Posted on 09/16/2011 6:16:44 PM PDT by NoLibZone
Edited on 09/16/2011 6:30:12 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Well that’s the end of Reno.
Gary Levitz’s (sp)crash a few years ago darn near wiped out the event, and this will do it. No possibility of insurance. Really unfortunate, but the planes, the pilots, and fans are all getting older. I guess it had to happen sooner or later.
The pilot being 80 years old adds a number of other “likely” issues...
Horrible! I always shudder when they have one of these events at an airport near me. Way too dangerous in a populated area—even worse at an event with audience.
Sorry, I don't buy that statement. My first hand knowledge is contrary to your assumption. I've been around sports car racing all my life, and I've crossed paths with some air racing pilots as well. I've met quite a few racers who were over 75 years old. As a rule, they are incredibly fit and very alert. They get extensive physicals every year, (sometimes 2 or 3 times a year) and are watched closely by medical types from the various sanctioning bodies.
DB wrote:
The pilot being 80 years old adds a number of other “likely” issues...
Generally, events like this are insured, and if there's any possibility of a driver/pilot having medical issues during a race, that racer won't be racing. Organizers of these events are pretty careful about who is participating.
Insurance companies also like to make sure that spectators have some level of protection, at least for auto racing. Seeing the video, I'm amazed there wasn't more protection for the spectators, though I have no idea how you would implement anything to protect spectators from airplanes flying at 450+ knots.
Off road racing has suffered a similar fate. Last year a crash in Lucerne Valley CA killed a number of spectators.
The races still happen but the costs/safety regs are making them fewer and farther between.
It’s a terrible thing when it happens, whether on the ground, water or sky. But there is no such thing as ‘safe’ when racing is involved. It’s just impossible.
That said, I would hate to see this event ended.
Why would one of your "choice" of reactions be to laugh hysterically? That's certainly not the first thought that came to my mind. Prayers for those affected by this tragedy.
You don’t buy that the pilot being 80 years doesn’t add a number of other likely causes besides mechanical failure for this accident?
Wow...
Just a week or so ago I was telling a co-worker who is from Reno, that I’d always wanted to see the Reno Air Races.
Youtube is a cesspool of some freakishly twisted personalities spewing some of the most vile filth I have ever seen expressed in writing. Why can’t we have a “RightTube” or a “ConservaTube” as an alternative for NORMAL human beings, and just keep the freaks OUT!
First, I'm pretty sure the pilot wasn't 80 years old. It's being reported that it was Jimmy Leeward. I think he's about 74 years old, not 80. We'll see what the facts turn out to be.
DB wrote:
You don’t buy that the pilot being 80 years doesn’t add a number of other likely causes besides mechanical failure for this accident?
Second, compare this picture of the plane that Jimmy Leeward would have been flying:
To this photo of a "stock" P51, as they were orignally delivered:
I suspect that a 60+ year old airplane that has been modified as extensively as that one has, then being pushed to the outer limits of the performance evelope, is more likely to have suffered some kind of mechanical problem.
Once, for example, a piece of the tail falls off, it doesn't matter how old or young the pilot is. Gravity will take over and the outcome will be catastrophic at the speeds that this aircraft was traveling.
Look at the pictures. That airplane was completely redesigned and modified extensively. The canopy was modified and lowered, the bottom of the airplane was completely changed, the lower air scoop was removed. The wings were shortened. That was an experimental aircraft that was built on a 60+ year old frame.
Indeed.
Regarding Del Rapier, a quick look at his profile page gives some background on his background.
This is a good & respectable gathering place, DR. Please respect the website owner, Jim Robinson, with your best behavior while you're in his abode....
>>That was an experimental aircraft that was built on a 60+ year old frame.<<
The engine that is being used today is at least twice the horsepower of the original. That frame has been completely rebuilt and strengthened. The “60+ year old frame” couldn’t withstand one complete loop around the track without twisting to pieces. He was either clipped or a wing was breaking off from the videos being shown on the evening local news.
Thanks for the update. What a tragedy.I am amazed that an aeleron failure would cause a dive in, but at speeds like that , maybe the elevators could not keep the AC up if one aileron was forcing the AC down, it did not appear to be spinning or rolling in the vid.
This is not a WWII fighter plane as the thread article states, but a custom built AC using parts of the P51 pattern. This is clear if you look at Jimmy’s Facebook album, “Ghost Story.”
I see that the news sources that said he was 80 years old have changed it to 74.
Live stream from the event. The crash occurs around the 30 minutes mark. WARNING GRAPHIC!
http://www.livestream.com/loadedtv/video?clipId=pla_b2efcd7d-ed04-4edf-89e8-f21ff436ccb4
Thanks Yossarian. I know people have different reactions to events, but hysterical laughter is so out of place and cruel. I can’t imagine the suffering going on right at this moment with the families of those dealing with this tragedy.
Death is never lovely. I lost my dad 9 months ago to brain cancer. He was gone in 6 weeks from diagnosis. I’m still dealing with it. I can’t imagine the horror of losing a family member in such a freaky circumstance.
Their loved ones have to be wandering around in a fog right now. God bless them and hold them close!
It's a tragedy for sure, but the real tragedy is that the media, et. al., will try and twist this towards shutting this 30 year classic American event down in the end.
This isn't the first “airshow” type event that things have gone wrong either. You're an idiot if you think nothing can happen to you when you attend these type of events.
But I digress... health and safety for everyone! Because everyone needs to live forever and lay servile to the state.
My hat's off to all the brave men and women who participate in and attend this glorious American event... including 80 year-olds with balls enough to fly faster and better than I ever could! I'd rather die like that than waiting for my next social security check. This is freedom.
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