Red Alert Spring 2014

THE MAGAZINE OF THE REDSTAR PILOTS ASSOCIATION

Spring 2014

RED Alert

Red Alert Spring 20142

3www.flyredstar.org

9reasonsto bail

Inability to control

Foreign Object DebrisFire

Collision

Terrain

PIC Medical problem

Weather

Structural Failure

Accidental Ejection

Ride it out? Slow down to Va in turbulent air for sure But maybe you got yourself into more weather than both of you

can handle. When the plane is not controllable due to turbulence or weather, you may no longer have the time to ride it out. Leave now.

You bought it, maintained it, polished it and took care of it. Suddenly the relationship has to end. It’s more than the prospect of making your �rst parachute jump* - it’s severing the bond,

throwing away a possession. Having some criteria to help in that instant may prevent you staying - when it’s really time to leave, says ex-DOSAAF Senior Flying instructor Gennady El�mov.

�ere have been several fatalities where an earlier bailout decision may well have changed the outcome. Here are:

�e aircra� is not recovering from a spin or other type of rotation.

Before you started maneuvers you allowed yourself at least ‘two mistakes’ of 1500’ each plus 3,000’ AGL.

Now you have used up both mistakes. Confess and get out. �at way you’ll have the option to debrief the �ight.

Jammed controls. �at Cell phone wedged under your seat is �ying the plane now. Or it could be a Camera Lens cap, Ballpoint pen, Keys or twenty other pocket items

you briefed your GIB to leave on the ground. Too late now.

You tried the Emergency Procedures but the �re hasn’t gone out. �is is no time for thoughtful goodbyes.

You came out to practice formation. Trading paint with your wingman was not in the plan. If you clearly don’t have the same control authority that you took o� with, you are now a test pilot. Was this in the brief ? Get out now.

Engines have no idea what terrain is underneath you. �at’s why they are just as happy to quit in the mountains. Know your gliding distance

- and if that perfectly �at �eld shown in the training manual isn’t down there, it’s time to take a closer look. Without your plane.

�ey are not responding. �ey may be unconscious, possibly blocking the controls. It may be possible to RTB with an unresponsive body, but evaluate your options if �ight safety is compromised.

Harness or lock malfunction at just the wrong time during a maneuver can mean you are attached to the airplane - but out of reach of the controls.

If G forces are keeping you from controlling the plane, the signpost is saying that the �ight home is no longer an option.

Make it a rule to always land with the same number of aircra� parts you took o� with. If something broke o�, the insurance company owns the plane.

Time you were o�.

C H Ocanopy harness out

Dosaaf students were trained to do this in 3 seconds........Can you?*Every student also had to perform a parachute exit from a Yak 52 annually, so that unfamiliarity did not play into a bailout decision

Red ALERTFeaturesMemorial .................................................................................................6 Dave Casey

Sequestration, Weather, Reactors, and History ................................8 Synergistic Bonanza

Safety Update ....................................................................................... 12 How Are We Trending?

When The Hold Harmless Agreement Is Not Enough ................... 14 Protecting Your Assets

Standardization of Training ............................................................... 16 Communicating In Formation

The Current Position of Eastern Radial Engines ............................ 18 Radial Sitrep

Mixed Flights .......................................................................................20 Blending T-34s, Yaks, and Nanchangs In Formation

Bill Mills' Nanchang CJ-6A.................................................................22 Pirate's Treasure

9 Reasons to Bail ..................................................................................29 'Three-Second Drill

Informal Formation Clinic 2014.........................................................30 Sixth Annual Falcon Field Gathering

Flight Leader ......................................................................................... 35 Preparing For the Flight Leader Checkride

Helluva Deal On A Helmet .................................................................36 Don't Short-Change Your Brain Bucket

ColumnsPresident’s Message ...............................................................................4 Spring Is Coming!

Flight Lead Corner ............................................................................... 10 Anatomy Of A Break-Out

Aviation Medicine ................................................................................24 What You Don't Know Could Hurt You

Training .................................................................................................26 Advanced Tactical Formation: Four-Ship

Your Flight Lead Said What? .............................................................28 Formation Standardization Rant

Contrails ................................................................................................38 What Experimental Jet Should I Buy?

Aerobatics..............................................................................................42 Loop

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08DK 08DK

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(FPR). All signatories reported some difficulty with flight lead-ers and wingmen having difficulty with who is current to give an FPR, and who is current to take one. Fortunately, this is a small number, but we have decided to help formation flyers by adding FAST currency information to the FPR form. Look for the new form on the website in the near future. Another topic involved the care and feeding of check pilots. In December, the RPA updated our CP Policy Letter to revamp how we nominate and select new CPs, how CPs track their requirements/partici-pation, and how they retire. Since many signatories don’t have a policy letter as complete as ours, they were very interested to discuss ours and get a copy of it.

I told you in my Fall Message that Warbirds of America (WOA) wanted to increase the number of mass for-mation aircraft in the RPA, T-6, T-34, and T-28 groups for the Thursday through Satur-day, July 31st through August 2nd airshows. The primary initiative is to improve the qual-ity and time in front of the crowd for the four groups. The WOA established a working group consisting of the Air Bosses and Mis-sion Commanders from the four signatories. We are putting the finishing touches on our air show options and will be presenting them to you soon. As you know, the EAA buys your fuel for all airshow flying if you hold at least a Commercial rating. I have heard a rumor that there may be an additional fuel payment made to the mass formation signatory with

the largest increase in the Thursday-Saturday formation air-craft numbers. Just as soon as I have the airshow scenarios, and the additional fuel-payment information, I will let you know. In the meantime, please look at your schedule and see if you can make it to Oshkosh for the Thursday-Saturday airshows. It is sometimes easier to make early, tentative reservations that can be cancelled later, rather than trying to make scarce, last minute reservations. We will also have additional Oshkosh fly-ing schedules out to you soon. There is only one Oshkosh. If it has been a while since you flew here, this might be the year to revisit it and enjoy the thrill of flying with your RPA buddies in front of 110,000 people!

I am excited about the 2014 flying season! I hope to fly with many of you at our exciting, formation events. Remember, Red Alert is your magazine. We want to see you in it. Please send the editors a "Picture and a Paragraph" about you, your air-craft, and how you fly it.

As always, train hard, and train often.

Terry “Mags” Slawinski [email protected]

Greetings, Comrades, what a winter this has been! In San Antonio, we have had six distinct cold fronts bringing us

below freezing temperatures, ice storms, and widespread pow-er failures. I flew a Pearl Harbor Day Ceremonial 3-ship over the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, TX. The OAT was 26 F! Thanks to my EZ Heat system, and my insulated hangar, my TW started like it was summer time! I was able to fly the sortie with everything in the green but I had to keep the cowl flaps, and oil cooler doors, completely shut!

Spring is coming! All our trees are leafing out, grass is greening up, and the temperatures are in the 60s! So, as we kick off our 2014 flying season, I am going to talk about the web site, spring training for your flying skills, NWOC, and AirVenture 2014.

As I write this message, the web site has been live for six weeks. We did have a few issues with members validating their passwords, and using the new member application to renew their membership. This should not be an issue when renewing for 2015. The new site allows an event host to create the equivalent of an event web page complete with links to airfields, FBOs, hotels, individual tickets for event fees, meals, merchandise, and downloadable event materials. However, the organizer must get an admin password to get to the posting pages. Any member wishing to list any type of event should contact me to get his admin password. I have also written a primer to guide all organiz-ers through the listing procedures. This primer will soon be available on the web site. We are slowly adding more content. We now have one video posted on the home page video link and would like to add yours. If you produce it, we will show it.

Over the winter, proficiency and currency can significantly suffer. To get tuned back up, start with the Pilot Operating Handbook (POH). Review normal/ emergency procedures and performance numbers. Then, spend some time in the cock-pit. Re-familiarize yourself with instrument, switch, lever, and valve positions, then, practice all POH procedures. Start your airborne training with normal transition procedures, like takeoffs and landings, in all configurations. Then, add stalls/falls and aerobatics, if desired. Finally, add formation flying, if appropriate. Don’t hesitate to get flight leads, IPs, and CPs involved. A buddy can notice performance deficiencies, while observing you better than you can, while knocking the rust off your RPA flying skills. Besides, training with a buddy can be more thorough and enjoyable than doing it alone.

At the NWOC conference in February, one of the topics in the Check Pilot meeting was the Formation Proficiency Report

President's Message

5www.flyredstar.org

VOLUNTEERS OFFICERSPresident Terry Slawinski [email protected] Vice President Scott McMillan [email protected] David Jester [email protected] Ron Lee [email protected] OF DIRECTORSSouthwest Scott Andrews [email protected] Joe Griffith [email protected] Dave Jester [email protected] Rob Mortera [email protected] John Shuttleworth [email protected] Joe Wilkens [email protected] Mike Carter [email protected] Scott Glaser [email protected] Rich Hess [email protected] Relations John Graham [email protected] Standardization Skip Slyfield [email protected] Jill Gernetzke [email protected] Physiology Chuck Crinnian, MD [email protected] Store Byron Fox [email protected] Dean Henthorn [email protected]/FAST Records Mark Weidhaas [email protected] Sales John Warwick [email protected] RED ALERTEditor Mike Filucci [email protected] Editor Alan Cockrell [email protected] Editor Robert Genat [email protected] Editor John Warwick [email protected]. West Coast Correspondent Robert Genat [email protected] Barnett [email protected] Dilley [email protected] Robert Genat [email protected] Shelton [email protected] Spering [email protected] Turchick [email protected] Warwick [email protected]

AdvertisersLadd Gardner Aviation Insurance................. 2Gibson & Barnes .............................................. 7The Yak Collection .................................... 7, 35Don Mayer's Parachute Shop ....................... 13AirPower Aviation Insurance....................... 15YSAir ............................................................... 19M-14P ............................................................ 25Compressed Gas Systems ............................. 28Merit Apparel ................................................. 34WhirlWind Propellers .................................. 34Mort's Aero ..................................................... 37Air Capital Insurance .................................... 43

Red Alert is your magazine and would not exist without your input-your stories and experienc-es are what bring the magazine alive.

Mike

2014 ISSUE DEADLINES

Summer: 25 May

Fall: 25 August

Please submit material to:

Mike Filucci [email protected]

Material contained herein is published for examina-tion and evaluation of the reader. The RedStar Pilots Association has made no attempt to verify any of the contents and accepts no responsibility for any items printed in this publication. Articles written and pub-lished in this magazine are for entertainment only and are the opinion of the author(s). They are not intend-ed to be instructional in nature nor promote devia-tion from a published f light procedure in any aircraft or technical f light manual, FAR, law or other regula-tion. The contents are not intended to be construed as offering legal advice or counsel.

Cover

Cockpit shot of BJ Kennamore's Nan-chang CJ-6A

Photo by Chris Dilley

RedStar Pilots Association

THE MAGAZINE OF THE REDSTAR PILOTS ASSOCIATION

Spring 2014

RED Alert


It all happened much too soon for Dave Casey. At approximately 1330, January 14, 2014, on a pristine day for flying, "Slammer" took off from Santa Maria Public Airport with a friend in his Morrisey 2150. It was to be his last flight before departing West.

Dave was born in Seattle, Washington on June 10, 1950. He earned his BA degree from Loyola Marymount University in 1972, and his MBA while he was stationed abroad with the USAF. Dave got the flying bug at twelve years old while aviating with his uncle. That led to a long, fulfilling career and hobby in aviation.

He joined the U.S.A.F. in 1972 and was active with the Air National Guard for 30 years flying with the Reno High Rollers in the F-4 Phantom and C-130. Dave flew in Desert Storm during the Gulf War in 1991. He was a highly decorated United States Air Force Colonel (Ret), with 26 combat missions, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and three air medals. His mili-tary assignments and training included flight instructor, flight examiner, and Phantom demo pilot. He also served as a test pilot for Learfan Jets in Sparks, Nevada from 1981 to 1982.

Dave was 63 years old and very close to retiring from American Airlines, for which he flew for 34 years. He flew and Captained numerous aircraft while with American, his last being the Boeing 777, mainly flying international routes. While with American Airlines, he continued his Air National Guard duties until retirement.

Not only did Dave own the 1958, two-seater Morrisey 2150, he owned an RV-8, and a 1987 YAK-52. Last year, "Slammer" joined the Red Eagles Formation Demonstration Team, based out of San Diego, CA. He added diversity and talent to the team, and was adept at flying the #3 and #5 positions.

Dave frequented Southern California to visit with his children, grand-children, and fly with the Red Eagles. His dream was call-ing the idyllic central California town of Avila Beach his home. He also shared time between Avila Beach and Roche Harbor, in the San Juan Islands, Pacific Northwest.

In addition to being a great aviator, Dave was also a great guy. Quick with a smile and a laugh—he was such a pleasure being around. He was the type of gentleman you just wanted to get to know better. A wonderful friend. He will be greatly missed.

David Brian Casey"Slammer"

Don Spering

7www.flyredstar.org

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Sometimes the idiocy of government leads to a synergistic bonanza for us

little folks. And, you learn things from this—like it takes one minute and 34 seconds to sing the national anthem. Or, where hydrogen gas in a reactor comes from. Or it's great to be friends with a bunch formation pros.

