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

[Mark K3MSB]

David --

I would encourage you to consider that one person's definition of a "crowd
wowing" event may be an aerobatic flight in which the aircraft in question
is fully within its flight envelope.  Loops, rolls, cuban eights etc that
we see performed at airshows by WW II aircraft are not anywhere near
overstressing the airframes.

>From the videos that are now appearing on-line,  the B-17 was in straight
and level flight.  B-17's don't do much else in an airshow except fly in
straight and level flight for photo passes and taking people for rides.

The two fighters before the P-63 also appeared to be in level flight;
remember they do normally fly faster than a B-17 so don't let the speed
difference distract you.  The P-63 looks like he was not doing what he was
supposed to be doing.   We don't know why.

I don't see how these aircraft were, in your words, even close to
performing " Racing with them, scripting high-stress, high-speed stunt".
This does not look to be anything like a "crowd wowing" event as you allude
to..

Unlimited air racing such as is performed at Reno is a totally different
topic. And, let's all be thankful yesterday's crash was not like the Reno
crash over ten years ago that killed people in the viewing stands.

Mark K3MSB


On Sun, Nov 13, 2022 at 5:18 AM David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> Noted.  My point with that remark was that we can theorize
> all kinds of "reasons," some of which are unlikely grasping,
> but the record of WWII aircraft destruction and deaths
> is one of either mechanical failure due to something
> being neglected or, much more often, mistakes and errors
> during "crowd-wowing" stunts.
>
> Not withstanding the tragic loss of life, these aircraft
> are irreplaceable.  Racing with them, scripting high-stress,
> high-speed stunts to get the crowd to "ooooooo!  Ahhhhh!"
> is, IMHO, beyond irresponsible and almost inevitably leads
> to a mistake and a black day like this. One can fly these
> aircraft without taking such risks. It's like one taking
> the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence and a
> Gutenberg Bible out of their protected places and handing
> them around to a bunch of school kids for "wows."
> Sooner or later, one of the kids is going to crayon
> "Andy was here" on them.
>
> IMHO, restore these aircraft.  Fly these aircraft, like
> the priceless artifacts they are.  If one wishes to
> take the risks to generate applause, do it
> in a damn Cessna.
>
> IMHO, D.S.
>
> On 11/12/2022 10:24 PM, Mark K3MSB wrote:
> > Respectfully Dave,  I understand your anger,   but you are out of line
> > with that comment.  You are denigrating the P-63 pilot with no working
> > facts.
>
> >
> > On Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 8:36 PM David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com
> > <mailto:arc5 at ix.netcom.com>> wrote:
> >
> >
> >     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??).
> >
>
> --
> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> www.avast.com
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/milsurplus/attachments/20221113/cf194b4b/attachment.html>