Newspaper Page Text
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The Taylor County News, July 22, 2021, Page 2.
Vfl Lori's views
Tty
va Loti Moors
Wow! I just watched Jeff' Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner
of the space flight company, Blue Origin, launch into space and
return safely—all within about 10 minutes! Bezos; his hrothcr,
Mark; Wally Funk, an 82 year old lady who trained with NASA
in the 60s and the oldest person to reach space; and Oliver
Daemon, an 18 year old fellow from the Netherlands and the
youngest person to reach space, launched at 9:11 a,m,, reached
the edge of space at around 65 miles, and returned 10 minutes
later. It was the first unpiloted suborbital flight (meaning it didn't
enter into orbit around the Earth and landed very near to where
it launched).
There are folks who are extremely excited, claiming, as Bezos
said, “This is about building a road to space so that future gen
erations can do incredible things in space," And, there arc folks
who believe this is just billionaire foolishness and ego-driven. 1
guess I’m somewhere in between—sitting on the fence, like 1 nor
mally do until I have plenty of information. Fm happy for those
astronauts, since that is what they wanted to do, and Fm also
thankful they are safe, because I can vividly remember standing
in my apartment in Athens in 1986, watching the space shuttle
Challenger launch, then promptly explode just after takeoff, kill
ing everyone on hoard, including the first civilian in space, a
teacher, Christa McAuliffe. Thai is burned into my memory for
ever! It was horrific!
Well, before too much longer, you can go to space, if you want to,
and if you have several hundred thousands of dollars, (It s esti
mated that it could be around $300,000 for a 10-minute joyride,)
Blue Origin plans to make this possible in the near future.
Another billionaire from Britain, Richard Branson, also safely
flew to the edge of space nine days ago. His rocket is a different
concept, but he also has plans for space tourism.
Personally, I think I’ll stay here on Earth. I'm not a dare devil,
and 1 don’t have an extra $300,000, but I'll be sitting here pa
tiently waiting to see and hear what the rich, adventurous ones
have to show' and say when they return!
Safe travels, my friends. It’s exciting—and, scary!
To Tli e Light
Bob wadt
Just Another Landing
This pundit at age 10 watched from the shade of a chinab-
erry tree a cropduster airplane apply dry powdered insecti
cide from the hopper of a Stearman biplane to thirty-acres of
cotton belonging to his grandmother.
He did not know that if that pilot had yanked-and-banked
that awesome machine to a heading of 149 degrees (mag
netic) and held that course for 28 miles he would have been
directly over a WW2 era Army Airforce base.
Three years after falling in love with flying, Ba inbridge Army
Airfield (BAFF) and its six auxiliary airfields closed. The fed
eral government transferred ownership of BAFF's runways,
buildings, and land to Decatur County, Georgia. The county
converted the airbase into an industrial park and airport and
Commodore Decatur Auxiliary Army Airfield #6 to a munici
pal airport. The Civil Aviation Authority designated BAFF
as BGE (Bravo-Golf-Echo in pilot lingo) and Commodore
Decatur as flVo-Zero-Juliet).
One of the first businesses to set up shop in the industrial
park was the Wiliiamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company out
of Fort Worth, Texas. Mama was among the first group of
employees there and she worked for ‘ DickieV s dang-near forty
years. She could eat lunch on a recessed porch-like part of
one of those former army warehouses.
From that perch, if she were looking southeast, she could
see through a gap in the pine trees airplanes on short final
approach to runway 27. Obstructions (more trees and han
gars) narrowed her glimpse to just a few seconds of the
airplane’s glide segment of landing when airplanes were 100
feet above ground or so down to about 50 feet. She could not
see the actual landing.
When her second son pursued his dream of becoming an
airplane pilot, she was not excited about the concept. She
did not pay more attention to airplanes landing at Bravo-
Golf-Echo: As a matter of fact, she ignored them.
That was not necessarily a bad thing.
Her baby boy on. that cloudless day had more than 200 fly
ing hours as a Private Pilot recorded in his logbook and was
preparing for his check ride with W. F. Underwood, the FAA
Designated Pilot Examiner.
Friend Jim, a Certificated Flight Instructor, happened to
be at the airport and suggested he fly “right seat.”
Jim said, “Let’s do some under-the-hood time to practice
recovering from unusual attitudes.”
The hood was a plastic device worn on the head like a hat
that resembled the hood of an 18-wheel truck. It limited the
pilot's field of view to the instrument panel of the airplane.
The Federal Aviation Administration defines unusual atti
tudes as a significant deviation of an aircraft from the in
tended flight path, resulting in an airplane upset, or when
an airplane attitude maneuvers to that not normally required
for flight.
