Schofields Flying Club Ltd - 60 Birch Street Bankstown Airport 2200
(PO Box 200, Georges Hall, NSW 2198 AUSTRALIA)
Phone: +61 2 9709 8488  Email:

SCHOFIELDS FLYING CLUB NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY 2010


Welcome to the February 2010 edition of Schofields News. There are the most of the usual plus some new features - by Mike Allsop, (Fokker M 16) by Anthony Coleiro, by Peter Blackbourn, by Latrodectus, by Grahame Smith, contributed by Latrodectus, by Mike Allsop, (Part 2) by Roy Fox, contributed by Latrodectus, and from Latrodectus. As well, there's some of the usual administrivia that you used to expect. So, read on and enjoy!

LAST LIGHT DRINKS is a social activity introduced by the Clubhouse & In-house Events sub committee for members and their guests to join together with some of our committee members on the last Sunday of each month. Morning Glory clouds approaching Burketown
Morning Glory clouds approaching Burketown
It is an opportunity to discuss flying at an operational and social level and see the changes that are taking place at the club. Drinks are available from our licensed bar, with complimentary savories served. It's a couple of hours of social interaction with an aviation theme that we can all enjoy. From 17:00 to wind up around 19:00. Come and join us on February 28.

FIRST SOLOS: Congratulations to all the pilots who soloed recently. Well done!

DUTY PILOT DRAW: The Volunteer Duty Pilot Monthly Draw ($50 free flying) went to the following members: December 2009 - Stephen Penfold and Leslie McQueen. January 2010 - John Rochford and Tim Hildebrandt. The Club appreciates the efforts our tireless band of volunteers generously give in helping their Club and this is one small way of saying thank you!

NEW MEMBERS: Welcome to December 2009 / January 2010 new members Barry Goldman, Anthony Sadler, Abdul Aadir Shaikh, Nicholas Mather, Dennis Bergot, Kelly Hulme, Brian Olson, Timothy Biason, Nathan Clift, Lisa Sanson, Adam Krawczyk, David Griss, Terrence Danne, Said Trad, Matthew Irla, John Smolders, Kunal Yeolo, Gad Mwangi, John D_d_s, Luis Heredia Sanchez, Danial Martin, Steven Reh, Nicholas Pech, Thomas England, Adriel DaCosta, Daniel Sonnante and Joey McCoy, Ronald Graham, Alexander MacInnes, Perry Valeontis, George Raby, Toby Wright and Anu Pam Chhibber. Prospective New Members of the Club can download a Membership (174kB pdf) here. Note that it is still necessary for new members to attend the Club in person with photo identification before applications can be processed.

DIARY DATES: The Club has a number of social and flying activities planned for the first few months of 2010 and you can check out the full details on our page.

Sat 06 Mar 10 Duty Pilot Function Clubhouse
Sun 07 Mar 10 Club Competition Warnervale
Mon 08 Mar 10 Nominations for Committee close at 9:00am Clubhouse
Sat 13 Mar 10 PPL Course starts Clubhouse
Mon 15 Mar 10 Board Meeting Clubhouse
Sat 27 Mar 10 Sydney Airport Tarmac Tour YSSY

Fri 02 Apr 10 Good Friday  
Mon 05 Apr 10 Easter Monday  
Fri 09 Apr 10 Night Circuits Bankstown
Sun 11 Apr 10 GPS Course Clubhouse
Mon 12 Apr 10 Annual General Meeting - from 7:30pm Clubhouse
Sun 18 Apr 10 Club Competition Warnervale
Mon 19 Apr 10 Board Meeting Clubhouse

NEXT CLUB COMPETITION: Our next flying competition will be our regular competition at Warnervale on Sunday, 7 March. Our last competition was a Brekkie Special at Bankstown on Sunday, 31 January. Overall winner was David Jaffray with 123 points, second John Carswell with 116 points and third Justin McCoy with 115 points. Justin also won the glide approach with 71 points and Colin Bruce the Blind Circuit with 101 points.

