AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - August 2017 - 20

FLYING LIFE

The spirit of the pioneer

BY NATALIE BINGHAM HOOVER

Pushing the limits even farther
CROSSING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER was once an arduous task. To the settlers of the mid-1800s, the mighty
river loomed as an almost insurmountable obstacle
between the civilized world and the uncharted territory of the West. Traversing the banks required
settlers to unload and dismantle their wagons, then
float across with their livestock, before assembling the
wagons once again. It was a process that took days.
I think about those early settlers now, as I look
back on my last trip to Oshkosh for the Experimental
Aircraft Association's AirVenture celebration. My husband and I flew our Cessna 172 from our home airport
of Olive Branch, Mississippi, to Oshkosh in just under
five hours. We followed the path of the Mississippi
River northward, crossing over at several different
points, before our route took us off to the east.

If there is one thing we know for sure, it is that
change is inevitable.

This will be NATALIE
BINGHAM HOOVER'S

third trip to EAA
AirVenture. She
hopes she will still
be around to see
what the airshow
looks like in 2075.

20 | AOPA PILOT August 2017

Looking down at those ancient waters, I wonder
what the early settlers would think if they could see
me, crossing over the river with an ease that I take
for granted. Would they think it unimaginable that
humans also would be able to fly across oceans, and
even into space to put a man on the moon?
Such developments would be inconceivable to
those still stuck in the surly bonds, knowing only the
realities of their time. And yet, the same spirit that
drove those early settlers westward would also reside
in the hearts of those who would push the limits of
the world as they knew it and boldly travel into the air,
where no man had traveled before. That pioneer spirit
is what continues to drive aviation today. And nowhere
is it more alive and well than EAA AirVenture.
The whole place feels a little bit like Disney World
to me, with its atmosphere of turning fantasy into reality. In addition to the exhibits displaying aircraft of
old, there is an entire building devoted to new innovations. One of my favorites was the drone cage, which
displayed everything from tiny $30 drones that fit in
the palm of your hand to much larger models boasting
60-minute flight capabilities. I remember being skeptical at the time, wondering if drones would ever have
the staying power to find their place among manned
aircraft. Now, almost two years later, I just received
my temporary drone pilot certificate, and my husband

is considering doing the same. As a residential roofing
contractor, he is starting to see the practical applications for drones, realizing that he could complete his
roof inspections from the ground via drone-mounted
camera, instead of having to risk his neck to inspect
for roof damage. I'm all in favor of that prospect.
We also saw a presentation on alternatively
powered aircraft given by the Comparative Aircraft
Flight Efficiency Foundation. Its vision for the future
included unmanned "sky taxis" that would take off
and land on football-field-size airparks on the roofs
of big city buildings-serving as the train stations of
the future, if you will. I thought the idea was incredible, but probably a long way from coming to fruition.
As it turns out, my perspective was proven to be
shortsighted again. Dubai has announced that it will
roll out electrically powered drone taxis as soon as
this summer.
Another display that felt like science fiction was
the Transition, a street-legal flying car being developed by Terrafugia. The Transition has foldable
wings that make it possible to drive on the road and
take off from your nearest airport. Terrafugia reports
that the Transition prototype has now logged more
than 100 successful test flight hours. Back to the
Future, anyone?
Just like those early pioneers could not have imagined the way aviation would change their world, it is
hard for most of us to picture a future in which drones
deliver packages, taxis travel by air, and we can drive
our flying car out of the garage for a flight to grandma's house. But if there is one thing we know for sure,
it is that change is inevitable.
I wonder what I will see this year on my trip to
Oshkosh. My husband hopes for a flying motor home
that he could pilot to the highest mountain peak to
camp in places only the birds have seen. I would like
to have a personal aircraft that is affordable enough
to still let me pay my house note, but fast enough to
turn a trip to Europe into an easy weekend getaway. If
AirVenture has taught me anything, it's that ideas like
these don't have to be fantastical notions. As a pilot, I
cannot help but feel a little bit of pride for being associated with a group of people who continue to push
the bounds of what we imagine is possible.
AOPA
WEB

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AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - August 2017

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