“Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report that mountains have been known to hide out in clouds.”
-Pilot words of wisdom
Mounting a camera on the outside of an aircraft
Jim Foley has posted an interesting question on the Ask a Flight Instructor site about the regulations for mounting a camera (a GoPro HDHero2) on the outside of his aircraft. Specifically, Jim wrote:
I have been filming flights for a couple months, and then was told by my CFI that the cheif CFI said not to do it. When I asked him directly abou it, he said it would disrupt the airflow too much and your lift wouldn’t be sufficient. (Obviously, that’s not at all true.) When I told him that was just stupid and that my self and thousands of other people fly with them daily without problem, he then changed and said it was against some FAA reg. (Which he couldn’t find to prove it.) He told me if I could prove it was legal, it would be O.K.
However, Jim has not been able to find anything in FAA regulations either allowing or disallowing it.
Bill Trussell replied by writing that a modification will typically require a STC to be issued by the FAA but its also possible that a STC already exists for cameras. If so, there can be several ways to get permission off an existing STC. Otherwise, the process can be found here.
On the other hand, Carl Tyler wrote that he read many different things and that no one seems to agree. However, Carl had also heard that so long as you attach the camera to the aircraft without using tools, you are technically not modifying the aircraft structure. Hence:
I attach my go pro to the tie downs on the plane. I attach it with a mount I made that I tighten with wing nuts, no tools. It’s on and off in seconds. I’ve used the tie downs below the wing and also on the tail of the plane where it has zero impact on lift.
Carl also noted that his camera is under the wing and he has not noticed any difference to lift but he also wishes that the FAA would make a firm statement on cameras as you get different interpretations depending upon who you speak to.
Finally, avid aerial photographer and GoPro user Jonathan Silva wrote that lift would not be an issue but the camera coming loose would be as there have apparently been lawsuits over cameras falling and damaging people’s homes plus a swinging camera could damage the aircraft – something insurance would not be to excited to cover. Hence, Jonathan wrote that he understands the Chief CFI’s concern as “there is hell to pay if something goes wrong.”
Pilot builds a Boeing 737 simulator in his garage
While most aviation enthusiasts don’t go beyond having Microsoft Flight simulator on their computer, the tecca blog has reported that James Price of Pleasanton, California who is an air traffic controller at Oakland International Airport and a private pilot, has spent 12 years to build a fully functioning Boeing 737 flight simulator in his garage that even uses an actual commercial jet cockpit and nose section.
Price also went a step further and designed and programmed his own simulation software with lifelike visuals that project onto a massive wrap-around screen. The visuals even interface with the simulator’s instruments, knobs, and switches plus 90% of the original instruments from his Lufthansa 737 cockpit are fully functional.
The only thing missing from Price’s simulator is the motion. However, he could always put his simulator on hydraulics as his next decade long project.
No word on whether Price is married nor what his wife thinks of the simulator taking up no doubt a large position of the garage!
Resurrecting RAF Spitfires in Burma
Last Saturday, there was an article in The Telegraph about Spitfires (apparently Mark XIVs) buried in Burma (now Myanmar) that could turn out to be in near mint condition as they were buried inside their crates. Apparently, David Cundall, a 62 year old farmer from Scunthorpe, North Lincs, had spent 15 years and made over 12 trips to Burma at a cost of £130,000 in order to eventually locate them at a former RAF base there using radar imaging technology.
With Burma now opening up to the outside world, Prime Minister Cameron secured a deal on his recent trip there that will allow for the aircraft to be dug up and returned to the UK. In fact, a UK team is expecting to begin the excavation soon which will cost around £500,000 and is being funded by the Chichester-based Boultbee Flight Acadamy.
Originally, the Spitfires had been shipped to Burma and then transported by rail to the RAF base during the war but advances in technology along with the emergence of better combat aircraft jets meant that they were never used and were simply abandoned before the end of the war. According to Cundall:
“They were just buried there in transport crates. They were waxed, wrapped in greased paper and their joints tarred. They will be in near perfect condition.”
On the other hand, they have yet to dig up aircraft and I do have to wonder just what kind of condition they will be in given Burma’s no doubt hot, humid and wet climate.
Meanwhile, Paul Bertorelli recently wrote about the find on AVWeb and pointed out that recent auctions and for-sale offerings have valued the Merlin versions between $2 and $3 million while documented combat history makes one even more valuable. Of course, there will likely be a cost to restore the aircraft plus they will need to get them out of Burma.
Nevertheless and if all goes well, Cundall hopes to not only get his money back but to be able to put together a flying Spitfire squadron for air shows – a sight that would be worth seeing and no doubt worth all of his troubles.
Doolittle Raid on Tokyo 7th anniversary
Last week was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic while today is an important military aviation anniversary as its the 70th anniversary of the so-called Doolittle Raid on Tokyo using B-25 bombers and led by then-Lieutenant Colonel James “Jimmy” Doolittle. All 16 aircraft used in the raid were lost, either crash landed or were wrecked with one ending up in the Soviet Union where its crew was interned. In addition, 64 out of 80 crew members were rescued with 3 of the 8 captured by the Japanese being executed while more than 250,000 Chinese civilians were reportedly executed for “helping” the raiders to escape.
And while damage from the raid was minimal and paled in comparison to later air raids on Japan using B-29s, it served as a badly needed morale booster for the USA after Pearl Harbor.
The EAA website has also posted this short contemporary newsreel about the raid on its website:
In addition, the National Museum of the US Air Force in Ohio is having a Doolittle Tokyo Raiders reunion that will be attended by all five of the remaining crew members from the raid who are still alive. World War II aviation buffs might want to check out the reunion webpage on the museum’s website which contains videos of previous Doolittle Raider reunions, relevant photos and an audio of a 1980 interview with Jimmy Doolittle.
And the winner is….
“In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.”
-Pilot words of wisdom