Cold Correction
Canada has had this solved for years. If you go to our AIM manual (freely available online at tc.gc.ca) on page 303 you will find a simple table to correct for cold down to -50 C. No hassle and quick.
W.J.
Electric Flight
I read [Paul Bertorelli’s] comments about electric flight. You are absolutely right about batteries. “Better batteries in the near future” has become the most believed rumor in recent years. And it is solely based on desire and not science. Even a slight improvement will not be enough. Consider just 2 things: EPA has established that the energy bound up in just one gallon of gas is equal to a lithium battery that would weigh 953 pounds. Plus, the fact that the best battery ever made is the nickel metal hydrate and it was invented by Tom Edison.
Batteries are chemistry and unless new elements fall from the sky – we are faced with what we have. I have been saying for the past 5 years that we need a light weight onboard charging system to extend the flight time. We have developed a small one that weighs about 40 pounds and can supply 200 amps at 120 volts. It is designed to put out 350#’s of thrust at 1/4 of the fuel that a Cessna 150 burns.
Don Lineback
737 MAX
I see in a number of articles AVweb have made on the 737 MAX there have been statements similar to this one in the latest newsletter, “to address issues with the MCAS automatic stall prevention system that is implicated in two fatal crashes.” The MCAS is not a stall prevention system, it is a longitudinal stability enhancement system.
Brian Abraham
