Fly with AOPA Ep. 9: Elite tailwheel training; Barnstormers Workshop upgrading AOPA Sweepstakes 170

[Music] foreign [Music] Come Fly with aopa this week we take you to Tac Arrow a flight school that specializes in tail ball training and Backcountry experiences [Music] the concept behind Tech Arrow originated in 2013 we do Backcountry training we have airport operations and then we dabble in technology we are currently in the Dallas Port Washington one of our two locations in the Pacific Northwest we also have Hood River which is generally considered our headquarters amongst a couple other locations Texas Minnesota and even Prescott attack Arrow itself has really gone deep into the specialty of Back Country tail wheel we have Partnerships with several different companies one of them is Cub Crafters we only fly Cub crafter aircraft and we are constantly upgrading our Fleet to the latest that they've got they're just are the best Backcountry aircraft that you can fly the Oneness with an airplane like this is simple it's a seat of your pants flying and it takes you to places that people don't really understand airplanes can go so we really came up with a concept working with stakeholder customers on Expeditions and people want to do the hundred dollar hamburgers they want to spend a weekend in the back country they want to just fly some Canyons with their friends in a controlled kind of environment where they don't have to worry about the logistics they can just kind of show up and relax and that's been the idea behind our expeditions flying in the Pacific Northwest is a challenge we are based in the Columbia River Gorge and that puts us right at the base of Mount Hood The Gorge is a pretty interesting geological structure of a canyon that splits Oregon in Washington and it's a couple thousand feet deep and the airflow west to east is uh is a Venturi tube it's known for its Wind sports so we can easily have days that are 40 miles an hour or more and to fly a light high performance teal wheel aircraft in high winds is daunting for a lot of reasons especially limited flying season we're moving most of our tail wheel operations to Texas we really want to open this up to everybody because uh Aviation can be seen as an elite activity and we want it to be available for anybody and everybody who wants to come out learn Back Country flying and go on our Expeditions so we're trying to make it much more available aopa senior features editor Julie Summers Walker got to spend a few days out at Tak Arrow Julie it looks like they've got a lot going on and they handed it some of the other things they do besides tailwell training Backcountry experiences what are their other business components well you know when I pitched this story one of the things that I said was Tech Arrow does it all and they really do do it all it's all based on Backcountry flying because that's where their great love is um and then they they got into Cub Crafters as you heard and and love uh working with with those aircraft and so from there they created products they believe very highly in wearing helmets um because they really are it's a lot of challenging flying and and really gets back into the back of the country um so they have helmets they also do a really uh product that they can put in the back of the um of the aircraft that you can keep all your stuff off in so it's a a tactical bag and that's the other thing they're they're called tack Arrow because it's a tactical way of looking at flying oh interesting and so uh they hinted that they're going to be changing locations uh from the Pacific Northwest to Fredericksburg Texas if folks want to go train with them get some back country experience uh when is it that they should start you know looking for them in Texas well they've been in the Hood River area for quite some time and it is a gorgeous area as you saw but the winds are just part of the Chow too much part of the challenge so they are moving to Fredericksburg Texas uh starting January 1st 2023 so next year they have a slate of um experiences Expeditions that they're planning um I think they do like between five and six of them and I know they've been to Alaska that was their first big trip they will also do Moab um and then they are talking about doing a little bit of an international stuff while we were there um a young man from South Africa was there training and they're hoping to do an expedition to South Africa they take about seven to 10 aircraft and Pilots they set the trips up for them and really give them an incredible Back Country experience and needless to say we really want to go with them too yeah I want to go with them on that wow okay so Tech arrow is really expanding and lots more to come from them thanks Julie very much so yeah stay tuned thanks well I have a couple of serious safety announcements to share with you this week from the NTSB the first is a preliminary report on the Dallas mid-air collision between a king cobra fighter and a Boeing Flying Fortress that killed six crew members that was during the commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas World War II Air Show so the NTSB report details the instructions that the pilots receive from the air boss that led up to the accident the p-63 was number three in a three ship formation of Fighters and the B-17 was the lead of a five-ship formation of bombers now both formations had been instructed to maneuver Southwest of the runway before