PRESIDENT'S NOTES - MIKE ALLSOP


Mike Allsop
Mike Allsop
Hi everyone, and welcome to a very active 2010 for your Club. During January Nelson and the Board were busy settling the business of strategy and budgets for the year ahead, and we are pleased to say the outlook looks quite promising. If you can make it to the AGM on 12th April, I will go through a lot of this for you and seek your feedback as well. Despite the poor weather over the last couple of weeks we are off to a great start.

CFI Charles Thompson has put together a comprehensive ground school programme throughout the year covering subjects suited to those members just starting out as well as those looking to upgrade their qualifications. Our Garmin GPS courses (1 day) are always popular as well, and I recommend all Club pilots become conversant with the operations of the GNS430 as fitted to the majority of aircraft in our fleet. There is an IFR ground school currently running for CIR and PIFR candidates. We do recommend all private pilots consider eventually upgrading to Night VFR and PIFR qualifications if at all possible, which can be done on most of our Warriors as well as Archers and Arrows. These are great qualifications to have. We also recommend all commercial students carry through to CIR with multi-engine endorsement.
SPELLING CHECKER
Eye halve a spelling checker
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marcs four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
It's rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My checker tolled me sew.
Again, much of the CIR can be undertaken economically in a single before completion in a twin. Please feel free to talk to Danial, Charles or Nelson about the qualifications of most interest to you.

You may remember that between Christmas and New Year a funeral was held for Craig Chapman, one of our instructors, who died suddenly just before Christmas. We were very pleased to offer to Craig's wife and family the honour of a "Missing Man" flypast at the funeral by a team of formation pilots. The formation was led by Neil Collins in Cessna JNB with Rodney Hyde, James Joyce and Peter Johnson in Warriors behind. Peter flew the break for the missing man, and the whole exercise was done very professionally. A large contingent of Craig's colleagues from the Club attended the funeral, and our overall contribution and recognition was greatly appreciated by his family and friends.

We held an aircraft washing day (see separate article) on Feb 6th despite the consistent threat of rain. All the Club's aircraft were thoroughly spruced up by a willing team of volunteers, which is most appreciated. All without prompting wanted to do it again for the fun of it, which was most gratifying. On a closing note we want all our members to be able to enjoy their flying and the company of others at every opportunity. For those wanting to broaden their experience, sharing a short trip with other members can be a great lot of fun as well. Perhaps you might like to join in a trip to Wollongong in late Feb for their "Wings over Illawarra" airshow - call the Club and make your wishes known. Of course if you already have a group of friends and family lined up for this - have a good trip.

Safe flying always

Mike Allsop
President, Schofields Flying Club

X-FILE X92 - FOKKER M 16 - ANTHONY COLEIRO


FM 16
The Fokker M 16 was specifically designed for the Austro-Hungarian Army as a tandem two-set fighter. It was one of a series of biplanes designed adopted by Anthony Fokker in an attempt to find a replacement for his successful monoplanes. One version of the aircraft was ordered by the Austro-Hungarians, but the order was cancelled after a crash in testing.

The M 16 was an angular two-bay equal span unstaggered biplane of welded steel fuselage, wooden wings and fabric skin. Fokker M16
An angular two-bay equal span unstaggered biplane
Initially, it was to be powered by a 160 hp Mercedes DIII six-cylinder water cooled engine and be controlled by wing warping but it was subsequently fitted with a 200 hp Austro-Daimler six-cylinder water cooled engine and the wing warping idea was dropped and instead was replaced by mass balanced ailerons on the upper wing.

The M 16 was shipped to the Austro-Hungarians in April 1916 for their evaluation. It was fitted with a single synchronised Schwarzlose machine gun mounted on the port side of the fuselage with another machine gun of the same type fitted to a flexible mount in the rear cockpit.

