Pilot Suicides

When I was young, there was an old gent who kept a Pitts Special in a hangar
at our local airport. He didn't no longer flew it (that was 30+ years ago)
and once told me that he planned to take one last flight--when he no longer
felt able to care for himself at home--and land it straight down on the
spinner out in the swamp.

Makes one wonder... how many spins from the turn to final are not
accidents at all...

Bartek

Peter Dohm wrote:
John Ousterhout wrote:
A 90 year-old pilot is having breakfast at the airport with his son.

"I've got to get my medical next week. If Doc don't pass me I'm gonna
get in the Super Cub and fly out over the ocean til it runs out of gas."

"Dad, NO!... Not the Super Cub."

Priorities!!! The stuff of life :-)))
Dudley Henriques

When I was young, there was an old gent who kept a Pitts Special in a hangar
at our local airport. He didn't no longer flew it (that was 30+ years ago)
and once told me that he planned to take one last flight--when he no longer
felt able to care for himself at home--and land it straight down on the
spinner out in the swamp.

The little plane was a thing of beauty ... nearly alive ... I was horrified!

I am still not sold on his (proposed) methodology,
but now, I can just barely manage a shrug. (sigh)

Peter



A pilot's Pitts is a real personal piece of equipment for sure, (sort of
like flying while inside a red prophylactic actually) I don't think ole'
Curtis down there in Homestead would have approved much if one of his
birds ended up being used for a lawn dart though. A real bad end for a
real good airplane.

Had an acquaintance way back in the old days. He was the best Twin Beech
I ever knew. Got cancer. He lived with it for as long as he could I guess.
We heard that one day he simply got a shotgun, walked down to the
basement of his house, put on his favorite record on an old antique
Wurlitzer juke box he had restored, then put the barrel in his mouth and
somehow managed to pull the trigger.
You just never can tell how you will react to depression or pain that
deep when and if it happens. Just pray it passes you by somehow.
Dudley Henriques

On 2007-03-08 12:58:32 -0800, "John Galban" said:

On Mar 7, 6:37 pm, C J Campbell
wrote:

I might even try to prevent you from riding a bicycle without a helmet, if
for no other reason than that I am tired of having my tax and insurance
dollars going to support the paralyzed bozos who thought they had a right to
ride without one.


Geez CJ, the bike helmet police? Are you serious? If you're really
concerned about your taxes and insurance dollars, why not go after
those that have a significant impact? I suggest hanging around at
McDonalds and knocking Big Macs and fries out of every obese person's
hands.

I certainly would be a lot better off if someone did that to me...
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

On 2007-03-10 07:29:11 -0800, John Ousterhout
said:

A 90 year-old pilot is having breakfast at the airport with his son.

"I've got to get my medical next week. If Doc don't pass me I'm gonna
get in the Super Cub and fly out over the ocean til it runs out of gas."

"Dad, NO!... Not the Super Cub."

The son would be what, nearly 70? :-)

Darned right. You want to do that, you see how far out you can swim...

Seriously, there are some people who are that trivial. You kill
yourself if you don't get a medical. You wonder if people like that are
really alive anyway.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

Peter Dohm wrote:
A 90 year-old pilot is having breakfast at the airport with his son.
"I've got to get my medical next week. If Doc don't pass me I'm gonna
get in the Super Cub and fly out over the ocean til it runs out of
gas."
"Dad, NO!... Not the Super Cub."

Priorities!!! The stuff of life :-)))
Dudley Henriques
When I was young, there was an old gent who kept a Pitts Special in a
hangar
at our local airport. He didn't no longer flew it (that was 30+ years
ago)
and once told me that he planned to take one last flight--when he no
longer
felt able to care for himself at home--and land it straight down on the
spinner out in the swamp.

The little plane was a thing of beauty ... nearly alive ... I was
horrified!
I am still not sold on his (proposed) methodology,
but now, I can just barely manage a shrug. (sigh)

A pilot's Pitts is a real personal piece of equipment for sure, (sort of
like flying while inside a red prophylactic actually) I don't think ole'
Curtis down there in Homestead would have approved much if one of his
birds ended up being used for a lawn dart though. A real bad end for a
real good airplane.

