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Reno racer down
- Thread starter jmcquate
- Start date
Maybe shouldn't, but it's out there, so:
Having spent many years working/in the pits at Reno, I'm not really sure what to think...I can't imagine his fellow pilots would have let him fly if they thought 80 was too old to be on the course with him (as many other guys as there are that get black-listed for being bad pilots).
A horrible tragedy nonetheless.
Having spent many years working/in the pits at Reno, I'm not really sure what to think...I can't imagine his fellow pilots would have let him fly if they thought 80 was too old to be on the course with him (as many other guys as there are that get black-listed for being bad pilots).
A horrible tragedy nonetheless.
An article I read said at least 2 others besides the pilot are dead, with over fifty others taken to local hospitals. The pilot crashed into the VIP grandstands. A very bad day, prayers to all involved and their families.
An udated article this morning puts the pilots age at 74.
http://m.ktvn.com/default.aspx?pid=...ces-at-reno-stead-airport?clienttype=rssstory
Not sure if age will actually be proven a factor in this tragedy, but it will be a big issue in the press.
http://m.ktvn.com/default.aspx?pid=...ces-at-reno-stead-airport?clienttype=rssstory
Not sure if age will actually be proven a factor in this tragedy, but it will be a big issue in the press.
Thoughts and prayers to those involved. Here's some pictures of what was presumably the trim tab during the incident-
It certainly looks like some sort of mechanical failure from this angle-
It certainly looks like some sort of mechanical failure from this angle-
Despite his amazing flying ability, Bob Hoover had plenty of issues with the FAA and his medical suitability for flight due to his age, etc. Gotta love bureaucracy.
Looks pretty cut-and-dry in that vid and from those pictures. Sad deal...hopefully it doesn't spell the end of the races, otherwise I'll have to set a different life goal.
+1
If any obvious changes need to be made in the name of safety, by all means, but don't eliminate the races. Spectating at any event with fast moving machines is inherently dangerous. Maybe I'm weird, but whenever I'm at an auto race, air show, rally, etc., I always stay in the vicinity of cover, or at least pay attention to where trajectories will carry things. As this accident shows, you can always be SOL, but the understanding should be there. I guess as a "pilot" and racer (cars), I've seen enough to understand it's not as exact a science as people want to believe. The question is not if it (or you) will fail, but rather when. The worst are rally fans, I swear they have a death wish. Not that I necessarily have a problem with it, but there is this term lost in today's litigation happy society and that's "at your own risk."
Regarding insane rally fans, imagine what would happen if this driver got it wrong. More than a few times Grp. B rally cars came back with digits stuck in the wings and fatal crashes (some involving spectators) were eventually what killed the class.
I’m not optimistic about the Reno Air races continuing, at least not the Unlimited Class. A similar incident occurred at the Cleveland Air Races in 1949. A highly modified P-51B, the “Beguine” went into a house killing a mother and her young child. After that they shut it down, the public and the media were a lot more tolerant of something like that back then.
Happened at least once before: http://www.warbird.com/voodoo.html
"Apparently, the left elevator trim tab came off the airplane at speed, causing the bird to abruptly pitch up, subjecting driver Hannah to over 10 G's of deceleration forces, and causing him to lose conciousness!"
"Apparently, the left elevator trim tab came off the airplane at speed, causing the bird to abruptly pitch up, subjecting driver Hannah to over 10 G's of deceleration forces, and causing him to lose conciousness!"
BrandonCl
New Member
My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families and friends affected by the tragedy in Reno. Air show is still on according to @USNavy on Twitter, "Air Show is still ON this weekend in#Memphis, despite tragedy in #Reno. Our thoughts in prayers go out to anyone affected." Let's all hope for a safe show.
A group called the Trojan Horsemen lost one of their team this weekend, as well. I have flown shows with them a number of times, good group of guys. Thoughts and prayers to that team and their families, as well.
http://portal.tds.net/news/read.php?rip_id=<D9PQIU8G3@news.ap.org>&ps=1018
http://portal.tds.net/news/read.php?rip_id=<D9PQIU8G3@news.ap.org>&ps=1018