Blue Skies - Art Vance

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Blue Skies - Art Vance

It seems the pressures and decisions that lead to this type of accident happen to even the best.

Leo, that one reason alone is reason to discuss this.

Art probably had more hours than most, a TON of hours on the gauges and in warbirds as well. He would have had to have known how risky what he was doing was going to be but for whatever reason, he let the odds catch up to him.

Same thing happens to low time pilots.

Same thing happens to high time pilots.

I never learned to fly because I simply can't afford the amount of time I feel is necessary to get beyond the "license to kill yourself" stage of piloting. All the training and experience in the world does nobody any good if they make a bad decision.

So if ya fly and read this stuff.. I guess it's good to have it in the front of your mind.

[Leo]

Re: Blue Skies - Art Vance

And I stopped because I did'nt have the time or money to stay safe. Made a few mistakes that could have ended badly.

I had an uncle who flew B-25's in WW2 and every airliner since up to the 747. He had tens of thousands of hours and when I flew with him he was always lecturing me on safety and techniques. But with his level of experience and confidence came some scary habits. He would run his tanks dry till the engine would stutter to get every last drop out. Several times we glided for awhile till we got a restart.
His approaches were pure art but gave us no options if something went wrong. A lot of finesse' flying that would spell disaster for other pilots, but he pulled it off and flew accident free to 85, when he finally took off and realized his eyesight had degraded to the point he could'nt land. After they talked him down the FAA releaved him of his paperwork.
I consider him one of the best pilots I have ever known, but one of the luckiest also.

[SCEPTER]

Re: Blue Skies - Art Vance

It seems the pressures and decisions that lead to this type of accident happen to even the best.

well said,Leo. Go or no go decisions are made on every flight. Art Vance made his decision to go.I'm sure he didn't think it was the wrong decision at the time.It can happen to anyone.

[Joe]

Re: Blue Skies - Art Vance

Note to Wayne.

I appreciate your allowing this discussion. You stated that you are not a pilot, but your post,(#44 on this thread) summed things up rather well. I am a pilot, and a CFII. The lesson we can all learn is that nobody is immune. High time pilots, low time pilots, passengers with pilots.

I never met the man. I've never heard anything bad about the man. I hate things like this. But, it is a sad fact of life that if you are involved in this industry, you will likely be touched by this kind of tragedy. I found that out my first year in college, less than a year after I got my Private Pilots license. Unfortunately, it has not been the only time. We owe it to them to try and learn from these situations, and to continue to celebrate the activities they loved so much.

Reno will go on. But, it won't be quite the same. If you see a racer, any pilot, any class, shake their hand and tell them how much you appreciate their efforts. And let's all remember the good times.

Joe
Former crew member T6 Boomer race 89

[AirDOGGe]

Re: Blue Skies - Art Vance

well said,Leo. Go or no go decisions are made on every flight. Art Vance made his decision to go.I'm sure he didn't think it was the wrong decision at the time.It can happen to anyone.

Hard to say.

Maybe he DID have a little voice in the back of his head saying "this may not a good idea", but went anyway. We've all heard that voice before.

I've read of so many cases where high-time, high-quality pilots 'lost the bet' because they felt they had to try for some reason or another. They knew it was not the best decision to fly, or to continue a flight, or perform a certain maneuver at a certain time, but for some reason or another they did so anyway. The unlucky ones end up on the evening news.


I'm no pilot, but I have made my share of bad choices in other circumstances even when I knew better, and in a few of those cases I suffered for it. I think it's just natural for people to take a chance IF they feel they have a good possibility of success, even if they get the feeling that they really shouldn't. Like Joe said, nobody is immune.

I mean nothing against Art Vance or his wisdom or decision making skills. I'm sure he was as good a pilot as they come. His only flaw was that he was a human being.

.

.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Blue Skies - Art Vance

Note to Wayne.

I appreciate your allowing this discussion. You stated that you are not a pilot, but your post,(#44 on this thread) summed things up rather well. I am a pilot, and a CFII. The lesson we can all learn is that nobody is immune. High time pilots, low time pilots, passengers with pilots.

Joe... thanks...

Wayne

[Hawkeye]

Re: Blue Skies - Art Vance

I'm no pilot, but I have made my share of bad choices in other circumstances even when I knew better, and in a few of those cases I suffered for it. I think it's just natural for people to take a chance IF they feel they have a good possibility of success, even if they get the feeling that they really shouldn't. Like Joe said, nobody is immune.

I mean nothing against Art Vance or his wisdom or decision making skills. I'm sure he was as good a pilot as they come. His only flaw was that he was a human being.

.

.

That says it all. Thank you.


Hawkeye