Back to the idiocy of the government. With the “sequestration,” a lot of the demon-stration teams (Air Force and Navy) were grounded for “budget cuts." The hue and cry from the general public and congress-men got them back airborne, but with a limited schedule. All other “f lybys” that those services were doing were curtailed and, at this writing, still are. But, the de-sire for aircraft f lybys is still there for a lot of organizations. In fact, that desire has trickled down to us civilian warbird for-mation groups. Since the start of this se-questration business, I have f lown no less than eight "f lybys" for different opening ceremonies. They include NASCAR rac-es, and NFL football games. You can also throw in a couple of big local high school football games. Our gas and oil were paid for, even when weather caused us to turn back from a major college football game in South Carolina. What’s nice is getting to f ly formation, in a situation that requires precise timing for time over target (TOT), and, most importantly, getting to f ly with your buds a little more often. Yep, there are some government hoops you have to jump through to satisfy the TSA and other bureaucratic agencies, but once you know the steps, what phone calls to make, and what forms to fill out—it all goes pretty quickly. That leads to the story of my two-day sojourn down to Homestead, Florida (south of Miami), to f ly for the opening ceremonies of the NASCAR race.

The day started early with Chris Dil-ley, our photographer, showing up at my house/hangar at sunrise. However, we had to wait for the weather to get up the VFR minimums before departing. Eventually we joined up with Rich "Smiley" Langar over his home airport, Leeward, before heading down and refueling at Clewiston airport on the southwest corner of Lake

Okeechobee. With the weather right at minimums, I lifted off from FD44 and headed west between the restricted areas that bracket our airpark. All went well until I crossed the St. Johns River into the Ocala National Forest. Very quickly, I found myself down around 300' with ap-proximately two miles of visibility. With my faithful GPS and intimate knowledge of the area, I was comfortable heading for the better weather over Leeward.

Approaching Leeward, I gave a call to "Smiley" who was waiting at the end of the runway for takeoff. We were soon joined up and heading south into rapidly improv-ing weather. That was short-lived, how-ever. The rain showers that trailed along the line of the frontal system soon made themselves evident across our course. Us-ing the “radar” function on my I-Pad Foref light, I was able to lead Smiley the last 20 nm, around the really heavy showers, into Clew-iston. Fueling up (fuel was quite cheap, at $4.30/gallon), and, after a quick hamburger, and chatting with some weather grounded sky divers, we blasted off for Tamiami Airport and the Wings Over Miami muse-um (WOM). The weather was very marginal at takeoff, but with Smi-ley glued to my wing, I found a hole just south of the field that led to beautiful skies over the Everglades. Flight time into KTMB was two hours and six minutes total. The WOM people were there to direct us in and soon, our intrepid leader, Hank "Hoot" Gibson, was briefing us for the afternoon mission. At the appointed time, we climbed into the cockpits, started engines, and taxied out smartly for a departure on 9L.

We were seven ships, starting out as two f lights—a 4-ship, trailed by a 3-ship. For the "run-in," we would be configured in a big “V.” The first f light would stay in fin-gertip. The second f light would move up, with two ships [#1 + #3 (me)] getting on the wing of #2, while our #2 guy went on the wing of #4 of the first f light. We were to pass over head, smoke on, as the last notes of the anthem were sung—that’s why

it's important to know how long it takes to sing the national anthem. Then at Lead’s call, we would execute a fan brake. Now, here is the "vive-la-difference." At Lead’s call: “circle the wagons,” we would reverse course and head back toward the track and enter a race track pattern in extended trail, with smoke on. Two turns, and we would break out and join-up over some lakes four miles to the southwest.

For the recovery, "Hoot" briefed a seven-plane echelon for the pitch-out and land-ing back at Tamiami. One might think that an echelon that long would be ragged and wobbly, but there were a bunch of smooth pilots in that formation. Being on the end, what I saw was six helmets all lined up one on top of the other, all the way to lead. But crap happens.

The pitch-out was executed perfectly, and I saw evenly-spaced airplanes arch-ing around for the runway. It must have been a thing of beauty from the ground. Then I heard Lead transmit that he’s going around. Chris Dilley, my GIB, says “Geee Pappy that was close!” It seems that an aircraft taxied out onto the runway right in front of Hoot, who was on very short final. This led to #2, #3, #4, and #5 going around, also, and a very upset controller on the radio. The runway was clear by the

Sequestration, Weather, Reactors, NASCAR, and History—Revisited

Standing, L to R: Chuck “Rhino” Marshall, Mike Wiggs (GIB), Sam “Lion of Judea” Sax, Rich “Smiley” Langar, Gary “Popsicle” Pope, Dennis Mayo (GIB), Dick Russell.

Kneeling L to R: Fred Shadf ly, Chris Dilly (GIB), Hank “Hoot” Gibson, Jim “Pappy” Goolsby

By Jim “Pappy” Goolsby [email protected], photos by Chris Dilley

9www.flyredstar.org

time #6 and I were on final, so we landed without any delay. One hour and six min-utes, block to block.

During the debrief, the erring pilot (a sheriff ‘s deputy) came by to apologize. Evidently he thought a transmission he heard was for him, when, in fact, it was for another aircraft with a similar call-sign on an adjoining runway. That was the only item that required any discussion, as far as deviation from the briefed mission. For the deputy, his tribulations were just be-ginning.

With aircraft secured for the night, the troops, along with WOM regulars, headed for their favorite tavern, where I had the best fish n’ chips in a long time, along with a couple of Dos XX. One of my table-mates was Sheila, who happened to be wife and GIB in Fred Shadf ly’s Yak. She is an en-gineer in her daytime job at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant, on the south end of Biscayne Bay. Over beers I learned, in detail, why the reactors in Japan blew up. Yep, that hydrogen gas thing. Damn I love science! But by 2030 hours, I was in a very deep, deserved, peaceful sleep. It had been a long day.

The next morning found the crews up ear-ly, and all joined for a meal at a very popu-lar restaurant that specializes in breakfast. It turns out it was Chuck “Rhino” Mar-shall’s birthday and, of course, we had to celebrate it.

When we arrived at the airport after break-fast, we decided to take a closer look at an A26 “Invader” that was part of a perma-nent memorial on the field. I soon found myself reading names on its brass marker that I knew and who had been part of my life as a 21 year-old instructor. Names like Alberto Sordo, Rafail Pujol, and Teliechea were very familiar to me and are duly re-corded in my log book from 1961. Here is a short history lesson, and my small part.

Castro had taken over Cuba, and then showed his true color as a communist. A lot of Cubans left Cuba and formed coun-ter-revolutionary groups in the USA. The CIA "facilitated" these groups, and soon the Bay of Pigs fiasco was in full swing. In addition to the boats landing Cuban troops on the beaches, a collection of A-26s formed an air force, of sorts, for sup-port. Many of the pilots were former Cabaña Airways pilots who had de-fected out of Cuba. The details and repercussions from the Bay of Pigs failure would ripple through US politics, to Watergate years later, and even into 2010. When the operation was cancelled by JFK, not only did it leave several hundred Cubans as POWs, but a bunch of pilots found themselves without a home. But, the effect on me back then was, I suddenly had a bunch of Cuban pilots as students. The government (I was told it was the CIA) paid to have these pilots get the required 10 hours of dual with a US-licensed in-structor (me) and then take a f light check for the commercial rating and become US citizens. That’s where I ran into these gen-tlemen in 1961. To see their names on this memorial brought back political memo-ries that shaped my belief system to this day—and I had f lown with some unsung heroes. It would not take many beers to get me to tell the story, a long one, about those days. But not here.

Arriving at the WOM hangar, we saw Dick Russell, (T-34 junkie) from Spruce Creek, coming in to f ly in an 8-ship mission. Air-planes were prepped and pre-f lighted, and then the briefing began. This time, "Hoot" briefed that we’d be two f lights of four aircraft. We’d do element takeoffs and go right into two diamonds. The lead f light would stay in a diamond for the run-in, however, the second f light would split, with #1 and #2 going to the left side of the front diamond while #3 and #4 (me) would

move to the right—again forming a big V, but with an airplane in the slot. Lead called “smoke on” during the run-in, then, at the final note of the anthem, (again that timing thing) he called for the fan break. But here’s where we changed things around a little.

This time when Gibson called for "circle the wagons," only three air-

planes reversed course for the track. We had determined, the day before, that fewer airplanes could make a tighter circle over the track. The rest of the group headed for the rendezvous point and formed up for the return to base. Lead discovered he’d lost his transmitter so he turned the lead over to #4 who took us home. Total time, block to block: 1:05.

After a debrief and well-wishes to and from the WOM pilots, Smiley and I (with Chris Dilley in my back seat), headed north on a course for Leeward, across the impressive expanse of the Everglades, passing well west of Orlando’s Bravo air-space. Abeam Disney World, I had the pleasure of watching the sunset behind Smile’s CJ, all the while listening to “Fan Fair To the Common Man” on my IPod, through my intercom. North of Leesburg, Smiley split and set course for his base. A little further on, I called “Sea Lord” to see if I could transit R2910 for a short cut to my field. I got a reassuring “all areas in-active, maintain VFR.” And so I started over the darkest part of Florida you can imagine. Ocala National Forest and Lake George. As I crossed the north shore of the lake, I spotted the runway lights—2:06, block to block, with :45 of night time and :15 of that in formation. Of course, Smiley did the work—I was just leading.

And that was my weekend in a nut shell. Gas, oil, and per-diem being paid for, makes a weekend with good friends and peers a whole lot more enjoyable. And so, there you have it. The government screws up the budget. My weather-f lying skills are tested. I learned why nuclear reactors blow-up. Had a great meal, and a few beers with my comrades. I revisited my history. Made a lot of NASCAR fans happy. Then my night-f lying skills were refreshed.

And it didn’t cost me a dime.


Very quickly we see that this type of personality does not appreciate long delays and petty FAA regulations. Has any of our readers lost a friend in an aircraft because they just could not wait for the weather to go away or just had to go home no matter what the conditions were?

Flight Lead CornerBy Mike "Blade" Filucci [email protected] Of A Break-Out

It's a beautiful, clear day as you lead your 4-ship through the paces of an aggressive, extended-trail exercise. Then comes the

call: "Red 3 breaking out, blind on Lead."

Now what? How would you handle this? What are your options? More importantly, what are your priorities?

Here are some of the answers I've seen Leads-In-Waiting give when confronted with this situation:

• Re-establish visual contact with #3

• Determine #3's position and direction of f light

• De-conf lict with #3

• Determine why #3 broke out of the formation

All are legitimate answers, but, assuming you are also blind on #3, there is a definite priority required to preserve the safety of your f light. Your primary concern, anytime you are faced with a blind/blind situation such as this, is to immediately de-conf lict with the blind wingman.

This leads to the next question. What is the fastest and simplest way to immediately establish positive spacing between your f light and the break-out wingman?

Altitude!

If, in the course of the breakout, the wingman did not transmit his altitude or altitude passing, (if not in level f light), your first radio call should be an inquiry as to his altitude: "Red 3, say al-titude." Once you know the wingman's altitude, you will be con-fronted with three possibilities: the wingman is above, below, or at your altitude. Obviously, the worst-case scenario is if the wing-man is at your altitude. In this situation, you have another deci-sion to make—should you climb/descend to a different altitude, or direct the wingman to climb/descend to a different altitude?

There is no pat answer to this question, it will depend on the situ-ation. Some considerations that could come into play:

• Proximity to the hard deck

• Proximity to terrain/obstacles

• Proximity to restricted or controlled airspace

• Proximity to other practice areas (above, below, or adjacent)

One thing is certain, you do not want either aircraft to climb or descend through the other's altitude until visual contact has been re-established. Also, if you are looking for an expeditious solution, it is likely that the break-out wingman can maneuver to a different altitude faster than you can drag your f light to a different altitude.

How much altitude differential do you think is necessary? That's a decision you will have to make based on your assessment of

the wingman's capabilities and your own comfort level. For me, 500' would be the minimum acceptable altitude difference, with as much as 1000' if there was any question as to the wingman's capability.

So, you've de-conf licted your f light with the break-out wingman. Now what? Let's see if we can re-establish visual contact. You'll want to continue directing the actions of your wingman to fa-cilitate the process. Now that you've established his altitude, you will want to keep him somewhere in vicinity of your f light, as op-posed to having him f ly, wings level, off into the hinterland. I've heard breakout wingmen call out an altitude and heading—that's useful information, because it gives you the all-important alti-tude information, and it also tells you he is wings level. Except, you don't want him to be wings level—you want him to enter into an orbit so that the distance between you and the wingman is not increasing. By the way, if you are dragging the remainder of your f light through the sky, straight and level, you will want to start a turn for the same reason.

One of the beautiful things about f lying warbirds is that many are outfitted with smoke systems. When it comes to re-establish-ing visual contact, it's hard to beat a smoke trail. If the wingman has smoke, have him turn it on. Likewise, if you or someone in your adjacent f light has smoke, turn it on. You have a very high probability of spotting one another once the smoke trails start blowing.

If you are unfortunate on this day and no one has smoke, you will have to revert to the traditional means of getting the airplanes back together—flying to a prominent ground reference in your area, using a DME fix, lat/long, clock position and distance from the airfield, or some other reference. If nothing works for you on this day, you always have the option of sending the wingman home solo.

Now that you've re-established visual contact, the real work be-gins—getting the f light back together. This is another endeav-or that has no single, or right solution. There are many ways to skin this cat and I've seen some that are clever and imaginative, and others where we f lailed around the sky for an interminable amount of time with no hope of getting the f light together.

You will again want to be directive with your break-out wingman to maneuver him into a position that will enable him to make a safe rejoin. Here, again, you are confronted with multiple choices and will have to decide how you want to execute this process. My own preference is to simply keep my wingmen in trail, position the break-out wingman aft of the f light, and have him join as tail-end Charlie, in extended trail.

