How Many Lockheed 12s were Airworthy Last Week?

[Slick Goodlin]

If you’d have asked me last week how many Lockheed 12s were airworthy I’d have guessed around five, maybe. Somehow this week we’re already down by two and it’s only Tuesday.

One on Fathers’ Day which seems better publicized as there were a couple fatalities and it’s starting to look like it went down for a really dumb reason, the other looks like it taxied into a tree at a good clip. Fast enough to have pushed the trunk all the way through the nose, through the instrument panel, past the controls, and has more or less replaced the pilot’s seat. No idea how far back the pilot got pushed on that one but everyone did survive, even if someone (I assume pilot) had to be airlifted out. Rumour is the guy at the controls was a popular judgemental youtuber.

Anyways, my best guess now is three airworthy but I still haven’t bothered to look it up. They’re terrifically pretty airplanes though; striking to look at in a way that Beech 18s can’t match.

[Colonel]

Maybe don't take off with full flaps?

That's the thing about split flaps. I think the 421 had them? Because of how they work, it's may not be immediately visually obvious what the flap setting is, from the cockpit.

From what I hear, the people flying the Chino 12A were low time and paper qualified only.

Never flown a 12A. Has a couple of R-985's like a Beech 18? I rather like multi-engine radial engine taildraggers, but I understand I was dropped on my head as a child, and I should prefer 172's with glass panels and autopilots instead. At least, that's what the experts tell me.

Some obnoxious private pilot took a run at me the other day and sneered that I would probably prefer a Sopwith Camel with a watch in the panel instead of a proud 172. I thought about it and said, Yes I sure would! There's this guy called Peter Jackson who has about 70 War One airplanes - you may have heard of some Rings movies? - who gets it.

1 hour in a Sopwith Camel - a fine airplane - is worth more than 1000 hours in a 172 with a glass panel and autopilot.

[Nark]

It is confirmed: the pilot on/at the controls was Dan Gryder.

[Slick Goodlin]

It is confirmed: the pilot on/at the controls was Dan Gryder.

He says he was in the right seat and along for the ride in his update. Also managed to get a shot in at the weekend’s dead guys because of course he did.

Anyways, I too would like to fly a Camel.

[Nark]

Keep on being a class act Dan…

I really hope it wasn’t another guy I know of… he sold a Beech 18 to get this Lockheed.

Super sad to see so many turned in to pop cans.

[Slick Goodlin]

Keep on being a class act Dan…

Gryders gonna gryde, I guess.

[Colonel]

Landing video from GA shows the tailwheel spinning after touchdown. It was either not manually locked or broken.

Never flown a 12A but the similar Beech 18 requires a manually locked tailwheel after you line up for takeoff. You simply don’t forget that.

Not many taildraggers have manually locking tailwheels these days. Pitts S1 is another.

If memory serves the retractable P-51 tailwheel is unlocked on the ground by pushing the stick forward all the way. Been a lot of decades since I flew that though.

[Slick Goodlin]

It was either not manually locked or broken.

One thing that stood out in an update posted from the man himself was his insistence on thorough review of ‘Killer Items’ in the checklists and procedures, a term that I like a little bit less every time it comes up. I might suggest that maybe all normal checklist items are important without ranking them.

[Colonel]

Oh dear. You really want to open the can of worms: "how to fly" books vs checklists?

I understand that in the 21st century, they are considered the same.

I don't use a "checklist" (how to ride book) on my motorcycle or when I am going to the toilet (how to poop book) to ensure proper order of operations. Should I?

Various well-meaning idiots think there is no cost to adding more and more and more and more and more and more and more stuff to checklists. With that kind of thinking, you end up with an abomination like the NOTAM system, which even the NTSB has publicly laughed at. Everything is equally important. No, it isn't.

[Slick Goodlin]

Not once did I say I was in favour of checklist bloat but the reality is airplanes come in varying complexities and some are less normal than others. I refuse to believe you were out there winging it every time you took up an L-39 or a Beech 18 or that hot rod T-6.

My Cub is as simple as an airplane gets: one gas tank gravity fed to the carb, one mag, fixed pitch prop, no electrical system, no mixture, no brakes, no flaps, no slats, no control locks, no tailwheel lock. If it makes RPM on the takeoff roll you continue because you’ve got everything right so far. As easy as riding a bike or taking a dump.

I suspect you and I are closer on this than you’re willing to admit, the semantics of precise word choice aside.