Spitfire low pass

[Unregistered]

Wayne & everyone:

I just saw the video clip, and I the Spitfire was LOW. As the Spitfire flies by, notice how the short grass is "flapping around" from the prop wash. In stead of flying over the reporter, why not make the low pass 50 meeters to one side. It might be a little safer, and still a great display!




Keith Doyne

[AAFO_WSagar]

Keith,

Though I think some who read my opinion of the pass take it as being a wimp or something, at least from the gist of one or two of them In no way do I mean it that way...

The one thing I see that the pilot does that makes it risky, or much more risky than necessary is the very fact that he has to pull up.

When the unnamed pilot overflew me, the pass I describe in an earlier message, he was not nearly as close, yet the thrill factor for me was quite high, and it would have been for anyone standing with me, or filming in the same position..

Other than the fact that he was a "bit" higher, he did not have to alter his trajectory in order to pass over me at that height.. Had he even been much closer, it would have been way less dangerous than the pass we see in the video, simply because, the pilot of the Spitfire is on a collision course with the crew up until he alters his pitch and pulls up... and he has to do it blind and at a pretty darn high rate of closure. One miscalculation and... we have a real mess...

The fact that the "talent" was, himself, a Spitfire pilot, likely led to the flying pilot to have the desire to give him just a little bit closer of a shave..

Yes, it came off OK and nobody was paint for the Spit... I just see this, as well as some of the other stuff we've seen over the years as really unnecessary..

People are getting killed every year, extremely high time, very talented pilots are getting killed flying demonstrations.. Why?

How long can this go on before some legal eagle says.. "hey... I can make a name for myself with this stuff" and it's all over..

I suppose this thread can and will go on forever.. I'm obviously not a pilot so I know some who read this don't take my opinion for being worth much.. Something to think about though.. the person who cliimbs the soapbox, someday to bring all of our great fun to an end, likely will not be a pilot either..

I LOVE low passes.. I mean I LIVE for haircuts.. You don't know just how much a part of my being getting close and getting the rush that this stuff is...

I'm absolutely NOT meaning to be a party pooper.. I'm just expressing the opinion that *sometimes* really talented, very skilled people make errors in judgement.. We're all human, we make mistakes... sometimes, those mistakes are very very costly...

This time, he got away with it.. would have been the chits had he not!

Wayne

[Unregistered]

Wayne:


I also love a great display! I should have made my response a little clearer. I didn't think the "camera angle" had anything to do with how close the Spitfire came. I saw the grass move after the Spit flew by. Since that Spitfire likes to go low and fast, could someone on the list suggest to the owner/pilot about racing in Reno 2004???? I can see a Spitfire and Big Bossman duel in a bronze/silver race???



Keith Doyne

[Leo]

too low

10 feet, 30 feet, 50 feet it's all real low for the spectator. 50 feet is just sooo much safer. Some pilots can do it in their sleep, most can't. The Lefty's, Skip's, Wayne's and Ray's are few and too many try to emmulate them. There have been pilots putting these things into the ground doing passes and low level aerobatics the last few years. To me they are wasteful crashes as there is no need to be in that position in the first place.

I agree with Wayne and his forklift analogy. I like fast cars. when I drive mine a lot I get so I can place it exactly where I want at almost any speed without thinking about it. You just get a"feel" for the boundaries. The more I drive, the more confident and the better I get. And usually when you get to that point is when you stub your toe. I've been lucky to never put it out so far that I've bent metal, but I'm not doing 300 MPH in 3 dimensions.

Of course, my first reaction to the video was "OH YEAH!"
It's definately a thrill to be there and the lower the more awesome the pass seems, but eventually someone will put a stop to it if care is not taken.


Leo Smiley

[T. Adams]

Wow

Boy, I need to stop posting. Seems every thread turns into a circus. LOL. I need to try to find some more of my pictures to post!!

[Leo]

CIRCUS?

That's the fun! I love the circus! The pony show, the high wire, and most of all, the clowns.......

Leo
(squeek, squeek)

[Race5]

Yeah if it flys floats or drives real damn fast Alan has seen it, and probably driven / flown it.

[ramp mouse]

SPIT LOW PASS

I have seen this before on discovery channel program about the breitling fighters, the sequence was cut right after the spit flew over. They also had great footage of planes flying over a canal between trees with the wingtips at ground level and then pulling up over a bridge great stuff. Wasn't hanna doing the same thing in a bf109 when he did a high speed pass into the ground?

[Leo]

lowwww

I've seen many pictures of Hanna cutting grass over the years. There are some p-40 shots in one of my books where you can't see ANY prop clearance with the blurring.

[RarebearFan77]

Hey RampMouse, which Hanna are you reffering too?

[Unregistered]

He is referring to Mark Hanna and he is way off base. Mark was killed in the 109 on final approach to land - not doing a high speed pass.

[Colour]

look at This

[RarebearFan77]

Colour, now THAT was awesome. Got anymore stuff like that? Who is that?

[Colour]

That is Peter Besenyei from hungary look at this site for more stuff.

[Unregistered]

Re: Spitfire low pass

The pilot of this plane was New Zealander Ray Hanna an extraordinary Spitfire pilot who apparently was described as “the finest Spitfire pilot in the World”. He died aged 77 (of old age) Thursday 2nd April 2006.

The chap in the video is Alain de Cadenet a racing driver turned television host. Ray flew Meteor jets over Russia on reconnaissance for the RAF his motto was “never over 100 feet”.