Allegedly, 26 of these aircraft were ordered but other than the prototype, none were produced. Unfortunately no performance data for the aircraft survives today.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Complete Book of Fighters - William Green Gordon Swanborough
Air International - September 1979 - Fine Scroll Ltd.

Anthony Coleiro

FLIGHT REVIEW TIME AGAIN - PETER BLACKBOURN


Peter Blackbourn
Peter
Blackbourn
It only seems like yesterday when I did my last BFR now renamed AFR consistent with the world of change we live in. I took the same approach as past flight reviews to swot over my flight notes from my training days, past BRF's and recent operational changes to flight procedures. I never really look forward to these assessments, but always gain something from them. Old dogs can always learn new tricks.

The array of technology we can now use in preparation from the comfort of our home is quite substantial. For this recent event my tech list had the following aides:

High Resolution Digital Photos of the cockpit layout for my chosen aircraft, in this case Archer VH-SFR
Garmin GNS Trainer program for the GNS430 radio and GPS
Download and complete the weight & balance and take off & landing charts. Also A/C performance specs.
Practice lodgement of flight plans using the "nosend" call sign
Download and print destination aerodrome diagrams from Airservices web

Whilst the above certainly helps in mentally preparing, there is no substitute for hands on experience. As I had not flown for some months I arranged a revision lesson with my instructor Jeff Swain. This was a good investment and let me focus on the areas that needed attention. Not too many but enough to say I was glad I did it.

After all this preparation I was actually looking forward to the flight review. My flight plan was to be south to Wollongong for a touch and go, then to Mittagong and back to Bankstown. For our initial booking I had everything ready but the weather got the upper hand and it was a week later that we got airborne.

The prior practice and planning (my 3 P's) was time well spent. Apart from a small oversight in the selection of overhead rocker switches on SFR during the run ups, all went well. We took off on RWY 11L and before I knew it we were overflying the old YHOX and taking up our southbound track. My chosen aircraft, Archer VH-SFR
My chosen aircraft, Archer VH-SFR
This leg allowed some breathing space for me to get up to speed with the usual in flight actions and prepare for my approach to YWOL. Inbound call, approach altitude especially overflying the escarpment, determining the duty RWY and joining the circuit for my touch and go. The 3 P's certainly paid off and it was an overhead departure to YMIG where we did a fly over inspection of the airfield before heading off to my diversion being the training area.

Some low level flying along the way, then the usual unusual attitudes, some instrument flight and of course the engine failure which all make you work harder.

Our return to YSBK was via 2RN which was good for me as I usually return from the north and am more familiar with PSP. My 3 P's worked again and our return to YSBK was as per the book. Landing on 11L meant being ahead of the aircraft for pre landing checks. No downwind leg can sometimes test ones attention to detail in this regard. With the approach numbers setup correctly for short final it was a smooth landing, one that was extra pleasing in view of my passenger. My log book is now stamped for another two years.

AFR's are not only a review, but a great learning opportunity where I have always taken away something new from each one I have had over the years.

Peter Blackbourn
Flying Member

EMERGENCY UNDERCARRIAGE EXTENSION - BY LATRODECTUS


Arrow retractable undercarriage
Arrow retractable undercarriage
Referring to section 4.12 for advice on undercarriage systems it is suggested that, on some aircraft (such as the Piper Arrow), emergency lowering of the undercarriage is a simple process. However, in other cases it may well be a long and involved procedure. However, a pilot must be familiar with limiting speeds and minimum speeds to reduce air loads, the normal and emergency undercarriage system, warning and undercarriage down indicators and the time frame required to complete the emergency lowering procedure. The best way of achieving these goals is to actually experience a practice emergency undercarriage lowering. It should be a standard part of endorsement training and never overlooked. In some cases, manual undercarriage lowering requires significant maintenance action to return the aircraft to operation condition. In these circumstances, it may be preferable to simulate the manual undercarriage extension procedure while an aircraft is on jacks (during maintenance).