As an alternative, you may decide you want to rejoin #2 and #4 to fingertip, and then bring the break-out wingman back on board,

11www.flyredstar.org


using standard rejoin procedures (#3 would join to the outside of the turn, outboard of #4). In this situation, no matter which of these methods you choose, your wingmen will not be in the orig-inal order of the f light. You now how one last decision—renum-ber the wingmen to ref lect their new positions (#3 becomes #4, and vice-versa), or shuff le the f light to get everyone back where they were originally.

You might ask, why not just have #4 go to route position and then have #3 slide in between, inside of #4? As the f light leader, with the responsibility of managing risk, you have to ask your-self: which is less risky—executing a rejoin in a standard man-ner, the way we practice it day in and day out, or inventing a new way to rejoin, in a manner the wingman has likely never seen or practiced?

The reason I prefer having the wingman rejoin in extended trail is that he can use lead/lag—something that he is familiar with, and it still preserves a nice safety margin, because he is joining the f light in an extended position.

Once everyone is on board, if you choose to shuff le the f light back to its original order, it's actually quite easy—your work is almost done. You will have #2 on one wing and #4 on the other wing, with #3 outboard of #4. Using a radio call, direct #3 to cross-under to the other side, outboard of #2. Then direct #4 to cross-under to the other side, outboard of #3. You now have your f light configured in echelon, back in the original order.

There are many variations on this scenario. Sometimes, when #3 breaks out, #4 will follow him because he has #3 in sight but not #2 or #1 in sight. This actually makes things a bit easier, as-suming #3 and #4 stick together, because you will not have to reshuff le the f light after you get #3 and #4 back on board. If #3 and #4 do not stick together, you've really got your work cut out for you. Good luck!

Let's walk through the radio calls you might hear in a scenario such as the one we've been discussing.

#3: "Number 3 breaking out, blind on Lead."

#1: "Number 3, say altitude."

#3: "Number 3 is climbing through 3,900"

#1: "Number 3, maintain 4,000' and hold a left, 30° bank turn."

#3: "Maintain 4,000', entering a left, 30° bank turn."

#1: "Number 2 and #4, say position."

#2: "Number 2 is at your six o'clock, in sight."

#4: "Number 4 is at #2's six o'clock, in sight."

#1: "Number 2 and #4, remain in my six o'clock, 500' spacing."

#2: "Number 2, remain in trail, 500' spacing."

#4: "Number 4, remain in trail, 500' spacing."

#1: "Number 3, I am at 3,500, smoke on. Turn your smoke on."

#3: "I have you in sight. I am at your four o'clock, high."

#1: "I have you in sight, at my four o'clock, high. I will continue a left hand turn at 3,500'. You are cleared to rejoin. Maneuver to join in extended trail."

#3: "Cleared to rejoin in extended trail."

#3: "Number 3, is in."

Lead can then call for the rejoin on the radio, or roll wings level and execute a wing rock to initiate the rejoin.

We can't possibly cover all the possible scenarios for a break-out situation but this gives you an idea of how you should prioritize and then problem solve your way through a fairly typical situa-tion—other situations are simply variations.

Remember, de-conf licting the wingmen will be your first prior-ity to ensure safety of f light.

First, #3 crosses-under to opposite side

Second, #4 crosses-under to opposite side

Flight now configured in echelon, in original order

#1#2 #4 #3#1

#2#3

#4

In this scenario, at the completion of a left-turning rejoin, the wingmen will have to be re-numbered or shuffled back to their original positions.


By Alan Cockrell [email protected] Update

Before going in to this, I’ve got to tell you that I abhor statis-tics. They don’t begin to tell the sad stories of the men and

women that we knew, valued, loved and trusted, whose lives are lost in these laundry lists of dispassionate numbers. Sometimes numbers lie, but they do one thing well; they identify trends. So let’s take a fresh look at how we’re doing.

In the Fall 2008 issue of Red Alert I reported on the accident and mishap history of the RedStar f leet from 1994 through 2007, and found some interesting trends.

Low-altitude maneuvering was the major cause of accidents in our f leet, followed closely by Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT).

Yak-52s made up almost half of all our accidents and mishaps.

Pilots with commercial certificates committed one third of ac-cidents.

Pilots with ATP certificates committed over one fourth of all air-borne accidents and mishaps.

Our fatal accidents peaked in 2003, and spiked again in 2007.

Our gear-up landings peaked in 1999, and have been declining (slowly) ever since.

Engine failures steadily increased to a peak in 2003, then spiked again in 2007.

We had four jammed elevator accidents between 1994 and 2008.

So what’s happened in the time span since I did that study? Did we learn any lessons from our past? Read on and be the judge.

Since 2008 we have had 15 fatal accidents, killing 24 people. That compares with 24 deaths in the preceding 14 years. A sobering way to look at it: We lost 1.8 lives per year 1994-2007 and 4 lives per year 2008-2014. Not a happy trend.

We have suffered three mid-air collisions, but one was in an air race, so we’ll chalk that one up to show business. Both of the other mid-airs were with non-RPA aircraft and were not forma-tion related. In both cases the RPA pilot survived and the other person didn’t.

Speaking of planes coming together, there have been no forma-tion related mishaps in the reporting period. Thus it would seem we are our safest when we brief up and join-up. Maybe that’s be-cause we go into a formation f light with good briefings, good training, and an awareness of the threats involved. Those old de-mons—complacency, over-confidence, and vulnerability to dis-traction, seem to ambush us more when we’re out alone. Just my thoughts.

But back to the stats: In the period 2008-2013, the year 2012 was our worst with seven accidents and nine fatalities, while the fol-lowing year, 2013 was our safest with only three accidents and two fatalities.

In the period prior to 2008, the Yak-52 was the airframe of choice in which we committed our unpardonable aerial sins, but the L-29/39 has surged ahead in that ignominious category. The Al-batross and Delfin suffered five accidents vs. five for the Yak-52 and five for the CJ-6. One L-29 crashed on takeoff with a fuel-starved engine and another one attempted a wild aerobatic for-mation join-up that resulted in terrain impact. I don’t know what the totals are for the various aircraft types in RPA, but you’ve got to think there are a whole lot fewer jets than props, and yet the jets were involved in a third of all the occurrences. Dispropor-tionate? Seems to me.

In the period 2008-2014, loss-of-control overtook first place as the biggest killer. This is especially disturbing, as it points an ac-cusatory finger at our stick-and-rudder skills, or the lack thereof. We are stalling in the traffic pattern (two instances), spinning into the ground (two instances), and in one occurrence, losing control via high-speed, accelerated stall. Another pilot became disorientated and crashed during an ill-advised night IMC de-parture. Also, the Yak-52 jammed elevator monster raised its head again in 2012, killing two in New Zealand.

We are doing better on the ground with only three incidents. Only one was a mechanical failure. Of the other two, one was failure to follow checklist (air valve closed) and one was pure stupidity: landing hot on a short runway that had obstacles on both ends. If I’m stepping on someone’s ego, he can meet me in the parking lot.

I elected not to look at pilot qualifications and experience this time—there’s no point. Regardless of the ratings in our wallets, or the thickness of our logbooks, we are still bending metal, and still giving business to the undertakers.

In my estimation, nearly three fourths of all our accidents/mis-haps were preventable. This excludes the non-pilot induced me-chanical failures, and both mid-air collisions. (After studying the mid-airs I concluded that the RPA pilots could not have seen the intruder coming.)

Here are absurdly quick summaries of each accident/mishap that I found on U.S. NTSB and other Western nations’ databases (F=fatal, NF= non-fatal):

L-29, 2008: Engine failure on takeoff. Clogged fuel filter (F).

Yak-11, 2009: Departed runway edge. No mechanical failure (NF).

CJ-6, 2009: Loss of control overshooting final (F).

CJ-6, 2009: Mid-air with RV-8 (F to RV-8).

How Are We Trending?


L-29, 2009: CFIT during a “barrel roll” join-up (F).

Yak-3, 2010: Gear collapse due to actuator failure (NF).

Yak-52, 2010: Unable to recover from low altitude spin (F).

CJ-6, 2010: Forced landing due to engine failure (NF).

L-39, 2011: Attempted landing on insufficient runway (NF).

Yak-52, 2011: Spin (possibly a f lat spin) related to “tail chasing” (F). (Occurred in UK.)

Yak-55, 2012: Mid-air with Lancair (F to Lancair).

Yak-52, 2012: Airshow CFIT (F). There is strong anecdotal evi-dence that fatigue and possibly G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC) were factors.

L-39, 2012: Loss of control during night IMC takeoff (F).

L-39, 2012: Loss of control during takeoff, possibly due to loss of canopy (F).

CJ-6, 2012: Loss of control in traffic pattern (F).

Yak-52, 2012: Gear collapse due to air valve being left in closed position (NF).

Yak-52, 2012: High speed accelerated stall during aerobatics. Un-able to recover prior to terrain impact (F).

Yak-52, 2012: Jammed elevator (F). (Occurred in NZ.)

L-39, 2013: Airshow CFIT, unexplained (F).

CJ-6, 2013: Loss of control during low altitude maneuvering off-shore (F).

Disclaimer: Sometimes the NTSB gets it wrong. I know of twice when it’s happened. If one of the above victims was your buddy and you want to set the record straight, write it up and send it to Red Alert.

Putting all this into perspective, let’s assume we have 300 aircraft in the RPA f leet and each f lew 100 hours per year during the period 2008-2013. The total hours f lown would then be 150,000. At 20 accidents/mishaps, our rate is 11 per 100,000 f lying hours.

This compares with 7.2 per 100,000 hours for general aviation (U.S.), according to AOPA for the year 2009.

If my estimates of aircraft and hours f lown are reasonable, we are 35% more accident-prone than the red star-less multitudes. You might be tempted to chalk this disparity up to the fact that we f ly more high performance aircraft, in more challenging f light re-gimes. But it bears repeating: 76% of all the accidents I just sum-marized were preventable. Most estimates of human error in all general aviation accidents return about that same percentage. So, the numbers are telling us we’re doing no better than the average Spam Can Joe in avoiding preventable accidents, and we’re worse than they are overall.

Don’t you wonder how many RPA pilots read my 2008 safety summary in Red Alert and never entertained the idea that they might be statistics in the next update? I knew a couple of them.

Let’s see how we’re doing five years hence. In the meantime, how can we improve our chances of living to ripe old ages, like Si Rob-ertson, for example? By minding his placard:


This is not a typical Red Alert article because it is on a very se-rious topic: how to protect your wealth and your family’s fi-

nances when the worst-case scenario happens. As a life insurance agent, and specialist in the use of insurance for estate planning, I have worked with countless clients to help them best protect their estates from both estate taxes and from what I call creditors and predators. As we all know, “stuff ” happens, and when it does, we are all subject to lawsuits, even if we’re no longer around. It seems that every year there are a few unfortunate accidents that end in tragedy and, in our litigious society, the ensuing lawsuits are inevitable. Having your passengers or fellow aviators sign a hold harmless agreement is a good idea, and will at least give you or your heirs a fighting chance at a defense. But, let’s realize that anyone hurt on the ground would not have signed your hold harmless agreement, and even if you are no longer around to be sued, the lawsuits can come against your family and your estate. There is a well-known lawsuit that came out of the 1999 accident within the Lima Lima formation team. The team performed a pop-top break to land, and two aircraft collided, leading to the death of one of the team members. Even though the deceased pilot had signed a hold harmless agreement to indemnify his fel-low team members, his wife and two children still sued the other team members claiming that while he may have signed away his right to sue, he could not sign away their right to sue. The hold harmless actually had language stating that he signed away his heirs’ rights, but the court did not agree. When there is a lawsuit, you may, or may not, be around to defend yourself, but you will, for sure, be putting your family’s wealth at risk. So first, be care-ful, but second, protect your estate.

While I offer you no legal advice, I would like to suggest some steps you can take, with advice from your attorney, which might provide you and your family some significant asset protection. To begin with, and as you may know, assets held in a retirement account are generally protected from creditors. The classic ex-ample of this is O.J. Simpson’s NFL pension. While O.J.’s other assets were taken from him by the court, his pension could not be touched and, before he went back to jail for trying to steal back some of his former property, was his steady source of lifetime income. But, most of what we own is usually outside of retire-ment plans, and is subject to creditors and predators. Therefore, many families seek out ways to secure their non-protected assets. The easiest way to do this is to gift or sell assets to an irrevocable trust to which you are neither the trustee nor the beneficiary. It sounds like you are giving your asset away when you do this. You are, kind of. In general, whatever is not yours cannot be attached by creditors, so moving assets out of your name can provide you with creditor protection. What if you could give assets away, but

into trusts that are for the benefit of your spouse or your chil-dren? That is the foundation of asset protection planning.

The easiest and most widely used creditor protected trust is the Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT). Often, pilots believe they have protected their loved ones by the fact that they have life in-surance. Maybe. The question is: who owns the policy? Suppose you meet your maker in a less-than-desirable way, and in the pro-cess, cause harm to someone else, and your estate is sued—all your assets, including any life insurance you own, are subject to being attached by the court, which means you could be leaving your spouse and family in a terrible financial situation, even if you left them a nice big life insurance policy. So you should think about transferring the life insurance out of your name. If you have life insurance, even if it is just term insurance, you should consider establishing an ILIT, of which your spouse or children can be the beneficiary. That way, if the policy pays up (meaning you bought the proverbial farm), the proceeds would be held in a trust for your spouse’s benefit to which she or he would have full access for income while keeping the death benefit protected from law suits. Even if your estate got drained by legal fees and judg-ments, the assets in the ILIT, which could be substantial, could remain protected and available for your spouse and children. One important caveat to remember is this: transferring a policy into an ILIT is considered a gift to the beneficiaries of the ILIT and a gift has a three year look-back period, meaning that if you die within three years of making a gift of any asset, it would revert back into your name. That could be bad. But, instead, you could fund the ILIT with some cash and “sell” the insurance policy to it. That is not considered a gift and would not be subject to the look-back provision. So, ILIT’s seem to be a no-brainer. They are not costly and any good estate and trust attorney can draft one for you. But, what about protecting assets other than your life insurance policy?

