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

[Gordon Smith]

In his book, Chuck Yeager talked about pilots who did not concentrate on flying their aircraft and ended up doing very unintelligent things, killing them and/or people around them. The dumbest one he ever saw was a pilot that got through all of his assigned combat patrols. The guy, just before landing, radioed to everyone "I'm coming home Ma", tried to do a barrel roll over the runway and crashed him plane when he didn't have enough altitude, killing him.

But it is not just the guy in the P-63. There are multiple stories of pilots whose ego was greater than their talent. Always remember the poster saying I saw when I took my private pilots lessons: "Captain A. G. Lamplugh famously said, “aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.”" That was said in 1931.

73, Gordon KJ6IKT

> On November 12, 2022 at 8:36 PM David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 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
> 
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