Flight instructors must give guidance to trainees on flying techniques that should be taken into account. For example, there may be a need to yaw or pitch the aircraft to lock the undercarriage down. This exercise is often overlooked by flight instructors, possibly because it can be time consuming and can require ground servicing to allow the undercarriage to be retracted, but the demonstration should be done at least once during endorsement training.

From , the requirements for the issue of a special design feature endorsement are that the applicant must:
(i)hold an appropriate licence;
(ii)undertake flying training ... in the operating limitations, procedures and systems of an aeroplane fitted with the ... design feature;
(iii)satisfy the [instructor] who conducted the above training that the [applicant] can safely fly an aeroplane fitted with the special design feature.

Refer to for advice on 'being satisfied'.

There are also 'duty of care' issues. In the case of Shaddock v Parramatta Council (1982) Magistrate J. Mason ruled that 'Whenever a person gives information or advice to another upon a serious matter in circumstances Arrow emergency gear extension
Arrow emergency gear extension
where the speaker realises, or ought to realise, that he is being trusted to give the best of his information or advice for action on the part of the other party and it is reasonable in the circumstances for the other party to act on that information or advice, the speaker comes under a duty to exercise reasonable care in the provision of the information or advice he chooses to give.'

In determining whether there has been a breach of duty of care the courts apply a 'but for' test: Would the incident have occurred but for the act or omission of the defendant? The law also requires an unbroken causal connection between the negligent action of the defendant and the plaintiff's damage. So, for example, if a flying school provides incomplete training, and the aircraft crashes as a result of this, the flying school organisation would be liable for damages. However, if the incomplete training did not contribute to the accident, there would be no liability. In short, duty of care requires that you must take reasonable care to avoid acts and omissions that the reasonable person would reasonable foresee would be likely to result in injury or harm.

From , the holder of a class endorsement (for instance, SE <5700kg) may not fly as pilot in command (or co-pilot) of any aeroplane included in the class unless s/he:
(i)is familiar with the systems, normal and emergency flight manoeuvres ... of the aircraft to be flown;
(ii)if the aeroplane has as special design feature, then the pilot has the special design feature endorsement.

This suggests that a check flight in an aircraft with a retractable undercarriage special design feature should include an assessment of the pilot's proficiency in operating the emergency undercarriage extension system.

Latrodectus Hasseltii

FUN FLIGHT DAY - GRAHAME SMITH


On Sunday, 8 November 2009 Schoies hosted 162 sick cancer and heart kids and their carers for the Annual FunFlight day. The event was organized Australia wide by the Fun Flight Organization Fun Flight kids and their carers at Schoies
Fun Flight kids and their carers at Schoies
and locally in collaboration with the Starlight Foundation and Schoies.

The kids had a ball. Face painting, drawing competitions, a song and dance show, fire engines, police cars, motor cycles and a jumping castle. A photos is attached showing some of the fun. Lots more photos will be posted soon on the web site.

The weather was not too kind and we only managed to get a few flights off the ground. However, undaunted our volunteer pilots saved the day by loading up their aircraft with excited passengers and taking them for BIG LONG taxi rides right around all the airport and its sights.

On behalf of the Club I publicly thank all the volunteers who helped make this such a great day for the kids. They are too numerous to mention here but you guys did a fabulous job. The pilots without whom the day would not be possible; the check-in girls, ushers and tarmac marshals who managed the flow of guests. Starlight Foundation volunteers, also present, worked directly with the kids to make their visit enjoyable and comfortable. We were also fortunate indeed to have the Baulkham Hills Lions Club present to assist the Schoies kitchen crew in providing a magnificent BBQ lunch.

Also special vote of thanks to the members who donated funds to help cover costs and the following companies who graciously donated food, cash or substantial discounts to feed the hungry horde:

Georges Hall Take Away (great chickens)
Woolworths Bass Hill
Franklins Bass Hill

It was indeed a special day and it was quite moving to see these seriously-ill children with smiles on their little faces.

