OMG

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: OMG

Coming into this thread after finally getting enough time to sit and review all the posts from the last few days... I'd like to ask one thing.. if this ever happens again, until we know the fate of the pilot (WALKS AWAY) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... do NOT post that someone has crashed and that we don't know if he's OK...

George's family reads this board.. had we lost him, I would never forgive myself for allowing them to find out from reading about it here..

As tempting as it is to post what we see as we see it with the abilities we now have with smart phones, PLEASE keep the family members in mind.

Thanks...

[flyingjibus]

Re: OMG

I mean absolutely no disrespect when I say this.

Its a lot easier to build a race plane then it is to train a race pilot.

Getting planes down in a hurry and safely is what defines these guys.

Mr. Giboney(Sp?) did an excellent job of keeping his aircraft out of the flightline, and I am glad he is safe.

[tow-3]

Re: OMG

i doubt that there will be a detailed NTSB investigation. In other cases at reno if there were no serious injuries they do a quick investigation and kind of chalk it up to S..t happens when racing and file it away. case in point, the venture that flipped over on 8 a few years back there isnt even a NTSB report on it.

[hg2992]

Re: OMG

If you watch the KOLO video, it has a timeline bar. The aircraft came to rest at 16 seconds, the first emergency vehicle STOPED at the aircraft at 38 seconds! 22 seconds to get to a pilot in need! kudos to that emergency team! If only chase would have been as helpful (sorry but true)

[Scotty G]

Re: OMG

If only chase would have been as helpful (sorry but true)

If, by that statement, you imply the pace/safety aircraft was not there for George, or in some way not doing its job or trying to, I severly disagree with you. They did a tremendous job all week.

[flyingjibus]

Re: OMG

They did a tremendous job all week.

So did you Scotty. It was fun watching you race. You fly a very nice line.

[flyboycpa]

Re: OMG

If you watch the KOLO video, it has a timeline bar. The aircraft came to rest at 16 seconds, the first emergency vehicle STOPED at the aircraft at 38 seconds! 22 seconds to get to a pilot in need! kudos to that emergency team! If only chase would have been as helpful (sorry but true)

It's one thing to chase Rare Bear after a race with a stuck-open carburetor while airborne ('07 Gold Race), but it's another to chase an already-low altitude anvil sans motor cutting across a field of racers. Chase plane would have done George no good. If I misread your statement, my apologies (you know how internet interpretations are ).

Sam

[FuryFan]

Re: OMG

Danno, that is the most telling series of pics I've seen so far. Incredible!! Pic #7 is the scariest of all in that it shows how close the wing was to seperating from the aircraft...... shudder to think what would have happened! So amazing he walked away.

Kevin

[hg2992]

Re: OMG

That aircraft had as much altitude as any unlimited ever had, and to the west, with no chase offering any help. I mean there was tons of things they could have done to help, runway options, aircraft statistics, traffic ect.
Do I think I could do it better?
I know I can start a race, and I damn well know I can fly overhead in a circle.

[Scotty G]

Re: OMG

That aircraft had as much altitude as any unlimited ever had, and to the west, with no chase offering any help. I mean there was tons of things they could have done to help, runway options, aircraft statistics, traffic ect.
Do I think I could do it better?
I know I can start a race, and I damn well know I can fly overhead in a circle.

I'm not here on Wayne's site to start a fight or make things unpleasant, so I'll try not to. But I think Wayne and other visitors enjoy insight from somebody who has been there and done a little of it.

I'm going to maintain my disagreement with you, and add this... You're dead wrong about your "any unlimited" statement in addition to what you said before. You are digging a hole for yourself.

Can we please hear about your experience in racing, and flying a pace aircraft? How about formation flying and rejoins going from Vne to nearly a stall while joining up on a disabled aircraft?

There comes a time when the pilot of a disabled aircraft has to make and do for himself, and George survived. All the pilots that day knew the winds and conditions - they don't need to be reminded when the brown has splattered.

[doubleup]

Re: OMG

here is video that I found.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e58_1285076147

[NOVA]

Re: OMG

I had somewhat of a eerie experience with this accident.. Just about 2 hours before the accident, the group I was with went over to the super sport hangar and talked to some of the crew members of rapid travel..

We were talking a bit about the plane itself and we got into some of the glide ratio aspects, and one of the guys said best glide speed for rapid travel was about 165mph.. He said, and i quote: "if you have an emergency, you might as well throw out a brick and see where it lands, cause that's where you're going to end up." He also said that rapid travel was a "very heavy bird" telling us that its weight was roughly 4,000lbs due to additional superchargers, cooling radiators, and telemetry etc..

While it looked like he had plenty of altitude, it seems to me after talking to these guys more about the plane, he didn't have nearly enough to make a proper deadstick approach, especially with the winds the way they were.. Maybe some of the modifications they made to this little plane were unnecessairly dangerous for the airframe.. But who knows..

Just glad he was ok..

[RAD2LTR]

Re: OMG

Had the chase plane come down, I think it would have created another obstacle for the other pilots to try to avoid.

I'm glad George is ok. I'm sorry he has no plane to fly. I sincerely hope he continues to race because he flew a good race in really tough conditions.

At some point, I would be interested in hearing his version of what happened. We can all sit here and speculate, but none of us were sitting in that cockpit. He very well may have thought it was going to be fine until just before he touched down.

The safety crew was on top of things, my hat is off to those guys.

I'm just happy he walked away from the crash. The fact that he did also says something about the survivability of the pilot in a Thunder Mustang crash. The plane destroyed its self, but he was able to walk away. That says quite a bit about the airplane as well.

Will

[TwoZeroWest]

Re: OMG

Why did my post disappear?

[wolfee]

Re: OMG

I agree 100% with you Scotty... All week the chase plane pilots did an awesome job helping the pilots get down safely. There is only so much they can do.

In the case of Sundays gold, I really don't think it would have helped George at all. That hole thing from Mayday to touch down happened so quick. It takes time for the chase to catch up and eval the situation. Time George did'nt have because of the winds. Even if the chase plane did catch him, all he would have been able to do is relay distance to wheels down, and the end of the run way. witch George clearly saw for him self. George was trying to make the turn, ground loop it. But the winds were too great. You can see the plane drifting sideways left on it's mains before he hit the dirt and bounced up into the wind.

I keep replaying the event in my mind, and the only thing I think I would have done differantly is to go with 1-8. But even that is a crap shoot at best ,with an aircraft as light weight as the sports are. At best he may have been able to dodge the pot holes and ruts. Or he could have hit a hole and ripped a main gear off, or caught a rut and who knows what.

When Dave Morss in Polar bear called for 1-8 to land in the silver, the controller second guessed him..(controller) "you mean 2-6?" (Dave) No I mean 1-8... (controller) "ah... ok? clear to land 1-8", and he was wheels down a second later.

1-8 is'nt even listed as a runway anymore because it is in such poor condition, and it runs the length of the Air guard base. Last time I was out there, (years ago when they were still flying the sky cranes) it was in bad condition. Also it had a couple of junk cars and other things they used for heavy lift training in the taxi way intersection.

In the end all that matters is George is safe, and able to go home to his family. The plane can be replaced, the pilot cannot.