While ILIT’s are specifically established for holding life insur-ance, you can establish other irrevocable trusts to hold your non-insurance assets. Once again, these trusts can be for the benefit of your spouse and/or your children while providing asset pro-tection by the fact that they hold assets that are no longer yours. Our clients usually create these trusts to transfer assets out of their estates in order to shield them from future estate taxes rath-er than just for asset protection but, regardless of the goal, the US government has set limits on how much you can legally transfer out of your estate and into irrevocable trusts. These limits are not to hinder your ability to protect assets from creditors but, rather, to limit how much you can protect from estate taxes. Cur-rently, the amount that any individual can “gift” out of their es-

When theHold Harmless Agreement

is not EnoughBy Gil “NAFOD” Lipaz [email protected]


tate is $5.25 million. That means that a couple can transfer $10.5 million worth of assets out of their estate, giving those assets protection from both creditors and from future estate taxes. And, by taking discounts on eligible assets one can transfer even more value than $10.5million. Such trusts can be es-tablished in any state al-though some states, such as Nevada, are becoming renowned for being home to strong asset protection laws. States such as South Dakota, Alaska and Delaware allow trusts to remain in perpetuity (dy-nasty trusts) keeping them exempt from estate taxes and protect-ed from creditors for future generations. Also, the state of Texas

has a unique rule where the cash accumulation within a life in-surance policy, even if owned by the individual, has creditor pro-tection. This does not help in case of death, (you would still need an ILIT) but provides Texans the ability to use cash value life in-

surance policies to ac-cumulate wealth that is protected from creditors. The Texas rule is only for Texas residents but trusts in

Nevada, South Dakota, and some other states can be established by residents of any state. Again, I advise you to consult on these matters with your estate and trust attorney and a trusted life in-surance agent, but most important of all, let’s all be safe!

Call Tom ‘TJ’ Johnson @ 866 475-9199 [email protected]

When there is a lawsuit, you may, or may not, be around to defend yourself, but you will, for sure, be putting your family’s wealth at risk.


As I write this article, I must confess to all of you, I found the tallest soapbox I could find to present this sermon. I’m sure

at the end of it, some of you will be a little miffed, and if you are, I apologize—however, the facts are the facts.

I will start off by saying that it’s critical that we who teach, are there to pass on information, and techniques, to our students so that they can f ly with almost anyone in formation, with a certain guarantee they will successfully make it home to see their loved ones that night.

Okay, what is the Sam %#@! am I talking about? Recently I lead a f light of four. During the f light, I configured the f light into a left echelon—I then gave the double pump signal to # 2, to pass to #3, so #3 would move his element over to form a fingertip, strong right. Number 4, at that point, got on the frequency and proceeded to tell me that this is not a standard FAST move.

So let’s dissect this part of the f light.

• Number 4 was the pilot with the least formation time.

• Unless there is a safety-of-f light issue, wingmen should not be challenging the Lead on the frequency. It disrupts the f light, and challenges Lead’s authority.

• Procedural questions are best addressed on the ground, dur-ing the debrief.

When I got home that night I sent an email to people I respect, and I must tell you, the responses I got back were eye-opening:

"FAST does not support or recognize the f light maneuver I chose to make!"

"FAST allows this maneuver only if a radio call is made!"

"FAST wants # 2 moved, then 3 & 4, then move # 2 again!"

Now I’m talking about these com-ments coming from military pi-lots, check pilots, instructor pi-lots, leads, as well as low-time wingman.

Here is page 18 from what was one of the original FAST formation f light manuals, first published by the T-34 Association.

Please note # 4: Echelon left to fin-gertip

Then I start to get the other email responses, one of which I have pasted here.

Gentlemen,

Frankly, I don't know the origins of this prohibition on moving the #3/#4 element from echelon to opposite side fingertip. Our comm guide is an adaptation of the FAST comm guidelines and the double-pump signal, passed by #2 to #3, has been a part of that protocol for the last 17 years that the RPA has been associated with FAST.

We've talked about similar situations before. It usually involves a local group adopting a non-standard signal and then propagating it throughout the region—I refer to this as "Continental Drift."

This is not an instance where the RPA has changed its method-ology, it is a situation where one or more instructors where not familiar with the RPA/FAST protocols and spread disinformation.

This discussion can serve as the starting point to bring everyone back into the fold. As all of you know, standardization is an ongo-ing process.

I have also f lown with guys who will give a hand signal that I don’t understand and when I ask them about it, the answer given is, “That’s the way they do it on the XXXX Coast. Guys, this is wrong, and not at all the way we should be teaching. No matter where you f ly, no matter which group you f ly with, it should all be the same. I’ve also f lown with patched pilots who don’t know the hand signals. Let me give a few examples:

When you are in fingertip and Lead wants to turn left or right, does he give a hand signal or does he move his head from the upright position to the direction of the turn several times? Well, the Air Force teaches one way, the Navy another, but there is no "turn" signal anywhere in the FAST guidelines.

How about when you’re on the runway, ready for a section take off—do you, after checking that the wingman is ready, move your head back, and then give an exaggerated forward head nod, or do you take your hand from a ver-tical position and then drop the hand and move it forward? I’ve seen both but I was trained one way.

Okay, so now let’s revisit my formation in left echelon, and I want to move #3 and #4 to my right. Should Lead make a radio call to initiate the move?

Really! Well you see, #2 has to take his hand off the throttle to give the dou-ble-pump to #3. Is that dangerous?

Standardization of TrainingBy Mike "Viper" Maloco [email protected]


Before you answer.

What about when Lead has the f light in fingertip and now wants to move #4 to diamond? If the f light is in fingertip, strong Left, #3 has to take his hand off the throttle to give #4 the signal.

If the f light is strong right, now #3 has to take his left hand off the throttle, place it on the stick, then, using his right hand, give the #4 to diamond signal.

I think my point is being made—if you have people who can’t pass a signal because they feel it’s unsafe, they perhaps should not be in a formation f light, or they may require more training.

Also, the FAST card is a privilege that allows us to f ly forma-tion in waivered airspace. This is where it really counts boys and girls—you’re in confined airspace, and making formation chang-es quickly. Briefings need to be well-defined, including a walk-through of the formation changes with the f light on the ground.

When I have led formations in an airshow, I would be listening to Air Boss on one frequency, and talking with my guys on an-other. I would be talking them through each of the maneuvers, including when we are going to turn, when we’re going to level our wings, and all the other details.

The Thunderbirds, Blue Angeles, Canadian Snowbirds all do it, and they f ly two to three practice f lights, six days a week. If it’s good enough for them, it’s sure as heck good enough for my f light!

When we are out just doing a practice formation for fun, (not getting ready for an airshow), it’s for fun. There is NO reason that any maneuver has to be performed right away. If Lead gives a hand signal that needs to be passed on, stabilize your aircraft if you’re starting to get sucked. Fix it first, and then give the signal. There is no need to panic.

We all make mistakes, all of us. One of the reference tools I use is watching the DVDs of the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds and Snow-birds, especially the debrief. Everyone admits to their mistakes. In one tape Commander Russ Bartlett, of the Blue Angels, makes the comment “sometimes while in the debrief, and I’m being told where I screwed up, I’m thinking, you've got to be kidding me, what in the hell did I get into!”

Being told a mistake was made, is not to tear you down, it’s to help us all become better formation pilots. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but if you want to improve, it’s important we under-stand where a mistake was made, and how to correct it.

When you start to teach a new student, use the material that’s out there, the RedStar or the T-34 Association’s formation manual. How about the Darton tapes—this was mandatory viewing for us in the T-28 community, but the principals apply to us all. These tapes also give your student a look-see at what he or she is going to be doing before getting into the f light.

Formation f lying is a perishable skill, and as I keep telling my stu-dents and pilots, “you can get seriously killed doing this stuff!”

Be safe, be prepared, study the material. We all need to brush up every once in a while. Most important of all, if you get a com-mand you don’t understand, or the sun was in your eyes and you couldn’t see the signal clearly, do nothing, and communicate you don’t understand.

Fly safe, teach your children well!

Formation CommThere are three ways to communicate in formation:

1. Hand signals

2. Aircraft signals

3. Radio call

The flight leader will use the appropriate comm protocol, de-pending on his briefed plan, and the circumstances at that moment in the flight.

Hand signals can be utilized for most of the comm within a flight—aircraft signals are a bit more limited since there are no aircraft signals for some of our maneuvers. Radio calls can be used for all maneuvers and provide the ultimate backup (assuming you are not NORDO) when there is confusion, or an abnormal situation, within the flight.

The RPA's comm protocols are based on the FAST Radio Com-munication and Visual Signals guide, which can be found in the Documents section of the FAST website:

www.flyfast.org

Hand signals originated with the necessity to maintain ra-dio silence so as to not give up the element of surprise to an enemy monitoring the frequency. With triangulation radio equipment, an enemy could possibly plot position and track. Today, we use hand signals to maintain the tradition, mostly for the fun of it. It also serves to keep the radio frequency clear for use in case of an abnormal or emergency situation.

A proposed revision to the FAST comm guide has been sub-mitted to the FAST BOD for consideration but it has not been acted on as of this date. The proposed revision updates, sim-plifies, and clarifies some of the comm protocols. It also intro-duces photo-representations of the hand signals (manfully portrayed by our very own Duke "MADDAWG" Molter).


By Richard Goode www.russianaeros.com

I was reminded that it was almost five years ago that I wrote similar notes for Red Alert, and that people could be interested

in an update. Of course, I tend to write with a European per-spective, although well over half our engine business is outside Europe, including the USA. The main difference is that we are far more controlled by our aviation authorities here than those in the relaxed environments of the USA, South Africa, Austra-lia, and other countries. This means that even if an engine is going into a non-certificated aircraft—like a Yak-50 or -52, the engine must be meet standard specifications, and can only be overhauled by an approved workshop. In practice, a reasonable number of customers are quite happy to have modified engines, with a side letter from them, to confirm that they have installed the modifications themselves.

Not in any particular order of importance, I thought the follow-ing items could be of interest:

Our relationship with Aerometal in HungaryHaving begun business in Russia in 1989, we obtained our en-gines from Vedenyeev (OKBM) for many years, since they were the designer of the M-14P, but also had the ability to overhaul engines. They were subsequently taken over by an entrepreneur-ial Russian group, but gradually ran out of money and began to send out engines with very sloppy workmanship, and indeed be-gan quoting quite ludicrous prices for overhauls. For a while we then went to the Voronezh Mechanical Plant, which was a main production factory for M-14P but, it was clear from some 10 years ago, that they were not really interested in the business—al-though they had quite extensive stocks of spare parts. In theory, they continue to produce new engines, but in small numbers, and at high prices. Finally they produced a batch of 100 engines for a state order of Yak-18T aircraft and, although notionally "new," they incorporated very large numbers of overhauled items, and also pretty much exhausted VMP’s stocks of engine components. Although they have not officially announced that the engine business has stopped, in practical terms it has.

Some seven years ago we were fortunate to come across Aero-metal in Hungary. They are a medium-sized business by local standards, employing some 80 people in a wide variety of spe-cialised engineering work, but with the advantage that they have their own machine shop, fabrication area, painting workshops, anodizing, and other related capabilities. In terms of engines, their business had been the overhaul of the M-14V engine for the Kamov 26 helicopter. Historically, there had been around 100 of these helicopters engaged in crop-spraying in Hungary, so a sig-nificant amount of overhaul work resulted. However, when Hun-gary joined the European Union, Western agricultural experts looked at the kind of chemicals that were being used and were

horrified. This entire business was effectively stopped so that there are now only something like 10 crop-spraying helicopters left in Hungary.

So, we came to an agreement whereby we would be their exclusive sales agent for engine work, excluding their historic Eastern he-licopter business. We have found them quite excellent partners, superb engineers, and they produce lovely engines. Historically, they had only produced completely standard engines, but are now doing a variety of improvements such as assembling the engines to much tighter tolerances than allowed in the Russian technical manuals—and carefully polishing intake ports. In addition, they have put a lot of emphasis on the cosmetic appearances of the engines, and this has included the manufacture of new, but iden-tical to the original, data plates—which we install on the engines, importantly, with the original serial number.

We are currently overhauling a bit over 30 engines a year, which I suspect is more than other people in this small world. Most of our engines have the excellent Savarese plug conversion kit, for which we have obtained permission from the European au-thorities. Also, an increasing number of customers are using the pistons from Barrett but, officially, only for use outside Europe, since, of course, they are not certificated here.

Our work covers all the AI-14 and M-14 family, and we've ob-tained an old HS-6 Chinese engine with intention of overhauling them in the future. Interestingly, they are surprisingly different to the AI-14 in many ways. Few of these are significant, but it means that many parts are not interchangeable.

Other People Active in this BusinessThis is certainly a dwindling number. Venitza, in the Ukraine has definitely stopped—the two Russian companies, above, have stopped, and Shakty, also in Russia, claims to still overhaul en-gines, but, if they do, I would have grave concerns about qual-ity and reliability. Of course, Motorstar in Romania, who built quite a lot of the new engines for Yak-52 have an active business, both overhauling engines, and manufacturing parts. Termikas, in Lithuania, is also overhauling engines, and that, outside the USA is, in my view, it!

