Wednesday, August 1, 2007

From The Editor - A Moveable Feast For The Senses

By Jeff Berlin

Radial engines have such a great sound,” I thought, as I waited for a friend of mine to shut down his idling T6. Awash in the angled, warm light of the setting sun, his yellow warbird cast a long shadow across the ramp at Andover-Aeroflex, an idyllic little airfield in western New Jersey. As the shiny Hamilton prop wound down from a sparkling blur, the rhythmic cacophony of the big Pratt & Whitney was replaced by the occasional staccato of soft ticking as its nine cylinders cooled from the flight over. This wasn’t just flying, it was aviating, and I wouldn’t have felt dorky if I were wearing a leather cap and goggles. I would have felt cool, actually, for this was one of those moments that so few of my nonpilot friends would ever experience. That’s the thing about flying—it sometimes makes history tangible.

“Chances are…”

It’s also not every day one gets the offer to fly a good, long cross-country in a classic, round-engine Beech 18, so when air show star Michael Mancuso offered me a ride home to New York City in his (after a week at Oshkosh), I jumped at the chance. As we were droning—no, singing—along, to the delightful tune of the twin Pratt R-985s, I tuned an oldies radio station from Toronto into the ADF. This already amazing flight became transcendental as Johnny Mathis crooned through my Bose Xs, backed up by the subtle and unmistakable hum of 18 cranking cylinders. It was impossible not to be transported to 1957 as I closed my eyes and dreamt what flying must have felt like when JFK was a senator from Mass., Jackie Robinson played his last game of pro ball and Elvis topped the charts twice with “All Shook Up” and “Jailhouse Rock.”

“New York Radio, New York Radio. This is Twin Beech 153. Do you read? Over.”

Such a good memory. While round engines like those in the T6 and Twin Beech aren’t produced in the States any more, Budd Davisson, in “Return of the Round Motor,” talks about a popular radial still produced in certain former Eastern Bloc countries. It’s good to know that those engines, and the airplanes that bolt onto them, will be around for a long time to come, so that not only the hills, but the skies, will be alive with the sound of music.

A couple weeks ago, I also flew a shiny new silver Turbo Cirrus SR22 GTS. The company calls it their Sterling paint option, and the Turbo’s performance, fit and finish was just that. After clocking nearly 500 hours flying normally aspirated ’22s, I’m now spoiled all over again. Check out how Cirrus leapfrogged itself in my cover story about their sexy, silver steed.

And I asked my friend Cindy Rousseau, who wrote in the December 2006 issue about getting back on the proverbial horse after a groundloop in her and her husband’s Cessna 180, to discuss how she prepares for, and flies into, the buzzing hive of a fly-in. For the past few years, I’ve flown with Cindy’s group to AirVenture Oshkosh in a gaggle of mismatched birds. It’s always been a kick. Cindy has mastered getting safely into and out of some of the busiest and most chaotic airspace. She’s got some colorful anecdotes and useful advice for us as air show season gets started with Sun ’n Fun this month.

Thanks again for reading, and as always, I look forward to your comments. I can usually be reached at jtberlin@wernerpublishing.com, at least when I’m not wrangling rides behind round engines.

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