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From: Donald Ledger <dledger@ns.sympatico.ca>
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 10:03:35 -0300
Fwd Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 16:11:56 -0400
Subject: Re: Kenneth Arnold Sighting


>Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 21:44:13 -0400
>From: James Easton <pulsar@compuserve.com>
>Subject: Re: Kenneth Arnold Sighting
>To: UFO UpDates - Toronto <updates@globalserve.net>

>Off the list, Bruce has helpfully clarified some details which
>have explained the full context of Arnold's letter to the Air
>Force.

>Confirmed is my contention that Arnold was in fact still
>searching for the missing C-46 marine transporter when his
>sighting occurred.

>It did not take place afterwards, when Arnold was en route to
>Yakima.

>I'm sure we can now conclude the debatable points as much as
>they ever can be.

<snip>

Hi James,

At 60 MPH The Callair would have been about ready to fall out of
the sky. Certainly if he had turned, upping his wing-stall speed
he would have entered an incipient spin, then a full spin. The
Call air cruised at about 100-120 MPH and with its short wing
span had a higher stall speed than say a J-3 Cub, Aeronca or
Taylorcraft [the latter, a high wing was the plane they used to
represent Arnold's plane in the movie UFO. Real attention to
detail there]. As search planes go, the Callair was a poor
choice. His wings would have covered hundreds of square miles
below him.

Having been [and still am] a volunteer search and rescue  pilot,
I can atest to just how hard it is to spot a downed aircraft at
high altitudes [or low for that matter. Usually you find them
due to other clues such as tree tops being clipped off, a swath
being cut into low brush or the trees, or the plane's own
reflectivity. In Arnold's case he was likely looking for an
aircraft that could have been at a varity of altitudes and which
likely buried itself in the snow or was covered over by same. We
search with four aboard [pilot, navigator and two spotters in
the back seat] using high wing aircraft [C-172s, 182s or 180s,
etc. all of which have 36 foot wing spans] at 700-1000 feet with
flaps on, cruising at about 90 miles per hour to prevent a wing
stall during turns. Even then they are shallow turns. Arnold's
Callair had a wing span of about 26 feet and no flaps and were
low as I mentioned before. I doubt if he was flying at a speed
of any less than 90 MPH or perhaps even 100. It would make no
difference at the altitude he was searching. This would have had
him looking ahead of the left wing and down with the occassional
glance behind his wing in case reflectivity might have indicated
the crash site due the angle change.

I don't know if any of this helps put your head in Arnold's
Callair James. It's just like anything else though, there are
many misconceptions about piloting an airplane, more than a few
of which I have mentioned during this thread. You mentioned that
your friend sped away from the peligans at 80 MPH. If that was a
pure sail plane the only way he could have done that was by
diving away from them to gain speed, unless it was a
motor-glider. It doesn't say.

Your glider friend also mentions visibility factors, such as
haze. All true, but Arnold is on record as saying it was a
beautiful day for flying with the air very stable and clear.
I've been up on days like that and it is a joy to behold. You
can see 75 miles-plus once you get up to a mile or so. Whenever
you get air that clear, it's because its very stable and cold
with no convection currents to whip dust, smoke and other
pollutants into the upper atmosphere. Despite this being the air
age, the general publics knowledge about flying is very poor
with many misconceptions fostered by the entertainment industry.

Hope this helps.

Don Ledger