Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Good thing the L-39 was flying on the LEFT wing!
I was thinking that he smartened up and detached prior to.
Easy to laugh now…
I’ve shared this one before: H-1 special vfr up the coastline from NASNI to homeplate. The further north we go, the lower the ceiling gets; 300′ and over the shore line at Seal Beach. No sweat. We’re a helo; BTDT. Then we’re IMC…one potato…four potato…vmc. Hmm. “Uh, sir, we okay with this? Sure, Mongo, we’ll keep it legal.”
A minute later, IMC again. One potato, two potato…at seven potato, “Uh, sir, sorry about this but I’m getting pretty uncomfortable with the situation.” Crew chief chimes in a ditto. We’re both thinking Los Al is just up the road ahead and one of their Army crews might be doing what we’re not supposed to be doing. Bad thing.
HAC says “Okay, We’re IMC and I’m on the instruments” as he starts a left 180. Roll out going south, break out of the goo, and, oh by the way, we’re descending through 100′. Left seat calls out “Pull up….Pull up…PULL UP!” as we’re going through 25′ indicated.
We lived to remember the situation, but, sadly, the debrief that should have taken place never did. My bad on that, as much as anyone’s. Surviving a 90kt splash in a helo a half mile offshore in January would have been the better of two options, but would still have sucked for the egress and swim to the beach that was in it.
I’m grateful to have learned some things from that experience.
wingtip lens replacement, not too bad, the dent on the leading edge, not cheap if done properly, but probably not as expensive as recovering or replacing a couple of cockpit seats….
Is that considered “slight damage?”
Um…I take it that was not a Good Thing.
Hopefully the pilot fired off the NASA report before his pal posted Bonanza N65335 for all to see- including FAA safety inspectors who love to follow this stuff up. Easy to make this mistake if you’re not mindful of the TAF’s and Metar’s. Dumb in any situation but extra dumb in mountainous terrain.
It bites people even if when they’re instrument rated.
I actually went through the entire thread on the BeechTalk forum and near the end there is some guy saying that the FAA investigated and will take no action – and there is a lot more to this story than has been posted (which apparently exonerates the pilot somehow).
But apparently it’s “privileged” information which he can’t reveal.
Pilots I’ve known who have have flown into the ground in IMC
Sharon- 20, years old in the right seat of a Navajo. Killed scud running after dropping off some HR (Human remains) Scud running coming home. PIC had 7000 hrs, crash fatal to both
Ted- 25, Piper Archer, him and three friends trying to land at 7D2 at night, hit the trees tyring to go around. Vis and cieling zero-zero, cabin cut in half, all decapitated
Wendy- 23, Beech Sundowner, flew into the canyon south or Monterey, CA with her brother and friend, stall spin, crash survivable, post crash fire killed them. Alcohol involved. She was a freshman at the university I attended, loved her. Cried when her dad called to tell me.
Wow! “Simulated VFR” will get you in deep (pun intended….) trouble.
Isn’t that the same L-39 that some idiot used to buzz the Santa Monica Pier for a movie stunt, and subsequently lost is pilot’s license?
Seems L39 guys have a record for earning a U in Headwork, which their checkbooks are unable to negate.
The ground impact probably comes as a shock, them all thinking they are immune to such formalities.
Jan 26, 2010 – I saw the aircraft (N65335) in July at the north las vegas airport and met the owner. his name is Jon he is a doctor from Canada. he bought the aircraft in may of last year.