It's been a tough weekend.
Blues skies, Jim.
Posted on 07/28/2007 12:26:38 PM PDT by trussell
Wahpeton man killed after planes collide at air show Kim Winnegge, The Forum Published Saturday, July 28, 2007
A Wahpeton, N.D., man died Friday after performing in a Wisconsin air show.
Gerald Beck, 58, died after the plane he was flying collided with one flown by Casey Odegaard, 24, of Kindred.
The men each were flying P-51 Mustangs, single-seat fighters used during World War II, at the experimental air show in Osh Kosh, Wis., officials said.
Dick Knapinski, Experimental Aircraft Association spokesman, identified the deceased pilot as Beck. He said Odegaard was able to climb out of his plane after the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the collision with the two P-51 Mustangs happened at 3:17 p.m. after the planes finished a performance at the annual EAA AirVenture show.
RELATED CONTENT Kim Winnegge Archive FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board investigators were on the scene Friday.
NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said the accident occurred when the planes clipped wings on landing. He said an NTSB investigator on the scene scheduled a news briefing for 4 p.m. today at the Wittman Regional Airport terminal.
On Monday, a veteran pilot trying to break a speed record en route to Oshkosh was killed when his small, experimental plane crashed into an apartment building and playground in Switzerland.
The pilot, identified as Hans Georg Schmid, a former Swissair pilot, had been trying to break a world record for a solo single-engine flight. He had planned to fly more than 4,970 miles with a C1-D class of plane, aiming to reach his destination in 30 hours.
The annual convention is considered one of the world's largest gatherings of recreational aviators. It draws more than 600,000 people and 10,000 planes from around the world. The weeklong event ends Sunday.
Read more Sunday in The Forum.
Accidents happen, just like sunrise and sunset happen. God bless the pilots killed in all these aviation disasters that seem to have hit in the last few days. They died doing what they loved. I respect that.
Econ 101 - supply and demand.
Prayers for his quick recovery.
These men really tote the right stuff and are worthy of respect for their contribution in showing what made America the greatest nation under God.
Lest we forget our gallant troops giving their all to support our quest to maintain our freedom.
God Bless them all!
It's a supreme fighter from it's era and those who fly them are more than exceptional.
They are a costly promotion of freedom these days to say the least.
Video of the event:
http://www.aero-tv.net/index.cfm?videoid=00b0d640-e714-4b79-b17b-6f3b0f149c4d
What a shame...I was up there Monday and Tuesday...
MY pryaers offered also.
Pictures can be deceiving.
Personally, I can see wing to tail conflict happening disregarding the loss of depth perception via the camera shot.
It's been a tough weekend.
Blues skies, Jim.
Ohhhhhh ... man. God take him and keep him. Thanks, Mr. LeRoy, for everything. You’ll be missed.
Damn.
Prayers to their families.
Prayers for souls.
I would have a great deal of difficulty figuring how the green wing aircraft got into the position it was in. Both had gear and flaps down, apparently a formation landing, but apparent doesn’t exactly tell the story. Hopefully we will read the accident investigation results and learn. I left the show Thursday afternoon about 3pm. Spent a good deal of time in the Warbirds area. P-51 definitely one of my favorites, as well as the men that fly them. No one wants to see good men and good airplanes go down.
As Astra Per Ardua is not just a pretty slogan. Prayers for the dead and for their loved ones.
Rest in Peace
Jim LeRoy
My prayers go up for all who now mourn the passing of Jim.
Blessings,
trussell
If you want on/off my prayer ping list, please let me know. All requests happily honored.
So sad.
Prayers for all touched by these accidents.
There is a video in post 25. Not sure if that would help you see how it happened or not. I haven’t managed to get up the nerve to watch it yet. (I cry, way to easily)
Only way to recover would've been to stand on the left pedal, push the throttle passed the firewal, and stick left.
But man, I don't know, 80o right bank? and 60o nose up?
Dude.
Hat's off to the guy that died doing what he loved (a moment of silence and prayers for those that loved him that he left behind).
That's not me. I want to go doing something I hate, like stuck in traffic Monday morning, doing my taxes, cleaning out the gutters, snaking the drains, sitting in the waiting room for 10 hours before the doc will see you, or something (not sliding down black-diamond snow covered-inclines at my favorite resort with waxed and polished boards strapped to the bottoms of my feets, bobbing in the gentle swell of a speedboat with the salt spray stinging my face, or making love to a beautiful woman).
We lost another mustang pilot a few weeks ago when he attempted to perform a "go'round" with full throttle... the power of the Merlin (or Allison, in the A-Model) would torque the airplane into a near snap roll. Which it did in the last incident.
Looks more like the green bellied one clipped the tail off of the blue tailed one with its wing. I guess it's too much to expect journalists to look at the picture when writing a caption.
Given the choice through marriage, personally would "hump" the Mustang.
It's beauty is tough to usurp. ; )
I am so sorry. May God comfort you and all who are mourning these brave men.
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