The Supply of Spare PartsI am beginning to see areas where we will have problems in the future, and to a certain extent, the effect of this is dependent on whether the engines have to be certificated or whether they can be totally "experimental." The main parts of the engines are robust and can continue for engine lives of well over the original limit of 2250 hours. However, I am beginning to see a shortage of exhaust valves—these are a very sophisticated item made from

The Current Position of Eastern Radial Engines


five different types of steel with internal cooling from sodium. Then there are pistons. The Barrett pistons are excellent but, of course, are not certificated for general use. Motorstar makes the improved SPC pistons but, again, these are not officially certif-icated. Several of us are working on magneto coils, which are one of the weakest areas on these engines. Then there are other items which can have shorter lives than one might think. Propel-ler shafts can corrode quite badly, particularly when the aircraft left outside. The Russian technology allows for a certain amount of hard-chroming and then grinding back to the original dimen-sions, but many shafts are corroded well beyond these limits. There are no new carburettors being made, and we are finding that quite a lot of the housings are cracked or corroded, making them impossible to repair.

The Russian High-Performance EnginesWe sold relatively small numbers of the M-14R (from OKBM) rated at 450 hp, and the M9F (from the Voronezh Manufacturing Plant) rated at 435 hp but, with the death of the industry in Rus-sia, we don't expect any more of these engines will be produced. Having said that, with a combination of high-compression Bar-rett pistons, the PF supercharger, and very careful assembly—we get a genuine 430 hp, and a bit more if we use the Barrett elec-tronic ignition.

The AI-14 EngineThis was manufactured in quite large amounts and, of course, fully certificated for its installation in aircraft like the Wilga. However, PZL, the manufacturer and type-certificate holder, is now no longer supporting the engine, but also not making any spare parts. There are sufficient numbers around for a while, but

if these engines are going to keep going, then someone will need to produce new exhaust valves and other critical components. Although not in any way supporting the engine, PZL nonethe-less refuses to allow the use, within Europe, of the very-proven automotive-plug conversion kit, despite being approved for all the M-14P family by EASA.

Pricing It is inevitable that costs of spare parts, overhauls, and engine themselves will continue to rise, but I do not see these ever ex-ceeding the costs of comparable Western engines, where these costs have also risen dramatically. What could well make a dif-ference is if we run out of major components. For example, to establish the manufacture of new exhaust valves would be ex-tremely expensive, and demanding a significant production run.

Setting Engines UpWe are always surprised how few owners do anything more than simply install their engines and then f ly. The carburettors on these engines are extremely adjustable—and far better smooth-ness, fuel consumption, temperature control and indeed, power, can be achieved by careful tuning. So often one sees the engines with a rough and lumpy idle, with lots of black smoke, where-as they can be adjusted to run like a sewing machine! Also, we strongly recommend to people to change the compensating jets to obtain the best compromise between fuel consumption and engine cooling—so many engines run with far too much fuel consumption, while others run hot because the jets are too large (being a compensating jet, larger means less fuel). Indeed, it is a good idea to change these jets between summer and winter if you have a big variation in temperature.

YSAIR LLC

Parts, Maintenance and Pre-Buy inspections.... for Yakovlev, Sukhoi and Nanchang.

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of three). The T-34 left the CJ in the dust! We reformed, did a break away from the A-36 (for the photographer) and cleared them to return to base. The next comparison was rate of climb at Vy. From line abreast, we counted to three, once more the T-34 outperformed the CJ. Better rate, at a higher speed. The last com-parison they wanted to see was a stall series—power off, clean and dirty. Stalls in both aircraft were very close to the same speeds and characteristics—so, a draw.

What about long cross country f lights?The T-34s can have three different fuel profiles:50 gallons: @15 GPH=3 hours 20 minutes80 gallons (wing tip tanks): 15 GPH=5 hours 20 minutes.102 gallons (under-wing tanks) 15 GPH=6 hours 48 minutes.Pilots bladder, ????????

The Yaks have approxi-mately 1 hour 50 minutes f light time with standard tanks, and the CJs have 2 hours 20 minutes with stock tanks—both have up to 4 hours with the larger tanks.

Takeoffs with the lower-powered engines make it interesting as we need to stay back on the power to have a section take off, so expect the rotation and lift-off to be farther down the runway. In the climb, I like to go with 110 knots—it’s a shallower climb, but results in better engine cooling. At cruise, I normally set about 1900 RPM and 21" MP, with the Yaks at 23-22" MP with 2100 rpm. For the 225 HP T-34s, this gives the lower-powered aircraft plenty of smash, and were cruising at approximately 110-120 knots.

Planning a f light with mixed aircraft can be fun, but as I’ve stat-ed before, take the time to understand the limits of the other pilots and their aircraft, that way everyone can have a fun time.

So Where was I, oh yes! After start up I have to wait for the smoke cloud to disappear so I can see the other aircraft in the f light, my fellow T-34 driver, who was parked behind the belcher, now has to climb back out and clean his front windscreen from all the oil sent back his way, his beautiful blue and white aircraft now looks like it’s low-visibility gray. Oh well, enough said—it’s off into the wild, blue yonder.

It’s a beautiful California morning, we are getting ready to get into our planes and head up to Santa Maria for some lunch,

socializing and formation f lying. I’ve already given the briefing and now, as we walk to our planes, I’m looking at these beautiful machines, designed and built by craftsmen, they're a pleasure to look at.

As I climb onto the wing my eyes are suddenly shocked, what the #%^&*!, they're telling me to look away, at the sight that now beholds them. Ignoring my senses, I climb into the cockpit and soon it’s time to give the start engine signal. Battery switch on, prime the engine, starter engaged, and the beautiful Continen-tal, 300 hp engine of my T-34, comes to life with the roar of a tiger. Next to me, I’m watching as the blades turn—it starts with a belch, then a sneeze, a fart, and the engine comes to life. I look over at the pilot with his gomer glasses and scarf, oil smeared over his face, his newly whitened teeth, stained with the excess oil belched out of the exhaust pipes—but, hey, a smile is a smile."What’s going on," you might ask? Well, today we have a f light of mixed aircraft.

So what does it take to Lead a f light of mixed aircraft? The first thing is we need to identify are the parameters for each pilot and his aircraft. So, let’s take a look. In the respective aircraft, we have many different engines that we need to think about—they are:

In the Mentors we have, 225 hp, 260 hp, 285 hp, 300 hp, and a 310 hp. We also have the two and three-bladed props on our planes.The Nanchangs and Yaks also have the 285 hp, 360 hp, 415 hp, 425 hp, and even a 450 hp engine, as well as different sizes and styles of props.

Also, the CJs and Yaks have a shorter takeoff run, and can accel-erate faster than the Mentor.

The T-34, with the big engine, can cruise at 165 knots, the CJ-6 at 140 knots, and the Yak cruises at 120 knots—so you see if I don’t come way back on the power, the only time the Yak would be in formation would be when we line up abreast on the runway.

In 2012, there was a f ly-off, performed for an AOPA article, be-tween the T-34 and CJ-6, both aircraft had a 285 hp motor, the test f light was f lown at 10,500'. The aircraft were f lown by Billy “Smitty” Smith in the T-34, and Rich Romaine, in the CJ. (The following is taken directly from Smitty’s article, I wish to thank him for allowing me to use part of his article.)

Then came the first of the comparisons—the “speed Run.” The T-34 was next to the A-36 with the CJ on my right wing. We dropped back a bit and formed into line-abreast. The A-36 slowed to 100 knots and, when ready, we went to full power (on the count

Mixed Flights: Blending T-34s, Yaks and Nanchangs In FormationBy Mike "Viper" Maloco [email protected], photo by Robert Genat


It’s a beautiful Florida afternoon, clean April air with no hint of California smog. A couple of f lights are prepping for do-

ing some airshow work at Sun ‘n Fun. As I walk up to my bird, I can’t help but notice the strong, masculine lines on the Yaks and CJs—sturdy, purpose-built birds, born from a long, proud line of fighter aircraft from previous generations. Their wings are bris-tling with rivets, attaching thick skins to heavy spars that don’t fall off when the going gets tough.

As I climb up on my wing, I notice some of the T-34s parked alongside—kinda' squatted down, where I couldn’t see them be-fore. Yes, they are pretty, but then, so are a lot of girls I have known. I’m reminded that they were cobbled together from the Bonanza for a government contract, where low bidder won.

At start up, my engine barks nois-ily into a rumble that only a radial engine can make. Belching smoke and oil all the time, much like a thoroughbred stallion snorting at the starting gate, before a race. The wind drifts my smoke over the T-34s squatting alongside—clearly my CJ-6 has marked it's turf, and issued a challenge to all. Peering down from my perch at them, I can’t help notice the huge size of their pilot watches, framed by carefully rolled sleeves on their f light suits, which are adorned with really big, colorful patches. Why do guys with the smallest warbirds have the biggest patches? Maybe Dr. Phil can explain it, but I can't.

This day, I drew the Lead straw. I know my guys, and their air-planes, so I know that this hop is going to be a pleasure to be sa-vored. My CJ has the big engine, a stock Yak-52 is My #2. There’s a Huosai-engined CJ as my #3, and a pair of 400 hp, -52TWs in #4 and #5. The T-34s are behind us as they were just emerging from their near Death Dance with the FAA and straggling back onto the air show scene.

Of course, I briefed modest air speeds—we will maximize our over-crowd time with quick, 45° dog-bone turns on the ends. The trick is to roll smoothly and gradually into the bank to stabilize and then slowly roll out, timing wings level when on the show line. The T-34s finally caught up to our quick climb-out, and are now doing a journeyman’s job of trailing us. Yes I can go much faster, but no, this is not the time or place. The sortie ends well with minimal squawks. Both f lights did what they were asked to

do. I clean up my airplane's oil smears and the T-34 guys wipe off their bugs.

So now it’s my turn to take a look at the airplanes. All have served long and well, with honor, unlike some that killed more of their students than expected. I believe that some T-34s are still in military service, although I can’t remember when I stopped see-ing Charlie model T-34s, out of the Panhandle, coming down to Lakeland—but not long ago. Both Nanchangs and Yaks soldier on in military service, but in places where Frommer’s doesn’t publish a guidebook.

And then there was that AOPA magazine East/West Fly-off. What a hack job. Unfounded statements claimed that Nanchangs were purposefully designed with small fuel tanks to prevent pi-lots from defecting—defecting to where? The author also claimed that when a Yak-52 lands gear up, you need only change the wooden propeller and continue on. Boys and girls: don’t try that at home. He also claimed that the CJ seat does not adjust at all, huh? Statements about the CJ-6's looks such as: “Pig Pen meets Brutus,” Really?

Given statements like this I also wonder why the evaluation took place at 10,500’? 192 knots for a T-34? Wow, how come I never see these guys at Sport Air Racing League (SARL) events or the Air-Venture Cup. T-28s, T-6s, Yaks and Nanchangs have competed, but where are those 192-knot wonders? Come on down to the Sun-40 Sprints that I chair during Sun ‘n Fun, and we will see who walks the walk.

I love Yaks almost as well as my CJ, when the T-34 guys bitch about having to come back on the power when f lying with a Yak, all I can say is pull that stick back, push up your levers and watch what real power can do. Perhaps the T-34 is used only for f lat f lying, or perhaps that’s what AOPA writers do most of the time in Bonanzas. Kind of like—let’s go out on a good VFR day and practice approaches. That’s not what RedStar aircraft are for. By the way, we did recover from the airshow in time for a quick de-brief so the T-34 guys would not miss the Ellen show coming on at four pm, local.

To be fair, AOPA treated us no worse than EAA Warbirds Maga-zine does. Twenty two years of coming to EAA events and f lying in their airshows and not once a cover shot or feature story. In the end, we all enjoy f lying together and enjoy the experience, the ca-maraderie, as well as the friendly rivalry—that’s the part AOPA and EAA Warbirds Magazine misses. And yes, I am a member of both organizations.

Mixed Flights: Blending T-34s, Yaks and Nanchangs In FormationBy Craig Payne [email protected]


Bill "Pirate" Mills' Nanchang cj-6a

Upgrades/Mods: Dynon D-10A Artificial horizon (efis)garmin 396straight, side exhaust pipesoil filterSmoke System

22 Red Alert Spring 2014


Bill "Pirate" Mills' Nanchang cj-6a

Manufacturer : Chinese (1985)Model: Nanchang CJ-6AEngine: Housai 285 HPProp: stock, two-blade aluminum

www.flyredstar.org 23

Chris Dilley


Aviation MedicineBy Chuck Crinnian, MD

Back in the “glory days” of aviation, the professional airline pilot had a mandatory retirement age of 60. Many died before

age 65. Why? Deferred maintenance and irregular inspections of their own physiologic systems. If a pilot had a disqualifying medical condition, they are out of a job, and worse, not in the air. This mindset resulted in the usual S.O.P of just going to the every six-month, first-class medical “screening exam.” But that exam is very basic. It does not get detailed enough into today's accepted health screenings that we now know are necessary. Typically, the retired airline pilot had his first heart attack or major life modi-fying health event just after age 60. But in retrospect, this could have been prevented just by following health screening guide-lines. But, because of fear of losing one’s medical, that screening was deferred indefinitely. “I don't want to find anything to screw up my medical” was the typical mantra of pilots of yesteryear.

