Steve Fossett: What Went Wrong? on Discovery

mikea

mikea

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I see this in the schedule anymore but Discovery is sure to repeat it.

Steve Fosset: What Went Wrong?
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/slideshows/steve-fossett.html

It was fairly lame but it provided some details on the layout of the crash site and such.

"Steve Fossett is arguably the world's greatest aviator." I had beers with the guy when I worked for him and I'd argue against that. :nono:
 
It was more like "The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". After about 15 minutes, I turned off the TV and hit the sheets.
I doubt he was the greatest. There were so many others who did more with their abilities. He was, most certainly, one of the flashier aviators and daredevils.
 
smigaldi said:
Waht went wrong? Three letters...E....G....O
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He wuz a hero. Held 160-something world records. :rolleyes:

They do mention that he intended all along to die doing one or the other.

My question: WHY did he need to fly to scope out sites for the land speed record, when the Bonneville Salt Flats are the place it's done? Who scopes speed week? Did he think he was going to find a 12 mile long perfectly drivable flat spot in the Sierras? :dunno:

Also the narration of this thing wasn't lame enough. They also had to have the lame words read by an annoying narrator with a British(?) accent. :mad3:
 
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mikea said:
He wuz a hero. Held 160-something world records. :rolleyes:

They do mention that he intended all along to die doing one or the other.

My question: WHY did he need to fly to scope out sites for the land speed record, when the Bonneville Salt Flats are the place it's done? Who scopes speed week? Did he think he was going to flat a 12 mile long perfectly drivable flat spot in the Sierras? :dunno:

Also the narration of this thing wasn't lame enough. They also had to have the lame words read by an annoying narrator with a British(?) accent. :mad3:
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Aviators do things by air just because.
Also, such things can be expensed on taxes, nothing quite as good as flying for free with the occasional exception of getting paid to fly.
 
we all know that Jesse is the Worlds Greatest Pilot, not Steve
 
Plus, all the vid of a Husky taking off when they talked about Fossett departing in the Decathlon. They could have at least rented a Decathlon.
 
but it was blue and white, and we all know color matters way more than type of aircraft....
 
smigaldi said:
Waht went wrong? Three letters...E....G....O
Click to expand...

How do ya figure that? I don't know anyone will ever know given the time and state of the remains and debris. If they could figure it out it would be fascinating. I mean he could have become incompacitated due to a medical issue and aguered it in or had the engine crap out or other malfunction who knows?
 
I really liked their conclusion that there couldn't have been an engine failure because the plane hit horizontally. They actually said that if the engine had failed, it would have forced the plane to hit the ground vertically. I must have missed that day in ground school.
 
Dave Theisen said:
I really liked their conclusion that there couldn't have been an engine failure because the plane hit horizontally. They actually said that if the engine had failed, it would have forced the plane to hit the ground vertically. I must have missed that day in ground school.
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LOL Really Dave thats a riot. Unbelievable. So much for flying the plane to the ground. Did they even have an aviation expert?
 
AdamZ said:
LOL Really Dave thats a riot. Unbelievable. So much for flying the plane to the ground. Did they even have an aviation expert?
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It really wasn't that bad of a show until they made that statement around 45 minutes in. I literally shook my head and thought, "they really didn't just say that, did they."

The last point they did make was interesting. The five point harness buckle was found without any of the tabs still hooked in. and that the only way this could be is if he were alive after the crash and released the buckle
 
Dave Theisen said:
It really wasn't that bad of a show until they made that statement around 45 minutes in. I literally shook my head and thought, "they really didn't just say that, did they."

The last point they did make was interesting. The five point harness buckle was found without any of the tabs still hooked in. and that the only way this could be is if he were alive after the crash and released the buckle
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Or if bears yanked on the pull tabs, or if he was flying unharnessed...

That is so lame about the reporters and their vertically mandatory engine out crash, dam makes me wonder about this flying business.
 
I didn't need to watch it. I was kinda wondering how they would gin up a one hour show on the topic. Seems like I just saved myself an hour of wasted time.
 
