Posted on 05/10/2006 7:28:38 AM PDT by IonImplantGuru
A former Navy Top Gun with decades of flying experience forgot to put his plane's landing gear down during an air show practice run in Tucson in March, the Federal Aviation Administration found.
Retired Capt. Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, a seasoned pro on the military air-show circuit, was piloting a Korean War-era F-86 Sabre that scraped to a stop and caught fire in the March 4 mishap at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Snodgrass, 57, was given counseling as "corrective action," according to the FAA report, obtained by the Arizona Daily Star under the Freedom of Information Act.
The pilot was unhurt in the incident, which shut down air-show practice at D-M that day. The vintage warplane he was flying, owned by a California air museum, sustained minor damage when one of its wing fuel tanks ignited.
The F-86 was one of dozens of warplanes in Tucson to practice formation flying for the 2006 air-show season. The event was not open to the general public. Snodgrass remains on the Air Force schedule this season. The service still has "total confidence in his abilities," according to a statement from the Air Combat Command.
Snodgrass, a Florida resident, declined to comment on the FAA finding.
(Excerpt) Read more at azstarnet.com ...
I'm guessing that there are not a whole lot of people who will read 100 posts before posting :)
There are two kinds of pilots who fly retractable gear aircraft.....Those who have and those who are going to land gear up.
I knew I was in trouble when I heard the prop hit the runway.....Quote from one of my instructors.
Looks like it...
Interesting. An F-86 landed with the right main hung up at the Maxwell AFB air show a few weeks ago.
Wow, some pic! Thanks.
no problem, be nice to have ya aboard...It is a whole lotta fun. June 23 - 25 is Under the Redcoat at Williamsburg... Come on out, Chownings Tavern at 7pm, first round on me :)
Who ever heard of a sailor turning down a drink with another. It's a deal.
All you gotta do is look for the sailors, or listen for the rowdiest table... We will probably be the ones singing Spanish Ladies
It is an F-14.
Cool Pic. But that's an F-15.Looks like a F-15 to me, from the wing and engine configuration. At that low speed the Tomcat would have its wings all the way forward, and there's separation between the two exhausts (on the 14).It is an F-14.
-Eric
Might want to look at an F-15 a little closer, it has a shorter stubbier wing then the plane in the picture. Also, did you know Pukin Dog is a former F-14 driver?
Guys, the photo he's referring to is the one with the F-22 and two old prop fighters (can't tell what they are), not the gonzo fly-by shot of the F-14. That is a F-15 with the other planes, not a F-16 as posted.
A grounding can ruin your whole day - particularly if you're the Skipper. I was sailing the south bay that day (in 1983) on the boat I lived aboard at the time. In the spirit of the "There's 2 kinds of pilots ...." saying we sailors had ours: "There's 2 kinds of sailors in SF Bay - those who have run aground ... and those who will run aground!"
The Big 'E' didn't 'hit a sand bar' so much as it simply didn't turn correctly into the dredged channel into Alameda NAS harbor. To my mind, that error belonged to the harbor pilot, though of course the skipper is ultimately responsible.
If I recall correctly from scuttlebutt at the time, what really did the skipper in was damage incurred in attmpting to get the carrier out of the mud.
$hit happens!
Flew the Tomcat in the flight of the Grumman Cat's at the 1990 Pratt & Whitney Airshow, The Tomcat, Hellcat, Tigercat and Bearcat. I believe before he retired he did another Flight of the Cat's at Oshkosh in 2000 if my memory is correct.
His F-14 in now in the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.
Actually, Cruise does fly a P-51 Mustang (Montana Miss)- so as nutty as he seems to be at times, he does have at least some of 'the right stuff'!
I wouldn't mid taking that sweetie for a ride!
Sheesh! I know what the dang thing is! I was typing up the post and said to self: 'Self, make sure you get the designations right or some freakin' FReeper is gonna get on your case!'
"Lessee: That's a Raptor, an F-22; those are Mustangs; and that's not an F-16 Fighting Falcon, it's an F-15 Eagle."
So what the heck do I actually type? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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