I now have to admit that I had this same mindset. Flying is too important in my life to jeopardize it by finding some medical is-sue. It won't happen to me! This might come as a surprise from a physician, but we are guilty of this mindset, as well. However, my “day job” is in a large hospital and I see a variety of patients. It used to be that all those sick people were really older than me. But not anymore. I have seen folks in their 40s and 50s at the “pearly gates” with prostate cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, and heart disease. They checked into the hospital, but they didn't leave through the front door.

I caught a case of “Medical Student Disease.” That is where a young doctor begins to experience the symptoms of many of the patients they see. This really was a walk-up call—I should do what I teach. The FAA now has developed a very good sys-tem of special issuance medical certificates that, if one has some health problem, you can still qualify for a medical. Don't wait for a health event to totally end your f lying, and likely your life. You check your aircraft every annual—why not check your own systems.

So this is what I did—and what you need to do. First, if you are male and older than 50, get your gown on and get your prostate checked—yearly. It is not that bad, and missing this diagnosis will result in prostate cancer traveling to your bones. This hurts. You also will die a slow, painful death.

Next, get a colonoscopy. You need one every five to ten years. I will admit that the prep is about as fun as an IRS audit—get a lot of reading material for the bathroom. But the main event, I slept through. Colon cancer is another slow, painful death. The “bore scope” exam is not bad, it will give you peace of mind, or find the

start of something bad that can be corrected. A friend had this done just for screening and they found the start of a cancer, she is now cured. If she had waited a year, the story would be much different.

The next thing to do is a cardiac screening. This is simple, just a blood draw, and some measurements. Know your body mass in-dex (BMI). If it is too high, lose weight and exercise. Know your blood pressure—if it is high, get it lower. The labs will look at any diabetes (high blood sugar) and your lipid (fat in the blood) levels. Preventing heart disease and stroke is much better than trying to recover from it. In fact, a lot of folks don't recover and lie in bed getting nutrition through a tube in their gut and having strangers put them in a shower a few times a week. Not a pretty sight.

Another issue is skin cancer. Arizona (and Australia) have the highest rate of melanoma in the world. If this type of skin cancer get greater than one mm thick, cancer cells are traveling through you circulation and setting up shop in your brain. You usually find out about this when this cancer causes a seizure or sudden loss of function of part of your body. By this time, your time left on the planet is measured in days to months. Find this one early. See a dermatologist at least yearly.

I am proud to admit that I did all this in less than one month. I was shocked to find out my cholesterol was way too high. I exer-cise and eat relatively healthy. I just make extra cholesterol—it's a genetic issue. So am now on the appropriate medication.

For the females, get breast mammography. A family history re-ally puts you at risk. While you are at it, get your f lu shots for the season.

The “annual inspections” for your health are more important than your aircraft annuals. There are not a lot of spare parts you can get to fix your diseased body. Even if you don't care, I'd bet there is someone in your life that cares—so take care of yourself.

On a final note—who is responsible for your health? If you an-swer anything other than “I am,” you are dead wrong.

Chuck Crinnian MD is a RPA member, FAAST Lead Representa-tive, ATP, CFI and AME. Please call Chuck if you have any ques-tions regarding the FAA Wings program, safety, or medical cer-tification concerns. Office#: 480-451-7676 or go to his website: www.aviationdoc.net

What You Don't Know, Could Hurt You, orHow Dumb Can You Be?


Body Mass Index (BMI)BMI is a simple formula that provides a proxy for determining body fat percentage by looking at the ratio between weight and height. The term "body mass index" originated in a paper written by Ancel Keys and published in the 1972 issue of the Journal of Chronic Diseases. Keys was an American scientist who studied the influence of diet on health, and was explicit in citing BMI as appropriate for population studies but not for individual diagnosis. Nonetheless, its simplicity has led to its being used as an indicator for individual health assessment. In that respect, the following ranges have become widely used. A BMI less than 18.5 may suggest an underweight con-dition; 18.5 to 25 is typically associated with a healthy range, while a BMI above 25 may suggest an overweight condition. A BMI greater than 30 could indicate obesity.

BMI = mass (kg) [height (m)]2

BMI = mass (lb) [height (in)]2 x 703

Chuck Crinnian, MD is an RPA mem-ber, flies a CJ-6 and is based in Phoenix AZ. He is an FAA Aviation Medical Examiner and neurologist. Chuck wel-comes any medical certification ques-tions from RPA pilots, contact him at [email protected]


TrainingAdvanced Tactical Formations: Four-Ship By Mike "Beav" Carter [email protected]

In the last issue of Red Alert, we covered how to f ly basic two-ship tactical formation. Those skills need to be performed cor-

rectly, and you must be proficient before this next step can begin. I’ll assume that you can now f ly all of the two-ship formations, so we’ll work on advance tactical formations, all the way up to a four-ship.

Advanced Two Ship Formations (the building blocks)Mastering these advanced two-ship formations is a required step toward four-ship maneuvering. The first formation we’ll look at is the wedge formation. The wedge is used at low altitude, when there is not enough room to f ly line abreast (narrow canyons, etc.), or when Lead wants to perform random horizontal maneu-vers in a permissive air-threat environment. The disadvantage to wedge is that no one is checking six for poor #2.

The wingman will f ly the position shown in Figure 1 during lev-el- f light station keeping. During turns, the wingman will ma-neuver as necessary to avoid Lead, and return to the wedge posi-tion as soon as possible through the use of lead and lag turns, not unlike maneuvering in extended trail. Because this formation assumes low-altitude operations, the wingman will f ly no lower than Lead, will de-conf lict high as necessary, and should avoid any exaggerated rolling or nose-low maneuvers.

The second advanced two-ship position is Fighting Wing. Fight-ing wing is similar to extended trail, although it is f lown much closer to Lead, and without overly exaggerated vertical maneu-vering. This position allows Lead the f lexibility to maneuver as necessary for weather avoidance, threat avoidance, or as desired in a f luid situation. For our purposes, it is important that wing-men are comfortable in fighting wing. Our normal fingertip and route positions do not allow for Lead to make rapid f light path changes. Fighting wing allows that f lexibility for Lead.

It is important to practice this position as a two-ship before add-ing more aircraft to the mix. It is critical that the wingman re-main in the desired 250' - 500' spacing so as to not create conf licts when f lown with a four-ship. The “maneuver cone” is important so as to minimize the time when the wingman is in Lead’s deep 6 o’clock, and therefore not visible to Lead. The wingman will ma-neuver as necessary, using the vertical as well as lead and lag to remain in the proper position. When station keeping in straight and level f light, wingmen should strive to be at the forward edge of the maneuver cone (30° aft and 250' – 300'), and slightly lower than Lead. This allows Lead to monitor his wingman, and allows him to maneuver quickly without fear of f light-path conf licts. Fighting wing is not recommended at altitudes below 1000' AGL. If employed at low altitude, the wingman loses half of the maneu-ver cone, as he must not drop below Lead’s altitude.

500’ - 750’

#1

#2

0°

45°Figure 1 Wedge

250' - 500'

#1

#2

30°

70°

08DK 08DK

70°30°

Note: angle offsets measured from line abreast = 0

Figure 2 Fighting Wing


Four-Ship FormationsThe primary formation that we will use with our RPA aircraft is the “Spread Four” or “Fluid Four” formation. Element leads will f ly line abreast and conduct all turns as tactical turns pre-viously discussed in the winter 2013 issue. Delayed turns, hook turns, and check turns, all may be f lown in this manner. I do not recommend doing cross turns in f luid four because there will be four aircraft close to each other at the crossing.

The wingmen in f luid four should aid in visual lookout, but pri-marily anticipate the maneuvering required to stay in position during and after turns. Wingmen should not get too far aft, nor too far away from Lead, otherwise, they could be a conf lict with the other element. It is acceptable for wingmen to be in between #1 and #3 during turns and maneuvers, but they should return

to the outside of the formation as soon as possible—move to the forward edge of Fighting Wing, and anticipate the next turn. Six o’clock coverage is good for the four-ship, as long as #1 and #3 are per-forming their lookout responsibilities.

The last four-ship formation we’ll intro-duce is the “Battle Box.” This consists of two elements f lying line abreast, with the rear element either in trail, or offset from the lead element.

During turns, the first element will ex-ecute a standard tactical formation turn. The second element will delay so as to execute their turn at the same position

#1 and #3 fly line abreast

750' - 1000'

30° 30°

70°70°

#1

#2 #4

#3

250' - 500' 250' - 500'

Figure 3 Fluid-4 Formation

#2 and #4 Fly Fighting Wing

Figure 4 Offset Battle Box Formation

1500' - 2000'750' - 1000'

750' - 1000'

#1 #2

#3 #4

20°

0°

20°

0°

over the ground as the first element. Care must be taken by #3 to not f ly so close to the first element as to inter-fere with their tactical turns. In addition, #2 cannot be so wide in the first element as to be a conf lict with the rear element. For obvious reasons, the hook or cross turns will not work in this formation. If Lead needs a 180° change of direction, he should com-mand an “In-place 180 left/right, go.” This will result in #3 and #4 being in the lead element. Another subsequent in-place turn will return the formation to the proper order.

The Battle Box formation of-

fers good mutual support, and a good element of surprise, as both air and ground threats will have a difficult time acquiring all of the aircraft in the formation.

ConclusionOver the past two Tac Form articles, we have introduced the con-cept of tactical formation, wingman responsibilities, and com-munication requirements, the maneuvers themselves, and de-conf liction responsibilities. While this seems like a lot to digest, if you have the proper instruction and a few practice sorties, you will feel as comfortable in tactical formation as you do today in close formation.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions. Good luck and f ly safe.


When the ice dam on the roof let go with the sound of a 30.06 and about three tons of snow came sliding down, obliterat-

ing the railing and the willow bushes, I realized that the current mini-ice age was coming to an end and that the Spring-Summer f lying season was approaching. And my thoughts turned, as I'm sure all of yours' did, to the contemplation of FAST formation currency and proficiency. Of course, we all know that there is a difference between currency and proficiency, but more on that later.

Of late I've been informed by our Sainted and long suffering Scribe 'Weeds" Weidhaas that he has observed some curious and eccentric Formation Proficiency Reports (FPR) come across his desk. So I thought to kick off my occasional Formation Standard-ization Rant (FSR) that we'd take a (mercifully) short look at the RPA FPR that seems to be mystifying some of our RPA brethren.

A quick look at the FAST Protocols and the RPA FPR reveal the following salient points:

• Each Lead or Wing pilot must be observed f lying in a forma-tion f light each calendar year by a Lead or a Check pilot.

• A completed Formation Proficiency Report must be signed by the Lead or the Check pilot.

• The pilot is considered current until the end of the calender year in which the proficiency f light was f lown.

• A Lead must demonstrate proficiency (read as f ly) as both wing and Lead, and cannot endorse himself in the same f light. (I mean, Really!?)

• The endorsing pilot must be current themselves.

• Last and most import, somebody in the f light has to remem-ber to send the bloody thing into Weeds!

There's actually a summary of much of that in the header para-graph that precedes the maneuvers section of the FPR. On an-other note, again from the Admin Officer, Lead pilots are re-minded that they are responsible to determine if pilots have the required logged formation hours BEFORE being recommended for a checkride. And those numbers are 10 hours for a Wing Can-didate and 30 hours logged as a FAST credentialed pilot for a Lead Candidate. Look for a handy kneeboard card with those numbers in the future.

And now for some Motherhood and Apple Pie. The Winter 2013 issue of Red Alert had an excellent article by Rich Hess about in-corporating professionalism into our aviation endeavors. Along those lines I'd like to point out that our currency requirements to prove proficiency are, in reality, fairly minimal. So go forth my faithful Brethren and get proficient by f lying.

In future columns I'd like to address some regional "Free Range" Formation practices that Blade and I like to call "Continental Drift." You know—high signals, low signals, extraneous head bobbles, whifferdills and mysterious, proliferating radio comms.

I'd also like to hear from you as to what it means to be an RPA Lead pilot. Best essay gets published and free cold beer from me at the next f ly in.

I think that as a community we have the best formation program going, and some of the most standardized pilots out there. So observe the RPA formation manual, live by it, stray not from the path of righteousness, and go forth and have some fun f lying.

In closing I'd like to leave you all with my personal Leadership Rule taught to me by my Dad, Commander Blackjack Slyfield:

"Don't drive your men to drink. Lead them!"

Your Flight Lead Said What ?By Skip "Ranger Rick" Slyfield [email protected]

littlesticker big deal Compressed Gas Systems

CGSwww. CGS.aero

13829 Artesia Blvd, Cerritos, CA 90703(855) 875-2226 FAA 20XR229C

air tank hydrotesting

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Terrain

PIC Medical problem

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Time you were o�.




The Sixth annual Informal Formation Clinic was once again blessed with

beautiful, Arizona winter weather—mild temps, just a hint of a breeze, and clear, blue skies, can only heighten one’s desire to climb into an airplane and go play! Leaving the stresses of work behind, this is going to be a great weekend!

In the past, Allen House was kind enough to allow us to utilize his large hanger for the clinic, but this year we have our own large hanger! Falcon Warbirds is fortunate to have leased one of the original WWII hangers built in 1941 to train US, British and Chinese pilots during WWII—did I mention CHINESE pilots!!! This historic 26,000 square foot hanger is now the home

of several Nanchang CJ-6As, and other Warbirds. The hanger came with 1,500 square feet of heated and air-conditioned office, equipped with the highly-prized bathroom (the latter being of most im-portance in Arizona during the summer months!).