Grahame Smith
Director Assisting

WHAT A CONCEPT - PILOTS' CHECKLIST - CONTRIBUTED BY LATRODECTUS


Boeing Model 229 became the B-17
Boeing Model 229 became the B-17
On October 30, 1935, at Wright Air Field in Dayton, Ohio, the U.S. Army Air Corps held a flight competition for airplane manufacturers vying to build its next-generation long-range bomber. It wasn't supposed to be much of a competition. In early evaluations, the Boeing Corporation's gleaming aluminum-alloy Model 299 had trounced the designs of Martin and Douglas. Boeing's plane could carry five times as many bombs as the Army had requested; it could fly faster than previous bombers, and almost twice as far. A Seattle newspaperman who had glimpsed the plane called it the "flying fortress," and the name stuck. The flight "competition," according to the military historian Phillip Meilinger, was regarded as a mere formality. The Army planned to order at least sixty-five of the aircraft.

A small crowd of Army brass and manufacturing executives watched as the Model 299 test plane taxied onto the runway. It was sleek and impressive, with a hundred-and-three-foot wingspan and four engines jutting out from the wings, rather than the usual two. The plane roared down the tarmac, lifted off smoothly and climbed sharply to three hundred feet. Then it stalled, turned on one wing and crashed in a fiery explosion. Two of the five crew members died, including the pilot, Major Ployer P. Hill.

An investigation revealed that nothing mechanical had gone wrong. The crash had been due to "pilot error," the report said. Substantially more complex than previous aircraft, the new plane required the pilot to attend to the four engines, a retractable landing gear, new wing flaps, electric trim tabs that needed adjustment to maintain control at different airspeeds, and constant-speed propellers whose pitch had to be regulated with hydraulic controls, among other features.

While doing all this, Hill had forgotten to release a new locking mechanism on the elevator and rudder controls. A pilot's checklist, with step-by-step checks for takeoff, flight, landing, and taxiing The Boeing model was deemed, as a newspaper put it, "too much airplane for one man to fly." The Army Air Corps declared Douglas' smaller design the winner. Boeing nearly went bankrupt.

Still, the Army purchased a few aircraft from Boeing as test planes, and some insiders remained convinced that the aircraft was flyable. So a group of test pilots got together and considered what to do.

They could have required Model 299 pilots to undergo more training. But it was hard to imagine having more experience and expertise than Major Hill, who had been the U.S. Army Air Corps' Chief of Flight Testing. Instead, they came up with an ingeniously simple approach: they created a pilot's checklist, with step-by-step checks for takeoff, flight, landing, and taxiing. Its mere existence indicated how far aeronautics had advanced.

In the early years of flight, getting an aircraft into the air might have been nerve-racking, but it was hardly complex. Using a checklist for takeoff would no more have occurred to a pilot than to a driver backing a car out of the garage. But this new plane was too complicated to be left to the memory of any pilot, however expert.

With the checklist in hand, the pilots went on to fly the Model 299 a total of 18 million miles without one accident. The Army ultimately ordered almost thirteen thousand of the aircraft, which it dubbed the B-17. And, because flying the behemoth was now possible, the Army gained a decisive air advantage in the Second World War which enabled its devastating bombing campaign across Nazi Germany.

AIRCRAFT WASHING DAY - MIKE ALLSOP


On Saturday 6th February a group of dedicated volunteers got into their cars early in the morning and drove to the Club in heavy rain. Why? Well, they all believed that it would be clear over Bankstown and besides which they were looking forward to a bit of fun and company "mucking about with aeroplanes". They were right on all counts. The drizzle stopped at about 0920 in time for an 0930 start, and held off all day. A few others saw the view from their lounge rooms that morning and decided on the "you've got to be joking" course of action. Never mind, we'll be back in touch!