Shortly after departing Two-Zero-Juliet at about 100-feet
above ground, the hood came down, and Jim simulated an
air traffic controller barking out headings and altitude ad
justments. We climbed, descended, yanked, and banked un
til this pilot-in-command (PIC) had no idea where he was in
Scripture Of
The Week
He that dwelleth In the secret place of the
most High shall abide under the shadow of
the Almighty.
Psalm 91:1, KJV
alie Saglor (Emmtg News
ant)
(Die Sutler Herali
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relation to Two-Zero-Juliet, Bravo-Golf-Echo, or any other
airfield.
Jim then took the controls of the airplane and put it into a
full power-on stall, power-off stall, and a spin. He returned
control to the PIC to recover from each to normal flight. It
was a wild and exhilarating ride for the aspiring commercial
pilot. Following the hair-raising recovery from the spin, Jim
then directed several turns during the climb back to altitude.
We were merrily cruising at 2,500 feet altitude when he
suddenly and without warning throttled the engine to idle
simulating an engine out emergency!
After simulating an engine-out checklist to restart proce
dure and no restart, the PIC simulated a mayday broadcast,
and Jim gave a vector and distance to the nearest airport.
He said we would "breakout” of clouds at 500 feet mean sea
level (then remove the hood). During the 2,000-foot glide, he
gave course corrections (to keep us lined up to runway 27
B ravo-Golf-Echo).
At 500 feet altitude indicated, the hood came off, and there
the runway was (precisely 371 feet below) and about a quar
ter-mile away. We were well below the glide slope!
Jim recognizing his error in judgement and was repeatedly
shouting, "Stay with it (the approach), you've got it!”
We cleared the perimeter fence by twelve feet, and if Mama
had been looking from Dickie’s, she would have fainted!
The main landing gear touched-down inches beyond the
runway edge! Jim was wet with sweat!
To the soon-to-be commercial pilot, it was just another land
ing!
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God Is
Our Refuge
And Strength
By Billy Powell
A capacity crowd at Macon's City Auditorium was scream
ing and yelling. Spectators spilled into the aisles and door
ways. Every score produced a deafening roar. It was March
14, 1953. The Perry Panthers, of which this writer was a
member, were playing the tremendously tall and talented
Clarkston Angoras for the state basketball championship
of Georgia. Sports pundits had picked Clarkston to win. The
Panthers led by a small margin throughout the game, but
most observers felt they were playing over their heads and
that the powerful Clarkston team would ultimately prevail.
During the waning minutes of the fourth quarter with
Perry nursing a six point lead, Clarkston suddenly scored
four unanswered points. The scoreboard read: Perry-59,
Clarkeston-57. One minute and 40 seconds remained. The
tide had turned. Clarkston had the momentum. Pande
monium and jubilation broke loose on the Clarkston side
lines. The Angora fans were smelling victory The Perry
team appeared confused and bewildered.
Defeat seemed imminent for a Perry team that had won
33 games, climbing over formidable opponents to gain the
state finals. The dream of winning a state championship,
which only moments ago seemed attainable, was fleeting
from our grasp with the countdown of seconds irreversibly
flashing away on the scoreboard clock.
Coach Eric Staples signaled for a timeout. As the team
approached the Perry bench, we were met by a coach who
in the thick of battle was a model of composure. Any indi
cation of indecisiveness or a slight quiver of his lip could
have sealed our doom. In the heat of battle, we drew
strength from this giant of a man who exuded confidence.
Coach Staples believed in himself and his approach to the
game. He talked to us in a calm reassuring tone. He
stressed controlling the ball and the clock. He instructed
us to execute a three-man weave at the top of the key with
the two post men split to the sides to open up the middle.
We were cautioned to drive for the basket only if our de
fender was screened out. Should the lane suddenly close,
we were told to pass to an open post man and resume the
weave. Our team walked back on the court, with a renewed
determination, resolutely determined to scrap Clarkston
to the bitter end. We believed that victory was ours if we
followed his instructions. Coach Staples’ stratagem worked
to perfection as it had hundreds of times in the past. We
scored four points during the remaining seconds, held
Clarkston scoreless, and won the state championship game
by a six point margin, 63 to 57. In his career, Staples, an
exemplary Christian, won 83 percent of his games, cap
tured 25 region titles, 8 state championships, and became
America's winningest coach.
The real story was our strong quest for God’s closeness
when defeat seemed imminent. Our team appeared to be
going down to defeat after years of dedicated practice and
preparation. God favors no team, yet He responded to our
fervent supplications and strengthened our resolve when
the tide was turning and loss appeared imminent. This
story stresses the need to reach out to the Almighty! God
is "no respecter of persons” sayeth the scripture, but He
responds to those who genuinely seek Him. “God is our
refuge and strength, a present help in trouble” promises
Ps 46:1.
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