Thursday had the usual arrivals, new and

Falcon Field Mesa, AZ

By Scott "Munchie" Andrews with photos by Robert "Speedo" Genat, Robert Turchick and Terry Shelton

Brian Macey brought his Yak-52TW from Colorado. His dedication to his formation f lying skills was rewarded with a wing patch.

31www.flyredstar.orgwww.flyredstar.org 7

old friends getting back together, catching up on what transpired during the last year, which seemed to go by at a lighting pace. We accomplish “Dust off Flights” and a couple of training sorties before starting the wingman ground school at the end of the day, with a Scottish burr and all—many thanks to Mike “Viper” Maloco for conducting the wingman ground school. Lead ground school was conducted by RPA check pilot, Mike Filucci.

Friday morning commenced with the pilot brief—“Be careful out there guys, the wind is forecast to pick up to a nasty five knots today!” Many started debating the wisdom of ele-ment takeoffs under such harsh condi-t i o n s — s o m e h o w, they managed, with f lights arriving and departing all day.

Saturday arrived with the same

dreaded “winds variable at five knots” forecast—I believe someone pointed out that there was also a cloud on the horizon! Training f lights rolled out and returned along with a check ride for a new wing-man before lunch. During lunch, Para-chute Master Rigger Chris License, with a great sense of humor, briefed everyone on the intricacies of parachute care and us-age. Following lunch, the mass formation briefing started—five, four-ship elements

Craig "Kmart" McCully has been a fixture at the Informal Clinics for years in his spotless CJ. He's always the first to hold his hand up when some-one needs a wingman for a f light.

Michael "Viper" Maloco, at the far end of the table, is reviewing the mission plan with his wingmen.

combined into one mass formation for the William’s Gateway Open House, just 10 miles south of Falcon Field. The forma-tion arrived on schedule at the Gateway Open House for a couple of passes before returning to Falcon for another pass, be-fore recovery.

Babbo’s Italian restaurant catered Satur-day night’s banquet with a table of fine food. At the end of the dinner each male attendee was given a piece of paper, and told to make a paper airplane. Two events would be held with the first being distance and the second aerobatics—with the wom-en in attendance as judges. While many of the participants can f ly a real airplane with extreme skill, only a couple knew how to make an airplane that could f ly more than one foot. Those participants who’s paper aircraft crashed and burned upon launch were awarded with the loudest jeers and laughter. Ron “Little Wood” Lee was the clear winner in the distance contest, and Chuck “Cowboy” Crinnian nailed the ac-cro portion. The winners were rewarded with $50 gift certificates. “Call Sign” cer-emonies began with only one nomination for the failure to set his aircraft’s brakes, allowing it to roll across the ramp. (This


Don "Stormy" Andrews shows excellent form with the launch of his paper airplane. But like so many before him, his too ended on the f loor only attaining only minimal distance.

was quickly glossed over and forgotten as nobody really wanted to nail the host for an infraction, when he hosted such a great and fun event… ed.) Although, a call sign should have been awarded to the unknown person who fouled the toilet. Therefore, no new call signs were awarded. A round of applause was given to Brian Macey for successfully completing his qualification for his wing patch. Brothers Steve and Stu-art Glemba received a hearty round of ap-plause for the work they did on several air-craft with what would have been downing

This area around Falcon Field provides one of the very scenic views for f lights. Chamber-of-Commerce weather combined with local

scenery made f lying a joy.

Don "Stormy" Andrews brings his CJ in on final at Falcon Field. Even though a lot of f light training is conducted there, the tower staff went out of their way for the warbirds.

mechanical issues. If an MVP award had been given, they would have won hands down.

Sunday morning dawned as another per-fect AZ chamber-of-commerce day, and a fitting end to another great f lying event. A couple of training f lights launched and others got an early start on their way home. The informal Formation Clinic has quickly positioned itself as one of the RPA’s best West Coast events. Thanks to all for another great and safe, Informal Formation Flying Clinic!


Tom "Monk" Mitchell is an Arizona resident and another regular at RPA f ly-ins in his German paint scheme T-34.

Above: Warren "Floater" Hill taxis out to join his formation. He is one of the several CJ owners who made Falcon Warbirds historic hangar home.Below: Don Andrews competes in the paper airplane contest. There were

two categories: distance and aerobatic.



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A long-time T-34 check pilot once said to me, "Give me enough bananas, and I can teach a monkey how to lead a standard

formation training sortie."

We were discussing how to prepare a wingman for the f light leader qualification. His complaint was that instructors were teaching how to lead a canned training sortie, without ever chal-lenging the students with simulated abnormal and emergency scenarios.

That was many years ago, but I still see the same situation crop up from time to time within the RPA. By the time a wingman is recommended for the f light leader checkride, he should have had the opportunity to practice solving a multitude of simulat-ed, abnormal and emergency situations. The responsibility for providing that training rests on the shoulders of our lead pilot/instructors. Certainly the f light leader signing off on the recom-mendation form should ensure that the student has had a good sampling of out-of-the-ordinary problems to solve. After all, we don't want our f light leaders seeing an abnormal or emergency situation for the first time either for real, or on a checkride.

For a properly prepared student, the checkride should be anti-climactic. The challenge of the f light leader checkride may produce a smoldering between the applicants ears, but there should be no blazing helmet fires.

Once a student is getting the hang of leading and managing a formation, instructors should start to incorporate simulated, abnormal problems. To maximize the learning experience, I would suggest that the instructor discuss the scenario in the pre-f light briefing, including possible solutions. For many ab-normal situations, there is no one, right answer—there can be numerous, acceptable solutions.

Here are a few training scenarios to consider:

• Break-out

• NORDO wingman

• Wingman experiencing partial-power loss

• Pitot-static malfunction (no airspeed indication)

• Midair collision between wingmen

• Bird strike

This is just a sampling, there are others you can devise as well.

There is another area where we are not always preparing the f light leader applicant adequately. When a wingman steps into the roll of f light leader, he is bequeathed with two new "magic" powers—he can endorse Formation Proficiency Reports (FPRs) and he can recommend pilots for wing and lead checkrides. We need to make sure our f light leaders are aware of their re-sponsibility and roll in maintaining our standards.

Flight LeaderPreparing For the Flight Leader Checkride By Mike "Blade" Filucci

The FAST Flight Leader Practical Test Guide is very specific in detailing the materials a f light leader should have in his posses-sion as tools to carry out this duty.

Materials Required for the Practical TestTo be an effective flight leader and instructor, and to ensure standardization, all applicants for lead pilot should have in their possession the following ma-terials:• Four-part FAST Intercontinental Formation Guideline: 1. FAST Foundation and Principles 2. FAST Maneuvers Guide 3. FAST Radio Communication and Visual Signals 4. FAST wingman and flight leader practical test guides• Formation manual for applicant’s formation organization• All other applicable SOPs and policy guides for the applicant’s formation

organization• Formation proficiency report forms• Formation checkride forms

A tremendous amount of responsibility is placed on our f light leaders—let's make sure we are grooming them for success. Our "Culture of Excellence" depends on it.


By John "Loo" Warwick [email protected]

Helluva Deal on a Helmet...Oil paintings, jewelry, musical instruments—most things of

great value, have always experienced counterfeit problems. So it’s no surprise that a combination of product development, voracious bargain hunting from Commercial/General Aviation users, and good ole opportunity, began creating a problem for the premier US f light helmet manufacturer as far back as the 1970s.

In fact, Gentex has now mobilized an entire information cam-paign to educate its loyal user base about what’s new—and what maybe be lurking inside the helmets some of us wear every f light. No government or regulatory body has ever developed a speci-fication or a standard for commercial f light helmets. There are no Snell or DOT standards for them either! Not only are there no standards, but there are no testing or labeling requirements. There are military specifications for f light helmets. Typically, helicopter helmets have good impact protection, and hearing protection, but they are large, bulky, and heavier than fixed-wing helmets. One popular Gentex fixed wing helmet is the HGU-55 (shown below on blue background), which is designed and tested to Mil-DTL-87174A. Fixed-wing helmets are lighter than Heli-copter helmets, are smaller, have good retention characteristics in wind blast, but compared to Helicopter helmets, they offer limited impact protection.

So how did the line become blurred between refurbished ex-mil-itary helmets and suitable f light gear you can rely on to protect you when the unimaginable happens?

Back in the 1970s the Army began to sell its obsolete and used SPH-4 helicopter helmets and parts as military surplus. Private dealers purchased them and many were resold to commercial pilots and crews. Most of the helmets and parts the Army sold were obsolete designs that had been replaced by new designs with

better performance—some were still in their original packaging. Many surplus helmets and parts, sold as surplus, were used, and the Army considered them no longer serviceable.

Private dealers cleaned them up and salvaged the parts. Often helmets were repainted, parts cleaned, retentions (the cloth sys-tem holding the outer shell to the molded foam inner liner) were spray-dyed black and the helmets were resold in the commercial market. Thousands of these obsolete, surplus helmets and parts are still in use today, and are still being sold. But, by the 1990s, supply of the military surplus helmets began to diminish. Deal-ers began to develop their own components to supplement the decreasing supply of surplus parts. These non-conforming parts looked like mil-spec parts, but were usually not made to the mili-tary specification, and did not perform as well as the military standard.

Let’s take a second to recap. If you are reading this as a RedStar Pilot, and you wear a recreational f light helmet—for protection against bird strikes and because the RPA recommends it.

• We are not f lying helicopters

• We are not at work when we f ly

• We are not currently engaged in the military

So why should we care about military spec helmets? Two reasons: first—get a helmet designed for the f lying you do, fixed or ro-tary wing, as noted above. Second—if you don’t know your hel-met has been tested, and meets a defined specification, what else don’t you know about it? Even the Air Force bought a few HGU-55 helmets two years ago from a supplier who claimed they met Air Force specifications. These non-conforming (counterfeit) HGU-55 helmets were tested and they failed the impact tests. The amount of G-force they transmitted was more than three times


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what the mil-spec allowed.

Whether we like it or not, like air-pollution standards, testing standards get more stringent as more is learned about the dan-gers involved. If your 1970s helmet meets the prevailing standard when it was made, do you know whether it is still safe today?

Gibson & Barnes, the oldest and best known distributor of Gen-tex Flight Helmets, would like you to be sure.

They know, for example, that the grey market has substituted fi-berglass cloths of different weaves, one of which was never used or tested in the military. They know that, across several years and models, the expandable polystyrene, energy-absorbing liner changed thickness. They also know that the retention systems changed and improved, and that the ear cups went from a rigid to a f lexible material.

They also know that secondary market dealers have put together combinations of whatever parts they could in assembling f light helmets for the commercial market because then, as now, no commercial spec existed.

At least one non-military government agency is taking counter-feit parts very seriously. In April 2013, the US Forestry Service is-sued bulletin IA APB 13-02 for Aircrew Safety which emphasizes the use of authorized helmet parts, and underscores that in many cases, aircrew may just not be fully aware of the reliability of the personal protective equipment they wear daily.

http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/av_safety/promotion/accident_preven-tion_bulletins/IA%20APB%2013-02%20Helmets.pdf

The US Forestry Service’s position is that outdated components, even if authentic, don’t afford the same level of protection as the latest, updated components. Again, because there is no com-mercial spec to comply with, some manufacturers are misrepre-senting their products as "exactly the same" as mil spec helmets. However, when challenged by the government, those companies have been unable to provide any test data to support their claim.

Is the sky falling?

Probably not, and hopefully never for you, but in the meantime, Gibson & Barnes invites you to contact them about your Gentex helmet, of any vintage, and take advantage of a free helmet in-spection. The inspection concerns structural parts only—namely the outer shell, the retention, the energy absorbing shell, and ear cups. Identification of suspect parts is straightforward, and some of the images in their White Papers will surprise you.

Contact the Gibson & Barnes helmet department at 800-440-5904, Extension 249, to ensure the continued airworthiness of your f light helmet. There are four customer service representa-tives who can help.



Which Experimental Jet Should I Buy?

ContrailsBy Zach “Z” McNeill [email protected]

When I used to sit back and dream about owning an aircraft, I never thought that I would see the day I could buy one of

these brilliant machines.

Over the years I have had the honor of owning, operating and as-sisting others in their acquisition of experimental jets. There are many mistakes you can make along the way, so the focus of this article is to suggest a process that may assist you in purchasing your very own jet warbird.

To help frame the discussion outlined in this article, let's build a vignette.

A 55 year-old individual, who we will call Bob, has approximately 15 years of f light experience, starting in a series of Cessna single-engine airplanes, advancing for ten years to a TBM 850, and for the last year, he has been operating a Citation Mustang. Bob has acquired about 2,800 hours of total f light time and holds a air-plane instrument rating. He has expressed an interest in taking his wife with him on cross-countries to airshows. Bob wants to f ly to airshows but would like to limit his participation to static aircraft displays. He has expressed interest in the Mig type of aircraft. He was impressed with the ramp appeal of the Mig-21 that he saw at Oshkosh.

Bob’s scenario is more common than you think. He has a sol-id f lying background, and would be a perfect candidate for a straight-wing jet trainer, but he is impressed with one of our more difficult aircraft to maintain, and f ly.

With this vignette in mind, let’s look at the following eight steps to help our buyer determine the right jet for him.

1. Determine the type of aircraft that you are ready to f ly

2. Define the desired performance level

3. Decide on an operating budget

4. Decide if you want the option of a passenger (one or two seats)

5. Find the positive and negatives of each aircraft left in your category

6. Decide on the type of aircraft

7. Discuss with experts

8. Set up a comparative decision matrix

Step One: Determine Type Aircraft You Are Ready To FlyIn aviation, given a healthy cash f low, you can quickly exceed your skill level! Each category of aircraft requires a different skill set. If Bob thinks he is ready for a swept-wing, supersonic fighter, he may want to f ly one before he buys one.

