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Pilots aim for pinpoint landing

Sunday, June 27, 2004

By Marty Bodwicz

© 2004 Republican-American

OXFORD The contest was to land the wheels of a single-engine airplane on a 15-foot stretch of the 5,000-foot long runway at Waterbury-Oxford Airport. Even if there were no wind, it would not be an easy task for an experienced pilot.

None of the nearly dozen members of the Oxford Flying Club on Saturday admitted they were apprehensive about the landing contest. But they must have been feeling some pressure to perform well because six of their fellow club members stood on the grass next to the runway ready to score their landings. Many of the club's pilots have been licensed to fly for decades.

Club member Pete Donofrio of Thomaston, who owns a company that sells natural gas and has piloted planes since 1984, was excited to score other pilots on their landings.

"How often do you get to stand that close (to the runway)?" he said. "You could be home vacuuming or dusting, or you could be looking at airplanes."

Competitors received 100 points for landing on the bull's eye, and fewer points for overshooting the target within 75-feet, or landing in front of it within 75-feet.

Contests like this are relatively common for flying clubs, but the Oxford club hasn't had one in many years, said Brian Willenbring of Southbury, who is the club's treasurer and works as a software engineer.

"What we like to do is promote flying and safety," said Steven A. Fournier of Naugatuck, who is the club's president and the CEO of Gar-Kenyon Technologies of Naugatuck. "The overall idea is for people to hone their skills."

But Willenbring worries the club is focusing only on social events, and not on aviation issues.

"We had a man from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) who made a presentation on runway incursions," Fournier said of a seminar that took place at the airport before the flying contest.

A runway incursion is when a plane, person, vehicle anything is on a runway when it isn't supposed to be there. Runway incursions can become fatal accidents.

Less than a month ago, a 50-year-old Watertown man, Bruce E. Alspach, an experienced charter pilot, died when the plane he was flying crashed as it approached the Oxford airport. The National Transportation Safety Board has not determined the cause of the crash.

The fatal crash did not spur the runway incursion seminar or the following round-table talk about takeoffs and landings, club officials said.

Club member Vincent Soares of Southbury, an electrical engineer and the former fire chief in Southbury, was the first contestant.

"Flying is a real discipline," Soares said after thoroughly inspecting the aircraft before takeoff. "Most cars are heavier than this (plane) with four passengers."

After takeoff, Soares banked the plane to the left at a top speed of about 108 miles-per-hour at about 1,700-feet in the air and circled the airport. He headed back to the runway for a "touch-and-go" landing. That means as soon as he lands, he takes off again. He landed twice within the area to score points.

After the landing contest, pilots toured the airport's two-year-old control tower. Air Traffic Controller Scott Tracy said the airport averages between 200 and 250 flights a day. Some days, it handles as many as 400 flights.

The Oxford club owns two airplanes and is looking for more members. The club, which is a non-profit organization, also will give flying lessons.

There are other flying clubs in Connecticut based at airports in Danbury, Hartford and Meriden.