by
Darryl Phillips
When President Eisenhower first proposed the interstate highway system, the grass medians were envisioned as landing strips. Isn't that a great idea? The same money was being expended for land acquisition and improvement whether the center strip was used for aviation or not. In those days most light aircraft didn't have any nav equipment at all, or perhaps just a low-freq receiver to pick up the A-N beacons. Navigation and weather were the nemesis of General Aviation. Ike reasoned that highways went where most people wanted to go. When the pilot was following the road he wouldn't get lost, and if weather became a factor he could set down anywhere.
Detroit understood the idea very well. Their lobbying quashed the concept of dual use, and a window of opportunity was closed forever. It's unthinkable today to mix Citations and semi-trucks. But our world needn't have evolved as it did, there were alternate possibilities.
There exists a timespan when a thing is possible. A window of opportunity. Prior to that time, the thing wasn't do-able, perhaps because a key part hadn't been built yet. And if the window is missed the idea once again becomes impossible to achieve.
Perhaps the earliest missed window in aviation is the way the brothers rigged the rudders. In all machinedom, steering with the feet is done by pressing on the pedal opposite to the turn. Whether you consider a little cart like we kids used to nail together, or a sled, or steering a bicycle by putting your feet on the handlebars, or any other example, they all turn left by pressing with the right foot. And it's not just machines, the physics applies to people as well. We turn left by relaxing the left foot and pressing harder with the right. It's true in humans and in all the creatures. Instinct is strong, we naturally push the "outside" foot.
I guess rigging the rudder cables was one of the final tasks in building the Flyer and it was simpler to run them straight than to cross them over. Whatever the reason, a window of opportunity closed that day and we're stuck forever with pedals that are contrary to nature and to other machines.
One of my joys is taking kids on their first airplane ride. Frequently the 8 to 14 age set. I explain it all in detail, and let them taxi out. While they usually fly great, taxiing is miserable. They often make some comment about how hard it is to steer with feet. They are too overloaded by the unfamiliar surroundings to realize the obvious, the pedals are backwards. Fortunately, humans are adaptable creatures and we learn to fly just fine. But occasionally things get hairy and millisecond response is needed. Deep in the brain, training is pulling one way and instinct the other. Sometimes instinct wins. It's called pilot error, but it's really the result of a window of opportunity missed long ago.
We can't do much about windows that are closed. One thing we can do is learn from them. Try to spot opportunities that are still open today, maybe dive through that window before it slams shut, or at least try to prop the window open for awhile.
What windows are open now? We covered one last month called Mode T. It does everything right that Mode S does wrong. Mode T saves the FAA bundles, it provides coverage all the way to the ground, and it lets aircraft see each other. Before GPS became a reality Mode T wasn't feasible. Now it is.
Another open window involves powerplants for light aircraft. We've been reasonably content with the piston engine since the beginning of aviation. Of course the turbine is enviable, but when you examine the engineering realities the turbine is about as useful as a rocket engine on most aircraft. Yet the day of avgas availability is coming to an end. What will replace our present powerplant? We need an engine that runs on kerosene, since that's what will be available at the airport. At the same time, we need an engine that is silent so the community won't want to close the airport. When gas was cheap and airports were miles from town, the window wasn't yet open. But it's open now, the time to develop a better engine is here. The technology exists, no new inventions are required, all we need is the will to proceed. At some point, if we continue to fight the future rather than cooperate with it, that window of opportunity will also close.
A bright new window has opened with the election of a fresh administration. Individual freedom is what aviation is all about, and now we've chosen a government that understands that idea. We can expect a judiciary more receptive to aviators' rights. Whether it's the poor treatment we get from Customs, illegal actions by the DEA, or unconstitutional moves by the FAA, we've been unable to get relief in court. A fresh and welcome breeze is coming through this open window, ushering in a period when aviators can share in rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution to us all. Including people who fly little airplanes!