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SUX

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  1. She wouldn't be the first pilot on a double secret probation status in a squadron that always ends up flying with IP's.

    Everyone thinks they are the ace of the base. In reality I generally find that most pilots think of themselves as being above average when it comes to there skills and knowledge in the airplane. When in reality half of all pilots are in the bottom 50% of their given aircraft, its just a fact. A wise man may or may not have once said....... "There are pilots and there are pilots; with the good ones, it is inborn. You can't teach it."

    • Upvote 1
  2. This comment was just posted on the Liberty Foundation's Facebook page...

    Quote:

    First, let me start off by sincerely thanking everyone for the outpouring of support that we are receiving. I am sorry that I have not yet had the opportunity to return the many phone calls, text or e-mails that I am receiving offering to help. Again, thank you for all of the kind words that we are receiving and for incredible offers to help emotionally, financially and/or with the recovery process. I hope this statement will help fill in a few details that everyone is wondering about that led to the loss of our “Liberty Belle”.

    Yesterday morning, both our P-40 and B-17 were scheduled to fly from Aurora, Illinois to Indianapolis, Indiana. We were in Aurora for the weekend as a part of our scheduled tour. Over the course of the previous week, we completed a scheduled 25-hour inspection on the B-17 which was completed by Saturday. On Saturday, the weather stayed below the required ceiling to give any passenger flights, however the B-17 flew in the morning on a routine training proficiency flight, performing several patterns. Following the flight, other maintenance issues arose that required us to cancel our Sunday flying schedule for repairs. The maintenance performed has not been, in any way, associated to the chain of events that led to Monday’s fateful flight, but is being considered in the preliminary investigation. However, due to the media’s sensational (mis)reporting, there is a large amount of misinformation that continues to lead the news.

    Here is what we do know… Flying in the left seat of the B-17 was Capt. John Hess. John has been flying our Liberty Belle since 2005 and one of our most experienced B-17 pilots. He is an active Delta Air Lines Captain with over 14,000 hours of flying experience and flys a variety of vintage WWII aircraft. In the right seat was Bud Sittig. While Bud is new to the Liberty Foundation this year, he is also incredibly experienced with over 14,000 hours of flying time in vintage and hi-performance aircraft. He is a retired Captain with Delta Air Lines.

    The news misidentified the P-40 as flying chase during the accident. I was flying our P-40, however I had departed 20 minutes prior to the B-17’s takeoff on the short flight to Indianapolis to setup for the B-17’s arrival. The aircraft flying chase was a T-6 Texan flown by owner Cullen Underwood. Cullen is one of our rated B-17 Captains and an experienced aviator tagging along as a support ship.

    The takeoff of both aircraft was uneventful and proceeded on-course southeast. Prior to exiting Aurora’s airport traffic area, the B-17 crew and passengers began investigating an acrid smell and started a turn back to the airport. Almost immediately thereafter, Cullen spotted flames coming from the left wing and reported over the radio that they were on fire.

    As all pilots know, there are few emergency situations that are more critical than having an in-flight fire. While it is extremely rare, it can (and sometimes does) indiscriminately affect aircraft of any age or type. In-flight fires have led to the loss of not only aircraft, but often can result in catastrophic loss of life. It requires an immediate action on the flight crew, as the integrity of aircraft structure, systems and critical components are in question.

    Directly below the B-17 was a farmer’s field and the decision was made to land immediately. Approximately 1 minute and 40 seconds from the radio report of the fire, the B-17 was down safely on the field. Within that 1:40 time frame, the crew shutdown and feathered the number 2 engine, activated the engine’s fire suppression system, lowered the landing gear and performed an on-speed landing. Bringing the B-17 to a quick stop, the crew and passengers quickly and safely exited the aircraft. Overhead in the T-6, Cullen professionally coordinated and directed the firefighting equipment which was dispatched by Aurora Tower to the landing location.

    Unlike the sensational photos that you have all seen of the completely burned B-17 on the news, you will see from photos taken by our crew that our Liberty Belle was undamaged by the forced landing and at the time of landing, the wing fire damage was relatively small. The crew actually unloaded bags, then had the horrible task of watching the aircraft slowly burn while waiting for the fire trucks to arrive. There were high hopes that the fire would be extinguished quickly and the damage would be repairable. Those hopes were diminished as the fire trucks deemed the field too soft to cross due to the area’s recent rainfall. So while standing by our burning B-17 and watching the fire trucks parked at the field’s edge, they sadly watched the wing fire spread to the aircraft’s fuel cells and of course, you all have seen the end result. There is no doubt that had the fire equipment been able to reach our aircraft, the fire would have been quickly extinguished and our Liberty Belle would have been repaired to continue her worthwhile mission.

    Let me go on the record by thanking the flight crew for their professionalism. Their actions were nothing short of heroic and their quick thinking, actions and experience led to a “successful” outcome to this serious in-flight emergency. John and Bud (and Cullen) did a remarkable job under extreme circumstances and performed spectacularly. While the leading news stories have repeatedly reported the “crash” of our B-17, fact is they made a successful forced landing and the aircraft was ultimately consumed by fire. Airplanes are replaceable but people are not and while the aircraft’s loss is tragic, it was a successful result.

    This leads me into discussing the exceptional safety record of the Boeing B-17 and to hopefully squash the naysayers who preach we should not be flying these types of aircraft. Since we first flew the “Liberty Belle” in December of 2004, we have flown over 20,000 passengers throughout the country and if you count our historic trip to Europe in 2008, worldwide. Of the other touring B-17s, some of which that have been touring for over 20 years, they have safely flown hundreds of thousands of people. The aircraft’s safety record is spectacular and I am certain the overall cause of our issue, which is under investigation, will not tarnish that safety record. In fact, as many of you know, other B-17 have suffered significant damage (although not as bad as ours!), only to be re-built to fly again. From a passenger carrying standpoint, I can think of few aircraft that offer the same level of safety as the 4-engine “Flying Fortress”. As mentioned earlier, in-flight fires are extremely rare and certainly could affect any powered aircraft under certain circumstances. I would put my children today in any of the other touring B-17s to go fly. I suggest to anyone that was thinking of doing so when a B-17 visits your area to do so without giving our loss any thought.

