Before Sept. 11, flying in the Washington DC was very different. Making an exception for safety regulations was as simple as a phone call well placed. This is a story about a flight of this kind – the first of aviation – that is never repeated.
"We do not fly north of our field aviation. That's where the Andrews Air Force Base in controlled airspace begins. "I told thousands of students in flight from 1984 to 1998, while working and ultralight flight instructor full time in Fort Washington, Maryland. Thoughts of flying in airspace such insurance – home of the president of Air Force One and some very lethal "combat" aircraft – conjured up visions of being shot down in flames to turn a few feet in the air at Andrews. In the capital, not even thinking vaguely like a terrorist. The sense of humor is not a job requirement for employees by the FAA, FBI, Secret Service, etc. When it comes to work, are all business. Period. That was seven years ago when terrorists were just a theoretical possibility.
My friend and I were Jerry Carlson a few minutes to do the impossible and the forbidden: ultralight aircraft flight Andrews Air Force. As we envisioned the annual presentation at the Open House – which attracts one million of visitors – as a great opportunity to spread the word about the open cockpit flight.
We discussed communication procedures in the event that we heard over the engine and wind noise in our open cockpit boat, or if it lost radio contact. All contingencies appeared to be covered.
Jerry sat in the front seat away from the engine and the noise, handle radio communications. I sat in the back seat and flew the plane. A takeoff of ultralight aircraft is a 100-foot hop, skip, and before you know it, you're in the air, precariously angled back – staring at the sky. As we climbed 500 feet, Andrews sight. This does not mean that the vision of an eagle our rivals, it's just hard to ignore an airfield apparently occupies half of the state of Maryland. At 1,000 feet, leveled off and reduced contact with approach control Andrews.
Jerry: "ultralight Yellow
Tower: "ultra yellow, say their direction and position."
Jerry: "Andrews, ultralight 060 Yellow enter the airspace over Route 301. "
Tower: "ultralight Amarillo, western approach downwind of the tower, then turn downwind. "
At this point, the driver must have thought we were flying much faster than say, 50 miles per hour. In a F-16 only takes a few seconds to turn the traffic pattern at this airfield monstrous. In an ultralight plane, allow at least half an hour.
After a few minutes, we were west of where the leg would be basic.
Jerry: "Tower of Andrews, Yellow requests authorization in turn, ultralight base.
Tower: "Ultralight yellow, base of a return to the left of the track."
My eyes saw several F-16 planes on the runway to take off, and to our surprise, Air Force One running back! "What a picture that will be!" He exclaimed, only to realize that I had forgotten my camera. To my surprise, Jerry released a camera under his jacket and started clicking away. As we enjoyed This aerial view of the dozens of military aircraft in the flight line, I drew some interest.
Moving slowly along, they approached our 90-degree left turn to final approach. I was somewhat perplexed, however, as two F-16, had just left, and two more were waiting at the end a track left behind Air Force One as I was convinced we were going to spend eternity spinning awaiting the authorization to use our approach Eventually, the traffic controller's voice came over the radio.
Tower: "Ultralight yellow, you land the right track? Note that the 2500 final not usable. The runway length is 10,000 feet. Is this a problem? "
Since microlight take a few hundred yards on the ground, Jerry and I agreed that with an incredible sense of the elements and superior airmanship, we could avoid overshooting the runway limited.
Jerry: "Ultralight final turn. A right. "
We have been in power cruising to fly the microlight over a mile and a half of the taxiway turn off. Winding through grass, I imagined the Tower Manager looked at us through binoculars, watching our panoramic tour of the display area. "Do not stupid ultralight pilots follow the centerline of the taxiway? "that may be asking. However, we got into the tower on the right track — makes a second F-16 roared to a few hundred miles per hour before shooting straight up and out of sight. I can only imagine that she let out a sigh of relief he turned to us over ground control.
After two days of sharing stories of flight with the new friends we made, it was time to go home. The ground control staff that the radio informed us behind the truck follow me. It soon became evident that this driver leads airplanes travel much faster. Racing toward the runway at about 50 mph, we were struggling to stay in the soil. On the track, the truck off sharply from 180 degrees left, as the comic in banks in our turn right track.
A green light from the tower gave us the alarm. Check ups and downs in both directions revealed no other aircraft. Good to go!
Leaving the field staff greeted us with the capacity of the tower and the audience with a wing rock, and we were on our way.
About the Author:
Bruce Andrew Peters is an award-winning, internationally published photojournalist. Mr. Peters’ work appears in a wide variety of publications. Visit: http://www.GreatWriteUp.com
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Fun Flight? you Bet!
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