They also said that they believe the accident was caused by one of three things, or a combination of them. 1) A problem with the airplane 2) Pilot incapacitation 3) Weather.............uh OK, that sure narrows it down :P
 
Nav8tor said:
They also said that they believe the accident was caused by one of three things, or a combination of them. 1) A problem with the airplane 2) Pilot incapacitation 3) Weather.............uh OK, that sure narrows it down :P
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Are they sure it was not a problem with the mountain being higher than the plane?
 
Probably had ECi cylinders..... :yikes:
 
flyingriki said:
Probably had ECi cylinders..... :yikes:
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You are probably right about that. I have ever told how big a load of carp those cylinders are?

Why not only did they have a bunch AD'ed and pulled out of service a few years ago for bad casting, their new one have problems and are being recalled via the AD process because of another design/manufacturing problem with the cylinder heads separating from the barrels. Many people are being forced to do early replacement of cylinders because of this in just a few years after having to do it because of the last batch of crap.

Whats more, there are now documented accidents of this failure on cylinders that are not affected by the current AD. So I would expect this to be an even greater problem. I for one am glad I do not have ECI cylinders on my plane. I pity anyone trying to sell an engine with ECI cylinders on it right now. :rolleyes:
 
Sold just fine....... :D
And my current ECi cylinders are purring away, flying ... not whining..... :mad2:
You should try it!
 
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Dave Theisen said:
It really wasn't that bad of a show until they made that statement around 45 minutes in. I literally shook my head and thought, "they really didn't just say that, did they."

The last point they did make was interesting. The five point harness buckle was found without any of the tabs still hooked in. and that the only way this could be is if he were alive after the crash and released the buckle
Click to expand...

Dave Krall CFII said:
Or if bears yanked on the pull tabs, or if he was flying unharnessed...

That is so lame about the reporters and their vertically mandatory engine out crash, dam makes me wonder about this flying business.
Click to expand...
It was a random "expert" who said the had to hit vertically deal.

Seeing how the the plane hit hard enough that the aluminum of the plane was smashed into tiny pieces I gotta wonder how the pilot would be anywhere near intact enough to to do anything, much less move 3/4 of a mile. I vote for him not having the harness latched.

I'm remembering how the "arguably greatest pilot" complained during an entire round the world balloon flight that the heater didn't work. The ground guys knew full well that Fossett blew them off when they showed him how to prime it. They had no problem firing up the heater when he landed.

I'd see a guy like that blowing up any cautions about learning mountain flying.

I say he was kept low by an overcast and was pushed down by a downdraft in mountain wave. The show did touch on "mountain winds."


Oh. Fossett wisely "chose that site as the most viable place for a landing." :frown2: I wonder why he had to choose if the engine was running.
 
Trapper John said:
What's ECI stand for? Every Cylinder Intermittent? Every Cylinder Incendiary?


Trapper John
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I am starting to think just that. As I have been doing more research into their problems I am finding that not only were the original Classic cast having problems but others as well, including the Titan line. Back in 2004 they had a fairly large issue involving cracking and casting problems but it mainly affected cylinders for the bigger boys. This problem with the head separation has also been known for a while with the company promising to get a handle on it and fix it.

But enough is enough for me. Two top overhauls in three years both due to ECI manufacturing and design defects. I took my business elsewhere. I think anyone considering ECI should be knowledgeable about these problems. I am not saying that everyone else is perfect, but it would seem as though ECI is farthest from being able to handle the design and manufacturing of cylinders that are able to go the distance.
 
vontresc said:
Looks like there was quite a bit of turbulence the day Steve crashed. I'd guess he was at full power in a downdraft when he hit the mountain. I bet the NTSB will find that then engine impacted under power.
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mikea said:
H
My question: WHY did he need to fly to scope out sites for the land speed record, when the Bonneville Salt Flats are the place it's done? Who scopes speed week? Did he think he was going to flat a 12 mile long perfectly drivable flat spot in the Sierras? :dunno:
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I am still waiting for this explanation.

Flying in the mountains and looking for a driving locations does not line up.
 
I'm sure there's a feedback or comments section on Discovery Channel's website? Don't know how effective comments left there might be, but at least someone from Discovery might see them there?
 
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