Posted on 11/11/2013 12:58:58 PM PST by unlearner
Prayers for the Inhofe family.
Sweet Jesus, have Mercy. Holy Mother of God, Pray for us in our time of Death. In the Name of the Father and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit, Amen.
A good man has left us. _!
Senator Inhofe had quadruple bypass cardiac surgery the first week of October. Now he has a broken heart via the tragic death of his son. Horrible loss.
Prayers for the family.
MU-2’s take some skill to fly.
One report that one prop was not spinning .... engine out?
From wikipedia:
“A design feature of the MU-2 is its high cruise speed while having a low landing speed. This is accomplished by using full-span, double-slotted flaps on the trailing edge of the wing. These flaps give the MU-2 a wing area comparable to a Beech King Air in landing configuration while having a wing area comparable to a light jet while in cruise mode. The full-span flaps meant that over-wing spoilers were employed instead of conventional ailerons. These spoilers are highly effective, even when the MU-2 wing is stalled. Some fatal accidents have occurred because normal engine-out procedures for light twin aircraft are not effective when flying the MU-2. The commonly taught procedure of reducing flap following an engine failure on take off leads to a critical reduction in lift in the MU-2 due to the highly effective double-slotted flaps. When pilots were taught to retain take-off flap and to reduce climb rate in the event of an engine failure, MU-2 accident rates reduced to almost nil.”
Politicians fly more than we do which is why they have this trend. They also fly in self owned smaller craft. Look at poor John Kennedy Jr., as tragic as it was, he was flying himself. This guy seems to have flown himself too.
Politicians know people with money who can buy and operate fast, small aircraft, which for years have been called "doctor killers."
MU2 are notorious for low speed instability...pretty much have a problem (lose an engine) and you are screwed. The wing design is to blame, but also it gives it a fast and pleasurable ride through rougher air. RIP
The FAA has specific training requirements for that aircraft. They don’t do that because it is so easy to fly.
One of the pilots was the son of a friend of mine.
They might get around to it.
I had a second cousin flight instructor killed in a plane crash at Lambert Field. A student pilot was piloting, and a friend aboard. The pilot was killed, too. I didn't really know him but knew his mother well.
MU-2’s have an accident rate 2.5 times others in it’s class, for a variety of reasons, but almost all come down to PILOT TRAINING.
I lost a friend in one of these years back, and SD Gov George Mickelson died in one.
That said, they are about the most efficient aircraft in it’s class, and, I’m told, a joy to fly. (just don’t forget to watch the sink rate).
Prayers for the Inhofe family.
Heartfelt condolences to the Senator and his family. This Senator has been one of conservatism’s stauchest allies. No one deserves this kind of tragedy.
Being in aviation most of my life, I have known many who have died flying, but it’s what they do, just like driving a truck, for instance.
My first Flight Instructor was the first I knew, when I was much younger. It was an eye-opener, that served as an example for me later in life. but it didn’t stop me from flying.
Those who haven’t been there, just won’t understand at all...
“High Flight”
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward Ive climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hovring there,
Ive chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
Ive topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
- Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
“The FAA has specific training requirements for that aircraft. They dont do that because it is so easy to fly.”
They were going to require a type-rating for these, but they caught tons of flack about it from the Medical Test/Check Operators and the NBAA.
My heartfelt prayers go out to him and his family... how awful.
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