Did you know that Kansas is home to 141 airports, 7,602 pilots and 6,500 aircraft? Or that the state’s aviation industry employs 32,000 and has a $7.1 billion economic impact?
That kind of information and more is available starting today on the Alliance for Aviation Across America’s Web site. The organization used a months-long survey of states to formulate the state-by-state database. Check it out here.
The project aims to educate the general public about the importance of general aviation, especially its importance to small towns and rural communities around the country, Selena Shilad, head of the Alliance, said in a conference call this morning.
On the call, Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer spoke about aviation’s importance to Wichita and the state and to scores of businesses who need it to do business.
“Transportation is part of doing business, no matter where you are in the world,” Brewer said. “In Business 101, they teach you that time is money.”
Bring the kids. Volunteer pilots who are members of the Experimental Aircraft Association will be giving free airplane rides to children this Saturday as part of EAA’s Young Eagle’s program. The program was designed to expose children ages 8 to 17 to general aviation.
The pilots donate their skills, planes, time and fuel.
Flights will run from 9 a.m. to noon at the Benton Stearman Airpark. The Scouts will be hosting a pancake breakfast in the morning as well.
WICHITA — 
James Wiebe made a precautionary landing in his Belite ultralight aircraft in a pasture in the Flint Hills on Wednesday.
The landing was safe and smooth, he reports. But after refueling, the axle of the aircraft broke off while taxiing. The propeller was destroyed, but the airframe was unhurt.
“I think there was a hole (in the ground), and I also think we under-designed the main axle,” Wiebe told me in an e-mail. “In looking at it, there was a clear, single point of failure — the axle. We designed it out of hollow material to save weight.”
Wiebe said he already has a new solid, and much stronger axle cut and ready for installation. The aircraft is being trucked to the EAA’s annual AirVenture fly-in where the Wiebes will have the plane on display. It won’t fly again until after the show.
Check out details of his adventure in the Flint Hills on James’ blog.
An encounter with downdrafts in the mountainous terrain near Mammoth Lakes, Calif., was the probable cause of the fatal crash of adventurer and record-setting aviator Steve Fossett, the National Transportation Safety Board said today. Read the entire report here.
In 2005, Fossett set a world record from Salina when he became the first person to fly solo 23,000 miles around the world without refueling, in a heavily-modified single-engine plane called the GlobalFlyer. Hundreds turned out for his take-off from the Salina Airport and his return nearly three days later.
I spoke with Fossett during that time. With his friendly manner, he easily could have been your next-door neighbor. Students he selected from Kansas State University in Salina for mission control spoke highly of him. He would call them up sometimes while he was in town and invite them out for pizza.
The NTSB determined at the time of the crash that Fossett’s plane, a Bellanca 8KCAB-180, struck mountainous terrain after he inadvertently encountered downdrafts that exceeded the plane’s capability to climb. The wreckage was discovered 300 feet below the crest of a ridge marked by steep terrain near a group of tall pine trees.
Fossett had taken off Sept. 3, 2007 in a flight described by his wife as a “Sunday drive,” the NTSB said.
A month-long search failed to locate the aircraft. But a year later, a hiker found some of Fossett’s belongings and an aerial search located the wreckage. DNA testing of bone fragments determined that Fossett died in the crash. the NTSB said.
It’s a true loss.
Executive AirShare’s aircraft management and services division is expanding its operations at Dallas Love Field, the company said.
Executive AirShare, founded in Wichita and based in Kansas City, is adding a Gulfstream G150, Falcon 50EX and Beechjet 400A to its charter certificate.
Executive AirShare acquired the flight service division in 2008 and changed its name to Executive Flight Services.
More than 100 airplanes from around the country are expected to be landing at the Newton City/County Airport in Newton for the annual Fourth of July Fly-in.
The 46th annual fly-in is hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association Jayhawk Chapter 88. A $5 donation is requested for adults.
Some of the activities include airplane judging, flying contests, Young Eagle airplane rides and the building of airplane toys. Children between the ages of 8 and 17 can experience what it takes to be a pilot with a brief ground school to learn how an airplane flies and how a pilot prepares for a flight, followed by a ride in an airplane. The program is free.
An annual banquet will be held at the Fox Ridge Country Club at 800 S. Kansas in Newton. The dinner begins at 6 p.m. followed by a presentation by aircraft photographer Paul Bowen. Tickets for the banquet are $15 and can be purchased at the fly-in.
In his day job, Wade Alexander flies jets for Cessna Aircraft. But in his free time, he loves to fly his 1960 Piper Comanche, which he affectionately calls his “Junkyard Dog.”
The aircraft has an interesting history. He discovered the plane after it had been wrecked by a previous owner when he ran out of fuel. Wade spent a year and a half bringing it back to flying condition.
It’s now a compilation of at least six different airplanes. Each wing, for example, is from a different plane. Wade — who owns the Comanche with a partner — did a lot of the work himself.
Recently, he and I flew the “Junkyard Dog” down to Vinita, Okla., to eat lunch. Wade even let me do some of the flying. From the airport, it was a short walk to a “fly-in” McDonald’s he’d discovered one day. That’s it in the background of the photo.
The McDonald’s straddles the highway. So while eating chicken sandwiches from a table upstairs, we could watch cars and semis pass along the highway underneath.
Afterward, we flew over Grand Lake where there were plenty of boats on the water below. We landed at the Shangri-La airport before heading back to the Augusta Airport.
I never knew a trip to McDonald’s could be so fun. But then, everything is a little more adventurous with a Junkyard Dog.
