What's Up
by LeRoy Cook
4-14-2025
Suggested Banner: Watch Where You Fly
As.the Butler Airport lighting project continued at its
plodding pace last week, a few passing-by airplanes were seen practicing the
RNAV instrument approach procedures, which involves flying down the approach
slope leading to the runway. Of course, the approach is abandoned at the
minimum altitude, about 250 feet above the ground, but workers laying wire and
digging in the line of fire were probably keeping a wary eye out.
With no activity here, Flight Instructor Delany Rindal had
to shift her operations to Harrisonville, where the Cessna 150 flew 14 hours
last week, despite from lost days due to wind. Resident instructor Jay
McClintock flew some of his students in the Piper Tomahawk trainer. I put in
some time in the right seat of Cessna 182s as well.
Of course, the season opening of the SkyDive KC parachuting
drop zone has been delayed by the construction closure. Since there’s only
about 52 days per year suitable for skydiving, this cuts deeply into any
break-even the operation might make. It had been hoped that limited local
flying could take place when workers wee off for the weekend, but that’s not
been the case.
The Butler airport’s native prairie patch got a nice haircut
a couple of weeks back, thanks to City brush-hog mowing. Situated at the north
end of the airport property, the never-plowed grasses and flowers will benefit
with reduction of the overgrowth from last year.
About 20 private airplanes have violated the no-fly
airspace around President Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, FL since he
took office, according to the North American Air Defense Command, which deploys
Black Hawk helicopters and F-16 fighter jets to enforce the zone. His
sometimes-erratic schedule means the NOTAM goes on and off, depending on when
he’s in residence, so local flyers have to adjust to accommodate. Nobody got
shot down, because evil intent was obviously not the case, just carelessness,
but some pilots probably got shook up by jet wash when they were waved off by
F-16s.
Never ones to waste an actual,, near or semi-tragedy,
national news keeps focusing on Washington, DC’s Reagan National airport, where
two airliners brushed wingtips on the ground last week. The crowded little
field is prized by our dedicated public servants rushing home after a hard day
on Capitol Hill, because it’s much handier than Dulles International. But old
DCA has had its share of close calls between military and air carrier planes,
including the commuter jet/helicopter collision earlier this year. The price of
safety is eternal vigilance, when it comes to avoiding human error.
Once again, Rodney Rom did his research on last week’s quiz,
correctly saying “fledermaus” was German for “flying mouse,” meaning a bat, the
only mammal capable of sustained flight. For next week, our question will be
“what was the origin of the name Skyhaven for the Warrensburg, MO airport? You
can send your answers to [email protected].
-END-
