[ARC5] Commem. Air Force B-17, P-63 Mid-air Collision, All lives and Aircraft Lost.

[David Stinson]

Texas Raider and a P-63 are destroyed, with all aboard.
My heart aches, and I need to vent, and some of you
are going to get mad. So be it.

It appears the P-63 pilot attempted to close-buzz
the bomber and mis-judged it
(or what- He was on his cell phone? Making a sandwich??).

Given the history of irreplaceable
WWII aircraft turned into smoking ashes by such
"hot-shot" stunts, and those flown and destroyed
with known and neglected mechanical issues,
my first thoughts were also "uncharitable."

  I can already hear the "well it's his he can do what he wants"
  I usually get when I protest treating these aircraft,
which are part of the heritage of Mankind,
as hot-shotting "ego boosters."  I can buy the
Mona Lisa or the Dead Sea Scrolls and "they're mine and
I can do what I want," like wipe my butt with them.
Does that make it moral to do so?

I remember the guy who was going to "wow" the
crowd by barrel-rolling a P-38 at full bore with the bottom
of the roll about 20 feet off the deck in front of the
stands.  He screwed that 38 into the ground in front
of the spectators- Aircraft total loss and a new widow.

I remember an acquaintance in Nevada named Niel who
spent years rebuilding a powerful vintage aircraft.
On first take-off, he tried to vertical loop it to impress
friends and family, and dug a fiery, smoking crater with himself
and that aircraft just off the end of the runway.
All these years and it still hurts my heart to think of it.
He was a good guy who made a bad decision.

I'm trying to turn away from anger by
praying for their families, and reminding myself that
despite a long history of ego-centered WWII aircraft
destruction, I really don't know what happened.
But it's not easy.

Dave S.

On 11/12/2022 6:44 PM, Hubert Miller wrote:
> My uncharitable first thought was, "Well, you want to recreate the experience of flying WWII aircraft - this is part of it."
> Except of course then, it was happening day in and day out.
> -Hue Miller

-- 
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
www.avast.com