Free Republic

Four people were killed in two separate crashes during an airshow in Wisconsin over the weekend — including the daughter of two-time Super Bowl-winning offensive lineman Bruce Collie — days after celebrating her third wedding anniversary. Collie’s daughter, Devyn Reiley, 30, and her co-pilot Zach Colliemoreno, 20, were flying a World War II-era T-6 Texan during the AirVenture Oshkosh airshow when the aircraft plunged into Lake Winnebago at around 9 a.m. Saturday, five minutes after takeoff, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). The vintage aircraft had reached 3,900 feet before plummeting into the lake. Witnesses of the fatal crash...

"Pilot was able to walk away with no injuries," a Twitter account for Condor Squadron said. "We will post more info as we are able to release them." The aircraft is a T-6 Texan from North American Aviation, a trainer plane that is popular in airshows. The FAA registry for the tail number describes the plane as a 1958 SNJ-5, which is a modified T-6 Texan. The plane appeared to have been painted in camouflage, with black-and-white crosses on its wings in the manner of a World War II German fighter aircraft

Hawker Beechcraft Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture said targeting of the private aircraft industry both in terms of user fees and fiscal proposals appears to be intentional, and called fiscal policies such as user fees and depreciation schedules “irresponsible.” The perceived attacks have damaged customer confidence, and contributed to some, perhaps the last 25 percent, of all employee layoffs and workforce reductions, Boisture said. “To have singled out our industry is irresponsible,” he said. “It must be intended,” he said in later comments. In other remarks, Boisture said his staff decided long ago to treat the current recession as “the...

Culpeper (United States) (AFP) - There was no mistaking the muscular roar of the big radial engine as the most famous trainer to come out of World War II soared above this rural Virginia town. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the North American T-6 Texan, the big tandem-seat warbird in which countless pilots from dozens of countries honed their flying skills. This weekend, some 30 Texans will set off from Culpeper, 70 miles (115 kilometers) outside Washington, and fly up the Potomac River, over the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery, to mark a unique aeronautical milestone.