each time the paint job is redone. If you go with white, it lasts longer than colors, which dull and fade at a faster rate. Fewer paint jobs over the life of a single airplane, not to mention a whole fleet, makes accountants happy.

Interestingly, white paint also weighs less than colored paint because of no pigment additives to bump up the scales. We’re talking a difference of several hundred pounds, over a thousand for larger aircraft. This affects fuel burn, because the heavier it is, the more fuel required to make it fly. For airliners, an all-white plane versus a colorful one can be the equivalent of the weight of eight passengers. Passengers pay for tickets and paint doesn’t, so that’s easy math.

And of course, a used airplane which doesn’t require much change in paint is easier to re-sell. 

Another aspect to consider is heat. White reflects the sun, that heater in the sky you’re a little closer to in an airplane than you are on the ground. Darker colors absorb more heat, requiring more energy to make the inside comfortable. Remember the Concorde? (Incidentally, it is making a comeback.) Highly reflective white paint was crucial on that airplane because flying at Mach 2 produces a lot of heat. The nose and leading edges could reach over 260 degrees Fahrenheit at supersonic speeds. Air France’s Concorde was briefly sporting Pepsi-blue (just for a couple of weeks), which restricted the high speed it was known for to only 20 minutes. 

The most important reason to champion white paint is for safety. It’s much easier for maintenance crews to see damage on an airplane painted white than on darker colors and multi-colored paint schemes, and to find and fix leaks and cracks. White is also easier for birds to see and avoid. Remember that bird strikes happen lower in the sky than your ultimate cruise altitude, so take-off and landing are when these collisions are a risk. Birds are usually above the airplanes at that point, so looking down, with the earth below the airplane, white will get their attention better than something that blends with the colors of the ground. Come to think of it, that applies to search and rescue as well. 

Colorful paint, then, could be argued to be an unnecessary expense. So why do some companies opt for colors? Brand identification and the attraction of snazziness. Who doesn’t love the lively paintings of Star Wars, the Smurfs, Hello Kitty, and Iceland Air’s stunning Northern Lights? Kinda puts you in the mood for a fun flight. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

August 15, 2023 New Life for an Old Favorite

The Liberty Gazette

August 15, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: The Consolidated PBY Catalina is an amphibious WWII maritime patrol bomber first built 90 years ago (“PB” for patrol bomber; “Y” the code assigned to manufacturer Consolidated Aircraft). It was used in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters to spot and track enemy U-boats and naval ship movement.

I fell in love with the Catalina, a lumbering old beast, when I read a Flying Magazine article about the Flying Calypso, owned and operated by famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. Jacques’ second son, Phillippe Cousteau, was the pilot of their PBY-6A. The article was about the plane and how they used it for exploration. Its speed, barely over 100 knots, was about five times faster than their explorer ship, the Calypso. The airplane gave them more options. They sometimes carried a single-seat gyrocopter on board when they needed to film in remote locations. They’d take it out and assemble it on the spot. The little gyrocopter was more maneuverable and worked better for tight filming shoots. Today’s explorers would use a drone for this type of filming, but the PBY gave them plenty of space to carry the copter and was quite practical at the time. 

When I was in college, I met a retired airline pilot who flew PBYs during the Korean conflict and later piloted one in a two-ship formation trip around the world. That journey took months with them splashing down in such exotic locations as Kwajalein in the Pacific, and Hong Kong. The romance and challenges of such a trip would make any pilot envious. 

The PBY mystique has been the inspiration for television shows and movies because of the way it skims a lake’s surface and sends out long jets of spray as it skids at high speed around corners in a river. It starred in the short-lived series titled, “Spencer’s Pilot,” and the humorous opening scene of the movie “Always.” The airplane’s long wings, mounted on a pylon high above the fuselage, and general rough-and-tough look make the perfect introduction for a swashbuckling pilot character. 