returning to the Flying display area the air boss then directed The Fighter formation to transition to a trail formation fly in front of the bomber formation and proceed near the 500 foot show line the bombers were directed to fly down the 1000 foot Shoreline this would have put the fighters 500 feet from the air show viewing line and the bomber's a thousand feet from the line now the p-63 collided with the left side of the B-17 just behind its wing what could be a year to 18 months before the NTSB releases a probable cause on this accident and it's important to remember that the early finding things in this preliminary report could change as the investigation continues and the NTSB uncovers more facts so lots more to come on this tragic accident the NTSB is also calling for the immediate inspection of Bell 407 helicopters and these helicopters are popular with Air Tour operators police departments and air ambulance operators the reason for their calling for this immediate inspection is because they're currently doing an investigation from a June accident in which a Bell 407 that was used for an air tour operation in Hawaii crashed the tail boom had actually separated from the helicopter you can read more about that on aopa.org we have a link to that article in the description below well if you have a Garmin GFC 500 autopilot with optional Auto Trim installed on your aircraft and this is whether it's a certified experimental or light sport aircraft beware that you could experience an uncommanded automatic trim Runaway so a Garmin service alert instructs you to pull the collar of the GFC 500 autopilot circuit breaker and placard the autopilot as inoperative before you make any other flights an alternative is that you can contact a Garmin dealer and disable the pitch trim as directed in a Garmin service bulletin you can learn more about this and the actions that you can take in the aopa air safety Institute safety alert we have a link to it in the description below alright well we put a lot of focus on the safety of our aircraft and the equipment in our aircraft we also need to place emphasis on ourselves are we safe to fly and one of that those key items is making sure that we're fit to fly and aopa media's production specialist and fitness Enthusiast Sylvia horn gives us some tips for how we can push pull Crouch and maneuver around our airplanes without hurting ourselves hi I'm Sylvia horn I work for aobs media division specifically for the magazines I am here to show you how to push and pull your airplane or Crouch and bend around it without hurting yourself because there is a big potential for injury if you do it wrong let's say you've been sitting in a chair in your office all day and you're coming out to the airport to pull your airplane out of the hangar you've been sitting all day you're very stiff and you might really hurt yourself if you don't limber up a little so here's what you can do you look around in your Hangar you'll find something that you can use to do bend over rows bend over rows your back is straight and you're just lifting these things make sure your elbows stay right by your side and that's that's not too difficult and it warms up your back muscles so you wanna call the airplane this is not a good idea you see your back is like a question mark and you're going to really hurt yourself you pull with your body weight foreign so before you get ready to do your pre-flight and there's a lot of bending involved here are a couple of exercises that help you do that first is really easy air squats you just go down as far as you can and go up and go down this is working on your glutes and hamstrings and when they're nice and warm you don't hurt yourself so now you're all ready to Bend because bending is bad you do this this is not good you do this like you want to remove chalks from your airplane you do this you crouch you never Bend so now you're getting ready to push your airplane back into the hangar and that requires a different set of warm-ups like overhead presses we're taking the same stuff we found in the hangar before and we're just lifting it over our heads good for shoulders and arms and one other exercise that works those muscle groups it's lunges you can do them backwards or you can do them forwards as long as you use both legs so you're back from your flight you want to push the airplane back into the hangar if you do it like this [Music] I'm doing it wrong in the swimming pool this is a breast stroke pushing an airplane like that will seriously injure your back so you use good old body weight to push I have all little exercises helped you a little bit around your airplane pushing pulling crouching not bending and it'll keep your back and your body safe overall working out is good for you anyway so you're doing yourself a favor this guys thanks Sylvia and that's a lot of good advice especially this time of the year when we do a lot of sitting and eating so good advice well it's been about a month since the aopa sweepstakes Cessna 170 made its public appearance that was down in Tampa and it's in the restoration phase now actually it's tucked away at Peach State Aerodrome at the Barnstormers workshop and they're actually going to be putting on a continental Prime certified io370 engine aopa social media marketer and sweepstakes project manager Kayla McLeod hunt takes us on a tour foreign Kayla here and I'm so excited to be here today at my home field the peach