REFLECTOR: The Bermuda Triangle in Eastern North Carolina - Or is it Voice of America

Gary T. Ciampa gciampa at nc.rr.com
Sun Jun 26 09:05:58 CDT 2005


There I was, thought I was gonna die!

I'm flying along, fat, dumb and happy at 3500 feet, marveling at the 
scattered clouds along the route, on my way back from Okracoke Island 
(W95) to Sanford, NC (TTA). My wife is sleeping quietly in the right 
seat, we're crusing at 155 knots, life is good. The audible alarm goes 
off on the EFIS, waking my wife up and stirring me from my bliss, oil 
pressure has dropped to zero, fuel pressure is bouncing erratically, 
fuel empty light flashing. The big fan in the back still seems to be 
turning, which is a good thing, I'm deciding if ISO, PGV or OCW is where 
I was headed! ISO is just off the nose, downwind, I can do a 
straight-in, on the big, long runway, so that's the plan. A lifetime 
later, or about thirty seconds, all the instruments and readings return 
to normal, along with my blood pressure.

It turns out, I've encountered aspects of this phenomenon in the past, 
although not to this degree. There are several Voice of America antenna 
farms in the area and am apparently picking up electromagnetic 
interference from the transmitters. ??Could this be an artifact of a 
composite airframe?? Could I have some lengths of wire which are 
coincidently a multiple of the wave length of the transmitter?

In the past, typically the interference has been limited to hearing 
radio transmission side tones in the intercom system.These side tones 
are not coming in from the radio as I can turn off the radios, turn up 
the ICS and enhance the sound (yesterday it was spanish talk radio). One 
on trip, the fuel empty light flickered for about 15 seconds and then 
returned to the lifeless amber color, I seem to recal I was at 5500 feet 
at that time.

Next trip, I'm wearing my lead underwear!

Thanks, Gary





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