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

[MARK DORNEY]

Planes are meant to be flown. That being said, there is certainly something to be said about careful flight. I have to agree - there is no way the King Cobra should have been making a high speed pass near the Fortress. What happened to being safe and careful in the air?  Age of the aircraft more that likely wasn’t a factor in this instance. More than likely this was pilot error.  When one aircraft runs into another in the air, they crash to the ground. Doesn’t matter if the aircraft is 8 hours old or 80 years old. 

You have to be careful out there. 

Mark D. 
WW2RDO


“In matters of style, float with the current. In matters of Principle, stand like a rock. “.   -   Thomas Jefferson 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 12, 2022, at 9:12 PM, Hubert Miller <Kargo_cult at msn.com> wrote:
> 
> I recall, and probably I have mentioned this here before, some decades back a California aircraft owner did a wonderful restoration of a P2V,
> with complete original avionics inside. I may still have the astonishingly wonderful inside photos of that one. On one of his first test flights,
> he stalled it out over a California lake. End of restoration project, end of story for owner. 
> 
> From my reading and coming across stories of WWII aviation accidents, collisions seem not so rare. Even bombers in formation sometimes. 
> I think nowadays, the pilots and aircrew are older and supposedly wiser, not so devil-may-care about risking their lives and equipment, and
> a visually exciting show may just not be worth the risk putting on. 
> 
> BTW, not actually connected with the above: I just read "81 Days Below Zero", about a B-25 copilot who was the only survivor of a crash in
> Alaska. Apparently not 'human error' this time; appears controls somehow froze and control was lost, going into a spin. Radioman was maybe
> already suffering incapacitation somehow, as he failed to send last position report. The survivor used his chute and matches to survive the 
> first nights, then most fortunately found a cabin with cached food, firewood, and a rifle. He followed a river south, reckoning it would eventually
> lead to some settlement. He fell through river ice a couple times and had only minutes to start a fire before his hands were shaking too bad to
> light a fire and the game would be over. So, 81 days spent travelling with temps under zero F. Search for lost plane had already been given up.
> I wonder if I would have lasted more than a day or two. I may have learned a thing or two about not panicking, staying focused, and exploiting
> any resources you can find. 
> -Hue Miller 
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