denverpilot
Tied Down
I watched the balls of all three pilots like a hawk.
That's just not right.
I watched the balls of all three pilots like a hawk.
That's just not right.
Even if he has been de-beaked and de-taloned?Somehow, the thought of a hawk eyeing my ball makes me uncomfortable.
It could be, Mari, but I started this discussion because that was the THIRD pilot of the day and the first two pilots had not done this. I watched the balls of all three pilots like a hawk.
That must have been a bit awkward for the pilots, if they didn't know you all that well.
That's just not right.
Dude this was not Baker or his plane.
Peggy Benjamin?
Hahaha ok good. I figured Kim did not get the reference. BTW Would you be interested in coming on my podcast to talk formation?
I would say I need to watch Top Gun again (haven't seen it since I was a kid), but I do remember it making pilots look like douches, right?
If you want to hear about a somewhat exciting moment, ask some of your Beech Boys about the 3rd pass of the opening showcase flight at Oshkosh last summer (hint: I was in front of them and my airplane makes a rather big wake at the speed we were flying). I still haven't found anyone with a video of that flight but the verbal descriptions from some formation pilot friends watching from the ground make me shiver a little.Some video (no, I was not in his plane at the time, not done uploading all the videos):
If you want to hear about a somewhat exciting moment, ask some of your Beech Boys about the 3rd pass of the opening showcase flight at Oshkosh last summer (hint: I was in front of them and my airplane makes a rather big wake at the speed we were flying).
I didn't see it but the best description I heard was that the formation of Bonanzas "exploded" on the third pass. One of the basic rules in formation flying is that you brief each flight before actually flying it and it's a generally accepted principle that it's not a good idea to improvise, especially during a "show" pass. On the first two passes the three groups of airplanes (5 Barons in the first group, several Bonanzas in the second and third groups) were spaces out with each one appearing alone in sequence at show center. It was decided at the last minute that the third pass (if time permitted one) would be made with the three groups in close trail to appear as one large (and hopefully impressive) formation. Unfortunately this one wasn't completely thought out (and hadn't been tried before) and the Bonanzas got trapped between the hard deck (min altitude defined by the air boss) and the wakes of five Barons flying slowly (the slower you go the worse the wake gets). I don't remember if the Beech Boys were the 1st or 2nd group of Bonanzas but either way it had to be rather "exciting" when our wingtip vorticies tried to roll them upside down in different directions while they were trying to hold position in their formations. At the post flight debrief the other pilots didn't want to say much about the debacle other than that they didn't ever want to do that again. I was hoping to hear more now that it's far enough in the past for the ones affected to have had some time to reflect.I don't really "know" these guys, perhaps you could just tell me.
A lot of aviation is just "showing up" which is what I did that day.