AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2022 - 33

and most powerful flying boat in the world when it was
produced by the Dornier company of Germany in 1929.
It carried up to 100 passengers and was nearly 34 feet
tall. The Flugschiff, first conceived by Claude Dornier in
1924, offered luxurious passenger accommodations similar
to transatlantic ocean liners.
* 95 percent of the world's population has never been on an
airplane flight, and one in three U.S. residents report being
afraid or anxious of flying. The condition is called aerophobia
or aviophobia. Here's looking at you Sandra Bullock.
What surprising aviation stories did we miss? Send your
stories to pilot@aopa.org (subject line: Not a joke).
julie.walker@aopa.org
resulted in a crash in the United States was
in 1967. Commercial aircraft now have static
discharge wicks installed as part of FAA
safety measures.
* Asteroid 2021 UA1 came close to Earth on
October 25, 2021 (within 1,800 miles). It was
the size of a refrigerator.
* The first aviation insurance policy written
by Lloyd's of London was in 1911, but
in 1921 the British Aviation Insurance
Association wrote: " ...there seems to be no
immediate future in aviation insurance and
there is no business to be had. " However,
Charles Lindbergh was insured by Lloyd's
for $18,000 for his nonstop flight to Paris in
1927. By the way, a Lloyd's Householder's
Comprehensive insurance policy in 1914
covered " damage cause by aeroplanes, airships,
riots, strikes-and suffragists. "
* If convicted for aiming a laser at an aircraft,
you could face up to five years in prison.
* A flight that is empty or almost empty is
called a ghost flight. Airlines continue to fly
planned routes even though there are few or
no passengers on board.
* During December 1958 and January and
February 1959, Bob Timm and John Cook
flew a modified Cessna 172 over the desert
Southwest for 64 days, 22 hours, and 19
minutes. Their world endurance record in a
propeller-driven airplane still stands.
* The Dornier Do X was the largest, heaviest,
DID YOU KNOW?
Airplane! producers
purchased the rights to Zero
Hour! and won a Writers Guild of
America award for Best Adapted Comedy.
Zero Hour! was written by Arthur Hailey,
whose 1968 novel Airport inspired the movie
franchise of the same name. Thanks to AOPA
member Andy Griebel who shared this about
Zero Hour!: " It is eerie, hardly any of the script
is even altered. It finally explains why their jet
airliner sounded like a Connie. " It's true-some of
the dialogue is word for word from Zero Hour!
In Zero Hour!, the character is Ted Stryker; in
Airplane! he is Ted Striker.
Robert Hays, who played Striker, is a certificated
private pilot. He recently hosted a television
series on A&E called Fasten Your Seatbelt.
Universal would not let Helen Reddy play the
singing nun in Airplane! because she appeared
in the Airport films and Universal believed it was
a conflict. Singer Maureen McGovern played the
nun in Airplane!
Flying High was the original title of the movie.
No airline showed the movie on board at the time
except Aeromexico.
AOPA PILOT / April 2022
33
AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2022

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