The largest up-front variable is to ensure that our hypothetical individual enjoys the experience every time he gets into the jet. The only way he can do this is to be honest with himself. It will

not be any fun if he buys an aircraft that ultimately he will not feel comfortable f lying.

Bob has taken the time to locate a couple of individuals who own Migs, and f lown the Mig-21, Mig-15 and JJ-7 variants. He quickly decides that he would ultimately like to f ly those aircraft, but wants something a little less demanding to start. Bob notices that the fuel burn on the Mig-21 was a lot higher than he expected.

Step Two: Define Desired Performance LevelFor our example this was easy. Bob wants to f ly to the air show and be a static display. Therefore, the greatest concern he has is the range of the jet, and the fuel burn rate.

There are several other items that could have been considered:

• Instruction services

• Low-level aerobatics

• Formation f light

• Out-of-control f light

• Unusual attitude recovery training

The biggest variable in our example is aircraft range. How far away, on one tank of gas, can Bob f ly? Many of the aircraft in this category (straight wing trainer) are limited on the distance that they can f ly with VFR/IFR reserves. As he prepares to decide on his jet he will need to set a minimum required distance for the aircraft.

Bob has set his requirement at 500 nautical miles, with less than a 250 gallons per hour burn rate.

Step Three: Decide On An Operating BudgetThe cost of operating these aircraft can vary greatly, even for ones that appear to have the same basic numbers. A very wise man once told me that buying these jets is not expensive, but f ly-ing them is.

The bottom line is, you need to look honestly at your wallet and determine which jet is the right one for you. In some cases you may find that the real costs of operating any jet are outside your current spending capabilities. It never hurts to dream! When you calculate your budget, do not forget to set a minimum level of proficiency f lying. The last thing we want Bob to do is save money by f lying less!

Bob has decided that he will f ly his jet once a week.

There are four major expenses involved with owning any air-craft. For Bob’s budget we will set our annual limits as follows:

• Fuel $48,000.00

• Maintenance $15,000.00

• Storage $12,000.00

• Insurance $15,000.00



Greer Wright

It is much wiser to set a budget and find the right aircraft, than to pick an aircraft and realize that you cannot afford to f ly it.

Step Four: Passenger Option-One Or Two SeatsThis is an easy choice for our vignette. Every one of the aircraft has two seats. This is an important decision in the higher performance categories. As a general rule, the single-seat jets are higher per-formance.

There are several positives to a dual-seat aircraft. The biggest positive is the ability to share the ex-perience of these incredible aircraft with another individual. Dual-seat warbirds also allow a CFI to provide instruction in the aircraft.

Step Five: Positives And NegativesAt this point Bob has eliminated many aircraft. For our example we will compare four aircraft. The following is a sample list of the aircraft avail-able that fall in the straight-wing trainer category.

Bob chose the following four aircraft for compari-son:

• L-29 Delfin

• Jet Provost

• L-39 Albatross

• T-33

When doing the initial comparison, build a simple spreadsheet, like the one to the right, to break out the critical elements.

This chart is representative of many of the figures and stats that we find important for comparison between aircraft. It should not be used as a single aircraft checklist. We will be discussing and de-veloping an aircraft-specific checklist for our ex-ample, later in this article. There are several other aircraft choices in this category of aircraft, but this is a fair representation of aircraft that cover the performance and operational cost spectrum.

Step 6: Decide On The Type Of AircraftNow that we have built our comparison spread-sheet, lets start analyzing our data. If we revert back to our example, we know that our pilot is interested in static display use of the aircraft. All these aircraft will work fine for that use, but the L-39 and T-33 are probably going to generate the most attention at the airshows. The L-39 has very sleek lines and looks like a small A-4. Every Amer-ican military jet aviator f lew the T-33 in the late 50s up until the early 70s, therefore it generates a lot of support and reverence at airshows.

Jet Provost L-29 Delfin L-39 Albatross T-33Engine Viper MK 202 Motorlet M701-C AI-25TL Nene-10

Thrust (lbs) 2,500 1,960 3,792 5,200

Empty Weight (lbs) 4,888 5,027 7,340 8,084

Max T/O Weight (lbs) 9,200 7,231 11,618 14,442

Power to Weight

@ Empty Weight 0.511 0.389 0.516 0.643

@ Max T/O Weight 0.27 0.271 0.326 0.36

Wing Span 35' 4" 33' 9" 31' 0.5" 38' 10"

Length 34' 0" 35' 5.5" 40' 5" 37' 9"

Height 10' 2" 10' 3" 15' 5 " 11' 8"

Max Speed 440 knots 407 knots 485 knots 515 knots

G-Loading +8, -4 +8, -4 +8, -4 +7, -3

Ceiling 36,700' 36,100' 37,730' 46,800'

Fuel Burn/Hour (lbs) 190 150 160 300

Range (nm) 900 397 (internal) 528 1,345

Oil Type Aeroshell 750 Royco 481 Royco 481 Royco 481

Hydraulic Fluid 5606 5606 5606 5606

Gear Speed (knots) 140 154 180 195

Flap Speed (knots) 140 140 160 175

Max X Wind (knots) 18 21 20 25

Pressurized Y Y Y Y

T/O Roll 2,000' 2,000' 2,600' 4,800'

Landing Roll 2,200' 1,800' 1,800' 4,500'

Min Runway Length 4,500' 3,500' 5,000' 6,000'

Gravity Fuel Feed Y Y Y Y

Pressure Fuel Feed N N N N

Number Built 520 3,500 2,800 7,000

Airworthy In US 70+ 150+ 230+ 50+

L-29

L-39 T-33

Jet Provost



The key factor to maximizing the positive, and minimizing the negative impact, is information. Information is found easiest through organizations that have it in their best interest to help their membership. If you hang out on the forums, and ask simple questions, you will be recommended to the good guys. I would call someone for help only after hearing positive recommenda-tions from more than one person.

On most associations' web sites you will usually find a list of in-structors. This is also a great resource to utilize.

Visit a maintenance facility. There are several facilities that work only on the L-39. It would be in Bob’s best interest to schedule a tour of their facility and spend time with a mechanic going over things to look for on his new aircraft type. As you visit these fa-cilities, keep in mind that they sell aircraft as well. They may be motivated by profit, not necessarily what is best for you.

The internet is an incredible resource for information. It will not only assist you with purchasing an aircraft, but will give you ac-cess to the training requirements, and rules and regulations sur-rounding experimental jets. All you have to do is go into your favorite search engine and type in the type of aircraft that you want to buy. Ensure that you bring something to eat and drink, as you will have a lot of information to read and review.

Time is a precious resource, and in many instances several of us may not have the time to do the research. This is the type of individual that will benefit from the use of an agent. If you plan to hire an agent, you must ensure that you find a respected individual that knows the aircraft you have chosen, and your de-sires. Be diligent, and find a warbird expert. Many brokers are well versed on certificated airplanes, but the advice they give for those is 180° from what you look at during a warbird purchase.

Step 8: Comparative Decision Matrix (Aircraft Specific)The following is an example spreadsheet created by a past client. It is an excellent template for Bob to develop his own checklist.

As you meet with several experts and owners, and go through aircraft, develop a similar checklist. Pay particular attention to terms like “that cost me a lot of money” and “if I would only have known that beforehand.”

As you quickly scan through this checklist you can see that it includes buyer-specific preferences, along with specific aircraft performance numbers. The instrumentation, autopilots, and similar equipment, can always be added, but as we all know, find-ing an L-39 with the equipment that you want in it already saves time and money.

Once Bob has completed all eight steps he will have a very effec-tive tool to help quantify the differences between the jets, and most importantly, help him identify a purchase-price point on his selections.

There are many possible outcomes, and many more variables to consider, but I have found that having a process maximizes the value of the jet you decide to purchase.

The L-29 and the Provost are neither sexy looking or used exten-sively in the United States, but are unique aircraft, that will draw a crowd.

Let's add a requirement to Bob’s list—he wants to maximize the fun, while minimizing the cost. Here is where the L-29 and Pro-vost come in strong. The cost of acquisition of the L-29 and Pro-vost is low, many times costing less than a used, sports car. Since both of these aircraft are basic trainers, they are not encumbered by complicated weapon systems, and associated hardware. They are also designed to take an incredible amount of abuse. The L-29 especially, with its incredibly heavy trailing link landing gear, looks like it should be landing on an aircraft carrier.

A strong point for the Provost is the side-by-side seating. For our example, it is nice to have your wife right next to you.

The L-39 has a much higher acquisition cost but has better per-formance than either the L-29, or Provost, at about the same fuel burn. The L-39 looks like a modern day fighter, both on the ramp, and while airborne.

The first consideration that our example buyer has is the cost per hour based on the fuel burn. The L-29, L-39, Provost are rela-tively close, the T-33 however is near double. The T-33 does have the endurance edge represented in the above diagram, but it will be considerably more per hour than any of the other choices.

Parts availability is probably the second most important consid-eration for many of these aircraft. Several types have been out of service for many years. Others are being operated in foreign countries still today. The T-33 is presently used by contract agen-cies for the U.S. government, and up until recently, was a mili-tary trainer for the Canadian Air Force. The L-39 is still in cur-rent operation in several countries. This means that the parts are available, but may have a cost premium because other govern-ments are competing for them. The T-33 does not have parts cur-rently being manufactured, while the L-39 has many parts still in production.

In our example, the individual completes his due diligence, and he decides on the L-39 Albatross, because he likes the fuel burn, and the sex appeal of the aircraft while on the ramp. This indi-vidual accepts the higher acquisition cost and counters that with the abundance of parts and service facilities.

At this point, our example individual has decided on an aircraft type, now the search will begin in earnest. Always remember, as more information becomes available about the aircraft you have decided on, you may want to re-visit some of the other aircraft choices to ensure you have selected the correct aircraft.

Step Seven: Discuss with ExpertsMany people skip this step in the purchase process. They usually pay dearly for it. In this group of individuals you will discover quickly that there are many people that are willing to help, but there are also a few lurkers, waiting to prey on the ignorant.



General

Owner

N #

Asking Price

Serial #

A/C Year

A/C Total Time

Engine Total Time

Engine Time TBO

Engine

Sapphire Unit Starts

Fuel Cell Status

Original Logs

US Logs

Last 100 hr Inspection

Last Annual

Maintenance Facility

15 year/1500 hr Inspection

Transponder Check

Import Papers

Avionics

Autopilot type

Autopilot-How Couples

GPS Front

GPS Rear

Comm #1 & Nav #1

Comm #2 & Nav#2

Transponder

Comm Box

HSI

Rear

TCAD

CDI Type (102 vs. 106)

Marker Beacon

Sandel HSI

Instruments

Shadin (microflo L)

Attitude Indicator

A/S Indicator Markings

EnginePerformance

Start Temperature

Spool-Up Time

Oil Sample Results

Exterior &Systems

Crew Comm Jack

Landing Lights (pulse)

Strut Status

Brake Status

Tires: Rubber Status

Fasteners

Accumulator:How Pressurized

Steps: Anti-skid SS

Steps: Microswitch-Down

Aux Fuel

Canopy Seal Status

Landing Light Glass

Strobes

Extra Storage

Map Case

CD Music Jack

Light For SapphireOil Level

Light For Engine Oil

Static Wicks

Battery Tender

Battery: Location/Type

Weight & Balance: CG

Canopy Glass

FlightPerformance

Control Response

Trim In Flight

Braking Response

Pressurization Function

Seal Function

FSDO Maintenance Paper

Operations Paper

Fuel-Gage Markings

Back Up Attitude Indicator

VSI Relabeled

Master Caution OnCanopy Rim

AOA Indicator

Instrument Lights

Hobbs Meter

Caution/Warning Lights

Audible Warning

Miscellaneous

0₂ Regulator

0₂ Comm Plug

Nitrogen Fittings Gear

Nitrogen FittingsAccumulator

Duel Inverter

Hot Seats

Parachutes: Last Packed

Parachute Type

Certificate of Formation QualificationPresented By The RedStar Pilots Association To:

____________________________

In recognition of the successful completion of the prescribed course of formation training as required by the RedStar Pilots Association and the

Formation And Safety Team (FAST)

Aircraft Make, Model and Registration Number:

______________________________________________________

Recorded on this ______ day of __________ in the year __________

__________________________________ __________________________________ Qualifying Pilot Check Pilot

Congratulations

to our Comrade

who has aChieved

formation qualifiCation

Wingman Brian Macey 3/8/2014


LOOP

The loop is one of the fundamental building-block maneuvers that, when combined with the aileron roll, can be used to create more complex maneuvers such as the Cuban eight, the cloverleaf, and the split S.

AerobaticsBy Mike "Beav" Carter [email protected]

Note the entry heading

Entry airspeed is 150-160 knots

Keep the nose moving at a constant rate

Tilt your head back to find the opposite horizon

Keep wings level

Start the pull-up to obtain 3.5 Gs in 2 to 3 seconds

Recheck wings level

Relax rudder pressure as airspeed is regained

Pull out on the same entry heading

Add rudder to maintain heading as airspeed decreases


The RedStar Pilots Association is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the safe operation of all aircraft. For further information or to become a member, please visit: www.flyredstar.org

To advertise in this publication, please contact the RPA administrator at:[email protected]

Forward all non-deliverable mail to:RedStar Pilots AssociationC/O Byron Fox80 Milland DriveMill Valley, CA 4941