Short Final

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A pilot and a friend flying a very slow 1945 J-3 Cub caused significant congestion and frustration at a busy airport.
  • Air traffic control was exasperated by the Cub's slow speed, which was impeding faster military and commercial aircraft.
  • The incident highlights the operational challenges of integrating vastly different aircraft speeds in a busy airspace.
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It was Saturday afternoon some years ago at our mid-sized, midwestern airport. Things were hopping; Air Guard jets were shooting landings on the long runway, airliners were arriving and departing, two or three aircraft were in the pattern practicing, transients were coming and going, and then there was my friend and me in a 1945 65-HP J-3 Cub doing touch and goes.After four landings, blissfully unaware of the consternation our extremely slow speed was causing, we asked the tower on our handheld radio,

Us: “Cub 843 would like a right turn out of the pattern.”
Controller (exasperated): “Right turn, left turn or straight out approved. I don’t care. Just please, please get out of my way!”


James Hartley

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