AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021 - 14

LETTERS

FROM OUR JANUARY 2021 ISSUE

Rubber band man
A toy story brought back memories

I write this on Christmas morning before all the commotion
of the day begins. I just read
Julie Summers Walker's article
" Rubber Band Man. " It stirred
up many fond memories. It has
been a long-standing tradition
in our aviation-centered family to give flying toys to the
kids on Christmas morning. Six
years ago, my father, on his last
Christmas, taught my grandson
how to fly a rubber-band airplane (see photo, below right).
My family has been heavily
involved in aviation since 1928;
Dad was a flight instructor
much of that time and taught
most of us to fly. The family
says my grandson is " Dad's last
student. " Thanks again for the
article and memories.
Louis Hudgin
AOPA 720500
Gilbert, Arizona

Dogfight

D i t t o eve r y t h i n g Ia n J.
Twombly said, except substitute " toddler " for " dog. " My
brother darn near crashed
his Mooney when he had his
2-year-old son in his car seat
strapped into the co-pilot
seat. He was having fun giving his little tyke a ride, until
his son discovered he could
push on the yoke with his feet.
He thought the wild ups and
downs were great fun.  
Bob Reiff
AOPA 1243090
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin

Going high

I needed to write after I read
about Dave Hirschman's
14 | AOPA PILOT March 2021

PAUL K. GUILLOW started his
company after serving in
World War I. His design of the
rubber band propelled balsa wood
model airplane is still going strong
more than 90 years later.

RUBBER
BAND
man
66 | AOPA PILOT January 2021

How a World War I pilot introduced
generations of children to aviation through
balsa wood gliders
B Y J U L I E S U M M E R S WA L K E R | P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y C H R I S R O S E

THE SNAP COULD REALLY STING. If you wound your Jetstream 55 balsa wood
glider's " motor " too tight or the band was old, that backfire had a bite. Remember
playing with a wind-up rubber band-powered toy as a kid? When wound just right,
and launched just so, the flight of your own glider was a joy to behold and great
fun to chase down in a field. Oh, the lazy, crazy days of childhood-brought to
you by Paul K. Guillow Inc., manufacturer of balsa wood motorplanes and
model airplane kits since 1926.

aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 67

international airline pilot, the
last part of that sentence was
driven into our heads over and
over throughout my career.
And I saw it in effect in both
myself and my colleagues. By
the way, an 85 reading on the
oximeter is a really low reading. My physical therapist wife
won't even get her patients out
of bed for treatment when their
reading is that low. Climbing
through 5,000 feet, at night, he
probably should have already
been wearing the cannula.  

I am pretty sure I was born with the flying bug;
Don Hill
AOPA 1442386
however, my grandfather, a B-24 pilot during
Shoreview, Minnesota
World War II, fueled the fire by always having a
Near miss
Guillow's rubber-powered airplane for me when I j u s t r e a d R i c h a r d
McSpadden's " Safety Spotlight:
I visited. Your
Near Miss. " Great topic, great
article brought back article. I agree with everything he said, including the
great memories,
odd altitude idea which I also
thank you!
do, especially if I am just out
Jeff Beach
AOPA 2500151
Fairfield, Maine

Florida-to -Maryland trip
( " Pilot Products: Going High " );
he said, " the last hour of the
four-hour trip would take place
after dark, and I was tired from
a hectic schedule and had just
finished a three-hour drive. "
Reading that sentence set off
all kinds of alarms in my head.
I believe it was time for him

to head to the closest bedroom, get a good night's sleep,
and fly this flight when he was
well-rested.
According to the AIM:
" Fatigue continues to be one
of the most treacherous hazards to flight safety, as it may
not be apparent to a pilot until
serious errors are made. " As an

for a leisure flight. My story:
I was out in my CH 701 one
afternoon. It was a clear day
VFR flight with the usual dose
of South Carolina upstate
warm-weather haze. This
was before the airplane was
ADS-B equipped.  Off to the
south a twinkle near the horizon caught my eye. I had no
idea what it was at first, but
after a few minutes I gradually
realized it was an airplane-in
fact, a flight of three RVs heading right at me at my altitude. I
guess because they were in formation, or maybe just because
they were smarter than me,
they had decided to fly with
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2021

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