We were able to work on 7 of the Club's aircraft that day - Cessna JNB, Warriors FTU, IJK and SFK, Archers SFA and SFR, and Arrow SFJ. We even collected Warrior SFM straight from the paint shop with its smart new door - needless to say it was already spotless. The plan was to have a couple of teams work on de-greasing, washing, polishing and interiors on 2 aircraft in parallel. The wet ground and strong winds restricted us to the general wash and interior jobs only, but that worked really well.
Aircraft washing day
The finer points of cleaning an aircraft were explained to everyone, including the avoidance of the stall warning vane on the Pipers (they are liable to snag a towel and get damaged at great expense) and how to clean the Perspex without scratching. Many learnt that it is best to start underneath the wings first (outboard to inboard) and then move topside, rather than the other way round, while all worked out pretty quickly which way the suds were blowing in the strong sou-easterly. A real production line eventuated in our washing area, held up only by Dave Ryan and his attention to interior detailing. In the finest factory tradition, we moved that activity away from the main production area and left him with a backlog which he happily devoured.

A BBQ lunch was provided for us by Greg Leversha, and we had the IFR course folk as quizzical spectators at various times. The instructors on duty that day were a bit short of flying activity due weather, so they very sensibly used the time to absent themselves from any involvement in the goings-on outside! Nevertheless, ground briefings were still happening and we were very grateful when member John Bennett decided that making and installing new tie-down ropes for all our aircraft would make a fitting end to a day of intense briefing and no flying.

Many thanks to our washing team of Colin Bruce, Edward Tomazic, Juliana Corona, Dave Ryan, Leonie Mazumdar, Edward Giddings and a couple of other helpers whose names I don't have (sorry!) who all gave a considerable part of their day to the job. It is a little while since we last did this as a member activity, but with the sort of enthusiasm seen on the day we will make sure the next event is not too far away.

Mike Allsop

KELMM & COMPER GO TO OSKOSH - PART 2 - ROY FOX


Continued from last month...
So a few days before Oshkosh we arrived and put the aeroplanes together under the eye of another American "Bruce". We were able to bring him a "Proper" Australian hat not one of those silly baseball things so he looked a real Bruce!

We flew both aeroplanes on the Sunday before the start on the Monday and went north of the field away from the incoming traffic. Klemm on approach at Oshkosh
Klemm on approach at Oshkosh
We were to be called "Australian Flight" and had the rare permission to call the tower when we wanted to return. Calling for return we were slotted into the pattern of approaching aeroplanes from the Fisk reporting point and caused a momentary hiccup in the smooth landing sequencing.

On landing we were sent to our display area and escorted by the ubiquitous motor cycles. The Klemm was to fly in the air show "Showcase" on Wednesday and we were a bit disappointed in the lack of flying planned. However a new friend allowed us to, on the Tuesday fly in the right seat of the Ford Tri-Motor. The controls are quite heavy, a bit precise and if you have ever flown a Tiger Moth you will know how to wait for the control inputs to be recognised.

At any rate we displayed the Klemm in the "Showcase" which was not curtailed by a 20 knot crosswind. I declined to land the Klemm in front of 100,000 people with a 20 knot + gusting crosswind and landed on the remote cross runway directly into wind. It was a greaser but as you know no one was watching at that time. I waited for the tow back and on another day with an identical crosswind the Airbus Grosser arrived. You can see it on U-tube if you want to see how the skid marks on the piano keys were made. So I reckon my decision was good.

The deputy editor of Aeroplane Monthly, James, was there and either he or some other started to make arrangements for an air-to - air shoot of the Comper Swift with the replica D.H. Comet. Klemm flies past the tower
Klemm flies past the tower
This seemed to excite the EAA who then began to arrange it themselves. So a flight was arranged at a remote aerodrome and both went to it. However on landing there the Comet had a small problem and the Comper was photographed for a couple of hours and reached 11,500 feet. I don't know if it was ever at that height before but David Greig was pretty cold. So David returned but the next day the Comet was serviceable and so it was repeated with another 2 hour air-to-air formation photo shoot. It will take some time before these images are available!

