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