I have always wanted to fly the plane and once trained a Learjet crew who also flew a PBY for their employer. They thought there was a possibility I might fly with them, but it never developed beyond talking. My chances to fly one have become fewer, as all but a handful of Catalinas have been retired from flying due to age. But now, Florida-based Catalina Aircraft has acquired the original type certificate for the PBY. The company plans to revive the Catalina in both civilian and military versions using modern materials, turboprop engines, and today’s technology. The to-be-reintroduced aircraft will pack more power, run smoother, and be lighter, making them more efficient and perform better. This will expand their mission capabilities.   

It is still in the planning stages, but if the production line is once again started, perhaps I may yet get to fly one, and future generations will benefit from and come to love this unique aircraft as I do.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

August 8, 2023 And the Winner is...

The Liberty Gazette

August 8, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Skytrax launched its first global customer satisfaction survey in 1999. Their work has become a quality benchmark in the airport industry, surveying travelers at over 500 airports and handing out “Top 100” awards in over 22 categories. These are passenger choice awards, so they focus on airports with commercial passenger service. Airports such as Bush and Hobby, but not Liberty Municipal. Still, we believe there’s something in this for everyone, for every airport manager, because we can all seek new ideas and aspire to greatness. 

A long list of survey topics covers facilities, prices, and services ranging from an airport’s website and app to their public address system for boarding and other calls. Every aspect that reaches the customer is surveyed and ranked. 

The best all-around airport for 2023 was awarded to Singapore’s Changi Airport. They have been voted #1 for 9 out of the last 11 years. Tokyo’s Haneda Airport is consistently voted the cleanest airport in the world, and the Istanbul Airport has been named this year’s “World’s Most Family Friendly Airport.”

Seattle’s Sea-Tac is the highest-ranking U.S. airport, landing at number 18. But two major Houston airports each bumped up one spot over last year, with Hobby arriving at #32 and Bush at #35. Within specific categories, Houston Airport System (HAS) clinched an historical Number One spot for a brand-new category, “World’s Best Art in an Airport” in 2023. 

HAS has a remarkable defined art program. With more than 350 pieces on display, it’s one of the largest public art collections in the global aviation industry. Appraised value: $28 million. We’ll suspend the discussion of use of taxpayer money for now, but rest assured it has not escaped us that the city of Houston is doing something entirely different than encouraging students to submit their best work. Mario Diaz, Director of Aviation for Houston Airports, likes to pair the magic of flight with the magic of art, where celebration of the two is greater than the sum of their parts. The city made an effort to support a few artists during the height of the biological warfare deception by commissioning 10 major permanent works. They also have the only airport artist-in-residence program. 

In addition to visual art, music is noteworthy in Houston’s airports. The group Harmony in the Air moves around to perform on stages at all terminals at Bush and Hobby. We were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed their music last December as we headed out for Christmas break.

On a slightly smaller but no less important scale, the Texas Department of Transportation’s Aviation Division recognizes significant efforts by airport managers and sponsors (cities and counties) for general aviation airports. In April, Tradewind Airport in Amarillo was named “Airport of the Year,” and Robert Vargas, who manages the Andrews County Airport, is this year’s “Airport Professional of the Year.” 

Whether striving to offer the best shopping or dining, the lowest costs, or best security, recognition encourages people to do their best and feeds enthusiasm for these goals.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

August 1, 2023 Tips to Avoid Getting Your Goose Cooked (by blue ice)

The Liberty Gazette

August 1, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

This week we have a few airline travel tips for you. If you’re over the age of 25, you probably remember the fate of US Airways Flight 1549, the “Miracle on the Hudson.” Hard to believe it’s been fourteen and a half years. And because the dramatic incident was ripe for a movie, most people know the cause of the water landing was Canada geese ingested into both engines of the Airbus A320. 

Birds and airplanes pose a serious risk to each other. This fact has motivated decision-makers at some airports to find creative ways to shoo the fowl away from arriving and departing flight paths. At Reagan National Airport, there’s a cannon set up to automatically fire blanks at various intervals. But we’ve heard tell that the birds can become accustomed to the sound, so it may be less effective than, say, the solution used at Salt Lake City’s major airport, where they let nature take its course. Pigs who live at the airport are well fed and happy rooting around to fill their bellies with more gull eggs. 