Gosh Dudley, you must be psychic. His Pitts was red! :-)

It's a shame ol' Curtis is gone, and I never got to meet him.

Peter

:-)))))
Actually, there was a time when most of the Pitts' out there were red.
It was Curtis' favorite color. Being painted red also helped them to be
seen both as a safety factor and in the air show demonstration scenario.

I flew a red S1S for show work on occasion. I'd say it was around the
70's that the airplane started showing up in other colors.
Naturally, color was and is a personal choice, but I believe red will
always be the color for the majority of Pitts' flown in the world.
Dudley Henriques

A 90 year-old pilot is having breakfast at the airport with his son.

"I've got to get my medical next week. If Doc don't pass me I'm gonna
get in the Super Cub and fly out over the ocean til it runs out of
gas."

"Dad, NO!... Not the Super Cub."

Priorities!!! The stuff of life :-)))
Dudley Henriques

When I was young, there was an old gent who kept a Pitts Special in a
hangar
at our local airport. He didn't no longer flew it (that was 30+ years
ago)
and once told me that he planned to take one last flight--when he no
longer
felt able to care for himself at home--and land it straight down on the
spinner out in the swamp.

The little plane was a thing of beauty ... nearly alive ... I was
horrified!

I am still not sold on his (proposed) methodology,
but now, I can just barely manage a shrug. (sigh)


A pilot's Pitts is a real personal piece of equipment for sure, (sort of
like flying while inside a red prophylactic actually) I don't think ole'
Curtis down there in Homestead would have approved much if one of his
birds ended up being used for a lawn dart though. A real bad end for a
real good airplane.

Gosh Dudley, you must be psychic. His Pitts was red! :-)

It's a shame ol' Curtis is gone, and I never got to meet him.

Peter

"Peter Dohm" wrote in message
...
A 90 year-old pilot is having breakfast at the airport with his son.

"I've got to get my medical next week. If Doc don't pass me I'm gonna
get in the Super Cub and fly out over the ocean til it runs out of
gas."

"Dad, NO!... Not the Super Cub."

... A pilot's Pitts is a real personal piece of equipment for sure, (sort
of
like flying while inside a red prophylactic actually) I don't think ole'
Curtis down there in Homestead would have approved much if one of his
birds ended up being used for a lawn dart though. A real bad end for a
real good airplane.

Gosh Dudley, you must be psychic. His Pitts was red! :-)


That would rank right up there with guessing the Cub was yellow...

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate.

C J Campbell writes:

Seriously, there are some people who are that trivial. You kill
yourself if you don't get a medical. You wonder if people like that are
really alive anyway.

If they live to fly, their behavior is understandable.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

I am sorry about the loss of a perfectly good airplane, and about the
daughter who appears to have been a pawn in this sordid little tale.

However, NO ACCIDENT OCCURRED.

Further, the deceased would both be precisely as dead, and more collateral
damage would most likely have occurred, if other means had been employed.

Kindly take your fascist recommendations elsewhere--like Iran!!!!!

Peter

If you aren't being sarcastic I must say I'm not clear as to why you
view my comments as "fascist."

I have inside sources who have provided me information about this
accident. I am not at liberty to divulge the nature of those sources
so I will not claim to have all the facts. However, the information
provided to me indicates that the pilot did not have the proper
endorsements to be legal to fly solo. I believe it is the
responsibility of the FBO to verify that a student pilot has the
proper endorsements and meets certain other easily determined legal
requirements before dispatching an aircraft to a renter.

For the record I have worked at several FBOs, many of which have used
good procedures for making sure that aircraft are not dispatched to
anyone without making sure they meet certain legal requirements.
Those FBOs who were rigorous in their practice of good dispatch
procedures generally had few or no aircraft losses wheras those who
were lax in their dispatch procedures frequently experienced damaged
aircraft. I realize this is not statistically significant, but I do
not see how it could be argued that proper dispatch procedures won't
reduce the number of accidents and incidents.

"Deadstick" wrote

I realize this is not statistically significant, but I do
not see how it could be argued that proper dispatch procedures won't
reduce the number of accidents and incidents.

It would seem that it could not *increase* the number of incidents and
accidents, at least.
--
Jim in NC