Criticism On “Toll Rises to Nine in Reno Air Crash”
27 January 2012
I am an air race crewman and airline transport pilot; and witnessed the crash first hand.
It is difficult to comment and exercise restraint at the same time with certain reporters’ remarks.
The airplane did not slam into the crowd.
Had it done so, hundreds would be dead.
It hit at the very edge of the crowd, going slightly away from the stands.
Jesse McKinley from NY Times writes a thoughtful and accurate piece on this tragedy.
I will say that we heard a pop as Jim’s Mustang pulled up impossibly fast at pylon 7.
We believe this was in fact an elevator trim tab failure.
The G-forces associated with this pitch change, witnessed by the tail wheel popping out, were probably 7 to 10.
Jim would have certainly blacked out, given his age, which means that at that moment he became a passenger.
Dare I use the term Ghost Rider?
Photos show the missing trim tab and Jim’s helmet against the instrument panel.
Indeed, luck saved hundreds.
My heroes, my mentors and friends, are pilots.
My children grew up sleeping under the bi-planes and formula one racers in the hangar during Reno race week.
It is impossible to discuss the topic of the future of these races without opening a much bigger can of worms.
That of the gradual erosion and loss of our personal and civil liberties in this country.
Life itself is inherently risky.
Some of us seize life by the horns.
Others hide under the table.
The table-hiders are winning, little by little, as laws and regulations and lawsuits and insurance suppress the human spirit and the AMERICAN way of life.
You can have freedom and liberty, or you can have security and safety.
Can you have both? I strongly doubt it.
This theory will manifest itself in the next few years as the realities of the death of the middle class brings this great nation to its knees and we fight each other over it’s future.
It is supremely tragic when bystanders are injured in an event such as this.
Shall we end this and other events and hide under the table?
Or accept that life itself is a risk, and intelligent, prudent pursuit of freedom is the best form of mitigation and fulfillment?
Many do not understand the magic and freedom that is flight.
None of us are wired exactly the same.
Hide under the table; or come out in the sunshine, keep your head and the shiny side up, and teach your children to do the same.
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