day air drum in Williamson Georgia as you all can see behind me we have the Cessna 170b the 2023 sweepstakes aircraft here and it is here inside of the Barnstormers Workshop this is where the engine upgrade is going to be happening and I'm so excited to bring y'all along in and come check out the hangar well what do you think of the sweepstakes airplane I mean your 170 owner what do you think you guys picked a really nice airplane that's serious it's this isn't like I wouldn't change it that's me so you're going to be one of the lucky guys that gets to work on this airplane and do the engine upgrade what do you think what do you think about the engine that we've chose are you excited oh yeah I think it's I think it'd be awesome I don't know a lot about the motor you know it's so new and stuff but um it's going to make an awesome airplane it's just going to be what does it mean to you to have this airplane out here at Peach day at Barnes Farmers well I think it's I mean it's it's a it's a it's a privilege you know to be able to do something like this that's for sure I appreciate you guys letting us do it oh yeah yeah it's cool just kind of run through what you guys are going to be doing to the airplane here at Barnes Farmers my understanding is we're doing firewall forward that's going to retail replacing the motor engine mounts you know whatever is required hosing everything it's so exciting have the airplane out here at Peach State it's a very special place to me to you to everybody here it's on grass where it belongs and it's going to be ready for the back country in no time hey Gary what's up how you doing oh good good so um what do you think about the 170 over here it's gonna be fun it's gonna be a neat project very cool well uh like a nice airplane it's one of the newer airplanes that actually comes here to Barnstormers Workshop I mean what are we standing next to right now this is a 34 Fairchild 22. and it's just very rare not many of these flying it's it's a lot older than that one that's that's that is a new one compared to some of these in here how long has this airplane been here at Barnstormers uh I think this one's uh been here almost two years probably yeah it's definitely one of the focal points of the shop it's always here y'all are always doing something tweaking something on it what do you find rewarding about working on these old birds I like to see them when they come in like this in the back of a pickup truck yeah and then then you see it roll out and go fly that's just that's neat to see that you know you had a part of that well y'all do some incredible work and obviously why we have the sweepstakes here with y'all is because we're uh we're super excited to have y'all get your hands on it and uh make it a really really nice area that's gonna be a nice one with that different motor on it it's gonna make it really I mean already starting with a great platform and then you're gonna make it even better we're excited yep that's gonna be nice hey Kayla well can you give us a you know peek inside Barnstormers what's going on with the 170 right now yeah absolutely so I'm standing right here in front of the hangar we got the hanger doors open and you can see right behind me the old 170 engine and the new continental Prime io370 along with the blue Continental container that the engine arrived in just the other day we opened the box yesterday and while I cannot wait to see what this airplane can do after we put that new engine on it oh that's exciting now what are some of the other modifications uh and refurbishments that Barnstormers is going to do to the 170. yeah so I actually just confirmed with Alaskan bushwills the other day that they are shipping a pair of 26 inch Alaskan bushwheels to our shop so that's going to go on they're redoing the tail wheel as well as the seat tracks and any other small modifications that need to be made us awesome now I understand Pilots are welcome to fly into Peach State and actually go in and see the 170 while it's getting the work done yeah absolutely feel free to fly in the identifiers golf alpha 2 this is actually my home field I work uh from here quite a bit doing my aopa work so I'm here if you see me here you know feel free to flag me down I'll take you inside but honestly the hangers right here right next to the fuel pump so come in get gas enjoy a delicious hamburger at Barnstormers uh the restaurant and then walk over right here to Barnstormers workshop and you can see the airplane for yourself awesome all right well thanks Kayla well I hope you enjoyed this episode of fly with aopa be sure to like And subscribe so you can stay up to date on all the videos that we're releasing throughout the week and this week we leave you with video footage from aopa editor at large Dave hirschman he's flying a citation jet over the Chesapeake Bay now be sure to send in your favorite flying videos at the link in the description you just might see it on an upcoming show and as always if you're not already an aopa pilot we'd love for you to join us click the link at the end of the video to learn more [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: AOPA: Your Freedom to Fly

Views: 5,891

Keywords: AOPA, flying, pilot, aircraft, airplane, airport, aviation, general aviation, aerospace, FAA, airway, avionics, aopa live, aopa live this week

Id: veqlbwArZXg

Length: 19min 1sec (1141 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 09 2022