Posted on 04/21/2007 1:42:05 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Breaking on CNN a few minutes ago.
1 plane down in neighborhood, status of pilot or occupants unknown at this time.
“I was an Airframer. I was pretty good with the slats. The slats caused a lot of problems.”
You can say that again. And you know what? The slats were originally put on the A4D2 (later called the A-4A) to improve stall handling qualities! Every Skyhawk driver in the following decades would come to curse assymetric slat extension. The bad thing was that the durned things would always stick at the worst possible moment—like during a hard defensive turn.
You were undoubtedly the most valuable guy in the Airframes shop if you could work magic on slats.
TC
One of my favorite movies is “The Great Santini”. it never did much at the box office. it is about a Marine Corps Aviator and his family who move to Beaufort, SC and he is stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort. I retired from the Naval Hospital, Beaufort which is located about half way between MCAS Beaufort and MCRD Parris Island. Beaufort is a beautiful town. I highly recommend the movie.
Has his name been officially released yet?
I first heard this sad news from a friend yesterday, just as the story was breaking!
My heart and prayers go out to the family this young man was a part of!
~~
Last year I bought 2 framed and signed prints of the Blue Angels in flight (1998 & 1999) and we had hoped to see an air show sometimes this year! Still hope to!
BTW - That’s a great shot of the Blue Angels.
Did you get that at Jones Beach last year?
June
Wow! ...and I am proud of myself if I build a birdhouse. G-d Bless these guys, and America for having them.
Long may the Blue Angels fly. Long may their flag wave, in honor of their fallen comrade. Peace to him in Heaven and God’s blessings on his comrades who morn.Fly, Angels Fly!
I just saw it on FOX - Officially confirmed as LCDR Kevin Davis
Hey there, agent_delta.
Hope you’ll continue posting info.
It’s appreciated.
I assumed that it had been because it was all over this thread yesterday.
God rest this good man, and comfort his family in this hour. My sympathies also to the poor folks on the ground picking up the pieces of their homes and lives.
With no offense intended, I would suggest that that is not a good assumption. The aviation community here at FR is both knowledgeable and resourceful enough to identify the pilot of the downed plane without waiting for the official confirmation.
...This is all true. BUT, there are some threads where we, the common people, the uneducated (in all matters aviation) and the press have an interest.
If the flyguys want to impress us with their knowledge - and they do - them maybe they should work on their manners. I hate it when someone "new" (read: their sign-up date is more recent) gets jumped on because they're new or expressing an opinion different than one of the old guys. PukinDog, I have the utmost respect for you and your knowledge, when something like this happens I know I will learn a lot from you...but Dude! You need to be a tad more tolerant. Remember, you were a newbie once, too. And that goes for the rest of you guys.
And, when we're getting info that not even Fox has, it would behoove all of us to be a little nicer to the person reporting for us.
Now that the lecture is over, the Blues come to our neck of the woods about every 2 years. We have this little festival thing where about fifty thousand people invade my space for 10 days. I make a point to not go into town when the festival is going on...except for the airshow. I will schlepp a wagon, a couple diaper bags and a couple of grandsons thru gazillions of people to stand on the shore and watch those Angels scare the hell out of me!
It wasn’t announced yet but knowledgeable people here knew it couldn’t be anyone but him.
And I can’t believe there are people still posting crap on here that is stirring up last night’s stuff. (Shaking head).
Heh, the first time we saw them 'up close and personal', we'd gone to the Pensacola Naval Air Station, because someone at our condo had mentioned that they were going to watch them practice. We'd been vacationing at this place for several years, and had never heard about the Angels's practices! So we got to the base, and couldn't find where they were. We were parked at one of the buildings wondering where to go when we heard this screaming sound overhead! It was almost a change your underwear moment, but after the initial shock, we had the kids climb up onto the top of our conversion van, and we had our own little airshow. The next year, we thought we'd found out where the stands for the spectators were, but ended up we were one lot over. Still, we got to see almost everything. Finally, the next year, we got to the stands, and realized we hadn't even seen HALF of what those guys could do!!
My favorite of the routines was when one pilot would come in low over the runway, then slow the bird down and pull the nose up at about a 45 degree angle, and just march down the runway like that. It was incredible!
I know the remaining pilots are just hurting this morning, and I pray for them, and the family of the pilot who died.
Some folks just gotta be snarky.
It presents the 20mm and air-to-air icons on the HUD
In our family the saying is they happen in threes for tragedies, five for troubles, and seven for mercies.
Thanks for your posts, a_d.
Was Kevin married?
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