At the Lourdes-Pyrenees airport, at the base of the Great Pyrenees Mountains in the southwestern part of France, you might see bright LED screens with pairs of animated cartoonish-looking eyes. The pattern, concentric black circles moving around on a white background, makes raptors avoid the area because it looks to them like an imminent collision. In Bologna, Italy, two hawks keep guard over the airport. Pigeons and other common birds pretty much stay away. But if they do try to venture into airport property, the hawks will take care of them before an airplane does. A drone bird in Debrecen (Hungary), a Border Collie in Bentonville (Arkansas), bird effigies, and lasers are among other inventive tools that have proven successful at keeping our feathered friends and us safe in the air. 

And what do we do about lightning? Wicks. Wicks installed on airplanes draw the lightning bolts to the trailing edges of the wings and tail. When a charge strikes, it slips across the outer skin of the plane and surges to those wicks, being whisked away instantly. Most commercial airliners are hit by lightning at least once a year. It’s basically a non-event.

You remember Ma told you never to eat yellow ice? Well don’t eat blue ice either. You know that liquid will freeze at high altitude because of the temperatures. And you know that the toilets on airliners flush with blue disinfectant. In the event of a leak in the airplane’s sewer system, watch out below – it’s gotta go somewhere – and don’t mistake it for blue popsicles. 

One more. On your boarding pass is a record locator. It’s all about you. Your passenger record includes your flight itineraries, date of birth, contact information, hotel credit card information, passport details, and IP address if you book online. For this reason, a boarding pass is something you should keep in your control and shred when you’re finished with it.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

July 25, 2023 That's One Fast Bird

The Liberty Gazette

July 25, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

A couple of weeks ago we alluded to an interesting exchange of ownership of a certain P51C “Thunderbird.” 

Jimmy Stewart, who acted in nearly a hundred movies and TV shows between 1935 and 1991, interrupted playtime when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He was a bomber pilot during WWII, eventually reaching the rank of Brigadier General, the highest rank of any celeb. He was a rare bird, decorated with several military medals.

A couple of years after his fabulous performance in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Stewart went in halfsies with another pilot, Joe De Bona, to buy this P51C. They gussied it up, allegedly with 48 coats of primer and cobalt blue paint, which allegedly made it fly faster, and entered it in the Bendix Trophy Race (1949), which went from Burbank, California to Cleveland, Ohio. De Bona won the race in just over four hours and sixteen minutes, an average speed of 470 mph and a new record. He beat second-place Stan Reaver by eleven minutes.

Two months later, they sold the plane to Jackie Cochran for “$1 and other considerations.” It was her third P51. She wanted it for setting two international records and a U.S. National record. Soon as she checked that off the list, she sold it right back to the Stewart-De Bona team for “$1 and other considerations” just in time for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. No, the queen didn’t go air racing, but her image sure did.

The coronation was the biggest news of June 2, 1953. The ceremony and celebrations were broadcast live in the UK, but the technology at the time made it expensive to televise live in the U.S. They’d need a copy of the film, and you know how competitive the networks are. CBS hired Joe De Bona in the record-breaking P51C. NBC hired second-place-Stan in another P51. Rivals for rivals!

Each plane was loaded with a copy of the film at the Royal Air Force Canberra in Goose Bay, Canada.

The race was on from there to Boston. They left Goose Bay around 2:00 p.m. When it became apparent that ice was slowing Stan’s flight, before 4:00 p.m., an executive with NBC called someone at ABC and made some kind of deal that resulted in access to the coverage provided by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which would mean they wouldn’t have to wait for Stan to land. But after all the trouble they went to, the Canadian broadcaster was showing Canadian celebrations, not the ones in London. De Bona landed at 4:13 p.m., and CBS rushed to broadcast. But just then, the Canadian broadcaster switched over to London coverage at 4:19, giving NBC a four-minute lead over CBS, even while their own film was still in the air. Second-Place-Stan landed at 4:37 p.m.

The next year, De Bona flew the Thunderbird from Los Angeles to New York in four hours, 24 minutes, and 17 seconds. The record, just over 561 mph, still stands for west-to-east prop-driven aircraft.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com