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Airspeed and Money

By lex, on November 24th, 2011

That’s all you need to fly: Airspeed and money.

Sadly, you can get airborne – and put her back down again – without a lick of sense.

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November 24th, 2011 | Tags: , | Category: buffoonery, Flying

16 comments to Airspeed and Money

  • Pogue
    November 24, 2011 at 8:16 am

    I guess in Chine they line the runway with mailboxes…. :-)

    • Pogue
      November 24, 2011 at 8:17 am

      China. *sigh*

      • SK1
        November 24, 2011 at 10:05 am

        Relying solely on a GPS instead of knowing where you are is an issue as kids growing up are not being taught map reading skills. That and the “pilot” being a Chinese National sends up a red flag for me…..Used to see this issue on Cape Cod where some rich yahoo would go out and buy a large boat, w/o ever taking any courses in navigation or rules of the road while underway….I was glad my 17′ Boston Whaler was always nimble enough to maneuver around those fools. Laughed pretty hard when they wound up grounded on the sandbars…..

  • JoeC
    November 24, 2011 at 8:19 am

    Practice, practice, practice! Put ‘im back in the air and make him do it right next time.

  • Quartermaster
    November 24, 2011 at 9:18 am

    A little remedial airfield recognition training seems to be in order.

    It happens to even the professional. I can’t remember the airline, but the flight was enroute to Nashville, TN (BNA) and somehow got Smyrna (Old Sewart AFB) confused with BNA and landed. They must never have been to BNA because you have to fly over a large number of housing subdivisions to approach any of BNA’s runways, while Old Sewart is out in the sticks.

    At least the airline pilot landed on an airfield.

    • JoeC
      November 24, 2011 at 9:37 am

      A (retired) pilot friend of mine said he and his co-pilot about did that one time landing in (IIRC) New Orleans. Night landing. Unlimited visibility. Lined up on the runway on final when a chance remark from the tower got them to actually LOOK and see they were shooting an approach to the same numbered runway on the AFB north of the commercial field. Fortunately it was apply power and jump the field to the next one. He said it happens but you never actually wanted to EVER touch down for that was an immediate termination of two careers in the cockpit.

  • Saltydog
    November 24, 2011 at 9:25 am

    He appears to be a student at this fine pilot training school:
    “Aerosim Flight Academy is a top-tier flight school that was originally created by the airlines (Delta/Comair). Because our training structure was developed by the airlines, our instruction is rooted in the discipline required to turn students into successful airline pilots.”

    …or he stole their airplane

  • Rob
    November 24, 2011 at 9:29 am

    My aircrew instructor was famous for asking new recruits “What makes aircraft fly?”, after letting them go on for a while he simplified the answer to “Money”. Used to like the treasure hunts for
    Get me a bucket of “prop wash” and 20 feet of “flight line” too…

  • Joe in N Calif
    November 24, 2011 at 9:48 am

    Strip just barely wide enough for the wheels? Check

    Houses close by on each side? Check.

    No tower or landing lights? Check.

    Must be the airport.

  • Joe in N Calif
    November 24, 2011 at 9:49 am

    And I’m sure you have all seen this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH4GV151N0U&feature=player_embedded#!

    One VERY lucky pilot.

    • Quartermaster
      November 25, 2011 at 3:34 pm

      I have no idea why he was trying land there, and I’m sure it seemed to be a good idea at the time.

      Chopper Pilots in Vietnam often used hover holes for various purposes, but this one looks to be surrounded by potentially lethal hazards.

  • NAnonymous
    November 24, 2011 at 11:23 am

    I’ll take the Cirrus off of his hands since he can’t handle it.

  • Comjam
    November 24, 2011 at 12:32 pm

    Many stories emerging now about the “lost in translation” issues with several of the flight schools here in the US that either have or are now training many earnest young people from the PRC to feed their mandated-from-above rapid expansion of the aviation scene in the Middle Kingdom.

    What we don’t know is whether this is a classic case of “dumbassitis,” or of someone who did exactly what he was told and landed where (he thought) he was told to land. The wisdom of sending someone to a place where such a confusion could occur I will leave to my CFI friends to discuss.

    • Casey
      November 24, 2011 at 2:00 pm

      Try watching the linked report; the manager of the airport stated that pilots have confused Citation Road for the airport in the past, although this is the first time someone actually attempted a landing.

      Recall Napoleon: “Never ascribe to malice that which may be ascribed to incompetence.”
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