    There is wild speculation going on as to the cause of our fire and the affect to other operators. Please let the investigation run its course and report the findings. The NTSB and FAA were quickly on the scene and we are working closely with them to aid in the investigation. As soon as we receive some additional information, we will release it via the website http://www.libertyfoundation.org/.

    The ultimate question remains, where does the Liberty Foundation go from here? After the investigation and recovery, we will determine our options. We are still committed to the restoration and flying of World War II aircraft. Again, we appreciate the support and people offering to help get us back flying.

    Please check back for updates. I will close by thanking everyone that made our tour so successful. From the first day of the B-17’s restoration, thank you for all of you who labored to get her flying over the initial restoration years and to everyone that has worked on her out on tour since. Thank you to the crewmembers, tour coordinators and volunteers who gave up weekends and countless hours to support her on the road. And finally, thank you to the passengers, donors and media patrons that flew aboard and everyone who supported our cause. Hopefully, this will not be the end of the story, but a new beginning.

    Regards,

    Ray Fowler

    The Liberty Foundation, Chief Pilot

  3. You are correct, sir!

    Wasn't trying to ###### with him, just clearing up the conflicting information...not that it is all that important anyway.

    Next step...figure out how I can fly Gunfighter. lol

    BACK ON TRACK, Per M2s request...

    30ms93a.jpg

    Hanging up in training right now! Gotta love the gold viper.

  4. It is not just these days. If you study and/or know any great leaders it is immediately obvious those great leaders stood out because they fought against the cancer of status quo, CYA, I got mine and shit on your people leadership style.

    They also had the skills that allowed them to be uncontested experts in the air and they were not afraid to lead. they wanted to be out front where God and everyone could see them do what they were supposed to do, lead.

    In fact, they could not stand to do anything other than lead because they knew that's where their followers could learn the most about how to be a leader...observing their expert demonstration. Almost of all them were aggressive/wild as young men and they survived to recognize how to spot talent, nurture it and develop it. Most of them remained wild to the end...in a barely controlled way.

    They would not take a talented pilot's wings for flying too low over a stadium. NFW. They would make him pay dearly by giving them additional "opportunities to learn" and eventually make him a leader.

    They did not worry about haircuts, shoe shines, mustaches patches or stray tiger errors in judgement.

    Shack.

  5. As I understand it, there's no interface to get the GDL-69 other than the serial ports. Ipad doesn't have serial, nor a convenient USB option. As far as I know, all of the pins on the Ipad plug are used, eliminating that option. Bluetooth on a jailbroken Ipad really seems to be one of the best options now. . give it 6 months, it will change.

    Interestingly, I got to use it with Foreflight installed with a bluetooth gps on an owners keychain:

    http://shop.crackberry.com/freedom-keychain-gps-2000/9A57A2869.htm

    Keeps it on his Bonanza keychain. I was really impressed by the charts with position overlay as well as the approach plates. Updating was snappy and fresh, and the bluetooth GPS worked flawlessly. :drinking:

    I like it. Jepp view on the iPad is great too. After using both there are things that I like more about Foreflight and some things about Jepp view that I prefer

  6. You log "Dual Received" up until your solo, after that you log PIC time, unless of course you entered IMC during the flight, then you log "Dual Received" and "Actual IMC" time for the portion of the flight that was IMC. Also, all your I-rides under the hood are logged as "Dual received" After your I-check, you log PIC time for everything until you went to T-38's, then it starts over again until after solo... Except, of course, you were then technically "Instrument rated", so all time post solo was "PIC".

    In other words, unless you kept all your line up cards, a PITA and not really worth it. Go to the FSDO and get your Instrument, multi engine (Center line thrust restricted) ticket and call it good. Start keeping track of your shit. :beer:

    Edit: More rules

    This method works per the FAA rules just realize if you ever apply to an airline all of your pilot training time is considered dual/student regardless of whether or not you were with an instructor. You are not a pilot until graduation, so you shouldn't be logging pilot in command time.

  7. I know All ATP's is running this special right now, http://www.atpflightschool.com/programs/certificates/atp/atp-special.html In my opinion that is a good deal if you need the written and flight evaluation. I got my ATP 2 weeks ago at a small flight school in Iowa and already had the written completed and my price out the door was $1600. Check with your local flight schools, travel costs could offset the lower advertised price of going to an All ATP's location.

    Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with All ATP or any other flight school.

  8. "If you experience any pushback from ranking officers or experience call

    outs on other examples of extreme "queepery" forward those examples to the

    OG front office."

    So they are allowed to enforce rules but if you mention rule infractions of theirs back you will get in more trouble? Talk about a double standard.

  9. For those interested in more good OV-10 FAC stories "Da Nang Diary" is a great read. It was stories from a guy in the Prairie Fire mission program, which was a program that worked closely with the CIA and other government entities on special missions.

  10. The scene where she is doing her dogfight with the saint, you could take the audio and dub it into a porno. Woof.

    What about the scene showing her first launch off of a carrier around 36-37 minutes into it. The girl Meagan sounds like she has an orgasm.

  11. That's a shame, MARDON used to be great to work with. I hate to hear they've tanked since...

    Cheers! M2

    We've had problems with the last 2 patches that we have ordered from Mardon, I just wanted to get everyones feelings for esnacko. Thanks for all the responses.

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