So after some discussion with the haulage company in the U.S. the aeroplanes were repacked on the Monday and sent off. We wanted to write "Fragile, please throw underarm" on the container but we were advised not to farther sour our relationship with the U.S. container people as we wanted care similar to that supplied to us from our Australian shippers.

Overall Oshkosh is a wonderful experience and we met many Australians there. We spent a fair bit of time with Mark from D H Support and talked to the point of hoarseness. There were about 150 bus trips into the airfield on the Monday morning and idly observing a lady's T-shirt which glorified grass airfields, I remarked that I lusted after her t-shirt. The response from her husband sitting adjacent to her was "Are you Roy Fox". He at that moment was on his "Blackberry communication device" talking to Nick Stroud the editor of "Aeroplane Monthly" who was asking him to keep a look out for the Comper Swift and to send some information to him. A small world as these were the proprietors of Lee Bottom Airfield in Indiana, I think, who were close friends with him. Their version of the meeting is in their August newsletter at Leebottom.com their web page and I don't think it differs significantly from this version.

There was some talk that the number of vintage aeroplanes was down on previous years and that may be so but there were plenty enough for this little Fox!

Roy Fox

SMOOTH WHEELS-UP, PILOTLESS LANDING - CONTRIBUTED BY LATRODECTUS


In 1970, while assigned to the 71st FIS at Maelstrom AFB, Montana , a pilot ejected during an inflight emergency. The pilot somehow got himself into a flat spin - considered generally unrecoverable in an F-106 - and he did what the flight handbook said to do to get out of it - eject!

After the pilot did just that, 0-80787 recovered itself from this "unrecoverable" situation. In a vain attempt to break the spin, the pilot had lowered half flaps, rolled in takeoff trim, and throttled the engine back to an approach power setting.

After the ejection, the aircraft recovered from the spin on its own, and established a wings level low rate descent under reduced power to the ground. Smooth wheels-up pilotless landing
Smooth wheels-up pilotless landing
Ground effect broke its rate of descent, and it settled into a near-perfect gentle belly landing in a farmer's snow-covered cornfield.

When the local sheriff came upon the scene, the engine was still running. The aircraft was situated on a slight incline, and was creeping forward slowly under the thrust of its still-running engine, as the snow compressed to ice under it.

Concerned about where it might be headed, the sheriff didn't think he could wait for the recovery team to get there from Malstrom which was about 50 miles away so he got himself connected to the aircraft's squadron for engine shut down instructions before he entered the cockpit to secure the engine.

The attached photos show pretty much what the sheriff beheld on that fateful day. A depot team from McClellan AFB recovered the aircraft and it was eventually returned to service. When the 71st FIS was disbanded in 1971, 0-80787, now famously known as the "Cornfield Bomber", was transferred to the 49th FIS, where it finished out its operational service life.

Pilots of the 49th FIS would occasionally run into ex-71st FIS guys at William Tell and rag them unmercifully about the "emergency" so dire that the plane landed itself. 0-80787 is now on permanent display in its 49th FIS markings at the USAF Museum at Wright Patterson AFB, where its story is told in the exhibit. While the 49th FIS Eagle jocks are reportedly glad to see their squadron immortalized in this way for millions to see, they would prefer to see it made more clear that it was the 71st, and not one of theirs, who jumped out of this perfectly good aircraft.

THE LAST WORD - BY LATRODECTUS


Contributions & feedback
Well, that's your Newsletter for this month. You should check the latest news on the Club's website at . Contributions, comments, feedback, and suggestions to .

Thought for the month
Before each flight, make sure that your bladder is empty and your fuel tanks are full.

Hit Counter Valid XHTML 1.0! Until next time.

Latrodectus

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