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 ...
Must be related to "Wheels Up Wesh", who trashed an A-7 on 32L at NASL and ripped the tail and wings off a rolling gears up landing. He also grounded CVN65 Enterprise on a sand bar in Frisco Bay losing his command because he had the con at the time.
As if that were needed.
"Mr. Snodgrass, when landing you must remember to put your gear down. We will now bill the government $1150 for outsourced counselling."
Sorry I missed ya
Man, I really need to work on that sentence structure.
Snort is coming up on the carrier at deck level from behind, motoring at 350-400 knots, and pulls into a bat-turn just before the fan tail. The second guy from the left in the picture is an Admiral, I think the current CNO at that time, and Snort wanted to say hello. Needless to say, he made his rep that day. 5 more degree of roll and he might have killed himself. If you look back at the tail, you will notice that he's got the elevons in full deflection, so he is pulling for all he's got.
So, in otherwords, he's got it under control.....just barely. As it should be I guess! : ) The things you guys do at the speeds you do them at!
This would never happen to Maverick or Goose
..probably most of us here don't know him, haven't heard of him...
..but are mighty impressed by your post about him!!-WOW
Everyone can have a lapse....
..and even his wasn't costly to life or property.
LOL!
A great scene in that movie, was when he parked his aircraft in the handicap parking spot.
And it doesn't matter what you fly, either - I forgot to do it on a hang glider once (the procedure is you unzip your pod and take your legs out of the sack). Problem is, you can't add power. I had about twenty feet to go before I realized the mistake. I got one leg out and still managed to pull off a three point landing, ha ha :). It was because I accidentally set down in a narrow gully, so my one leg reached the bottom and the basetube spanned the width about three feet up. You never forget twice, I hope.
"When I was working Shuttle down in Houston, it was always fun when John Young would step in for a little refresher training in rendezvous simulations, because he'd just do things from memory. More often than not, he ended up missing the target by miles and miles, because he did something stupid "from memory." OTOH, it was a lot of fun to be part of trying to save the sim...."
I remember a few of those.
I was there in 16 the night they finally got the launch sim off the pad and still have the pictures of my two kids (7 & 12) sitting in the cockpit upstairs with John and Crip standing (crouching) behind them.
FAA Official: "OK, bubba, remember to lower the gear next time, OK?"
Chastened pilot (with hangdog expression): "OK. Gawd, I feel like a moron."
"Don't be two hard on yourself, I backed out of my driveway this morning with my briefcase and coffee still on the car roof. Happens to all of us."
(FAA official notes "Counseling" in "corrective action" block of form.)
Definitions...
Good landing: one you can walk away from...
GREAT landing: one you can walk away from AND use the airplane again...
I want one of those!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.