15 replies to this topic

[Phil Hackett]

Here's one from the *old* internet, circa year 2000, when 56k modems were still used over copper phone lines... This video has pretty good effects for that time using the software and PC of that era... humorous ending...

 

[HarV Wallbanger III]

It pays ta watch behind ya too..... And like always..... watch for da fanger?

[Dave Crevie]

Notice that the plane in the video is a DC-10. On May 25th, 1979, a DC-10 lost an engine and crashed on take-off from O-Hare airport. It was American flight 191, leaving at 3:00pm Chicago time, headed for Los Angeles. A week later, my father and I left for a visit with our west coast families. We were booked on American flight 191, leaving O-Hare at 3:00 pm. It was a DC-10. On our arrival at LAX, my uncle Fred picked us up at the airport. He informed us that all DC-10s had been grounded, and we were on the last one in the air. He worked for Rocketdyne at the time, and was able to find out later by the tail number that the plane we had flown on was one of those with the cracked engine pylon.  

[Mike Patterson]

I can't figure out why the guy driving the Jeep just didn't pull to the side of the road when he noticed the jet in his mirror.

[John Luongo]

Notice that the plane in the video is a DC-10. On May 25th, 1979, a DC-10 lost an engine and crashed on take-off from O-Hare airport. It was American flight 191, leaving at 3:00pm Chicago time, headed for Los Angeles. A week later, my father and I left for a visit with our west coast families. We were booked on American flight 191, leaving O-Hare at 3:00 pm. It was a DC-10. On our arrival at LAX, my uncle Fred picked us up at the airport. He informed us that all DC-10s had been grounded, and we were on the last one in the air. He worked for Rocketdyne at the time, and was able to find out later by the tail number that the plane we had flown on was one of those with the cracked engine pylon.  

i think i would have gone out and bought a lottery ticket.

[Phil Hackett]

On many aviation forums, former pilots go on and on how great the DC-10 was to fly, how it was smooth & responsive, and generally a wonderful airplane.

 

As a passenger *many times* on the DC-10 I do not agree. It was the only plane I have flown in that has creaked and groaned and shuttered (all of the flights). The noises from the engines sounded like a ball mill grinding up rocks. Generally a miserable plane to be a passenger but then my first flight in a jumbo jet was a Lockheed Tri-Star L1011. By far the nicest plane I have been on (including a 747).

 

When I pass by the Fed-Ex terminal at LAX and I see the DC-10s (and the MD-11s) getting their cargo I think, "that's the best use for that plane".

 

I *hate* DC-10s.

[old & gray]

 

When I pass by the Fed-Ex terminal at LAX and I see the DC-10s (and the MD-11s) getting their cargo I think, "that's the best use for that plane".

 

 

And the Boeing 747 was designed for (drum roll please) hauling freight. It was only later in the project that the idea of using the airframe to fly passengers evolved. One of my projects that paid a number of my paychecks was to fix the engine issue when an airline converted a long haul freight liner into a city bus. 

[Dave Crevie]

That was my only ride in a DC-10, and I can't honestly remember anything bad about it. My first flight in a commercial plane was in a Super Connie. Otherwise, most flights were in 707's and DC-8's. If I had to pick a favorite, I guess it would be a stretch 8. Followed by the 727.

[Phil Hackett]

That was my only ride in a DC-10, and I can't honestly remember anything bad about it. My first flight in a commercial plane was in a Super Connie. Otherwise, most flights were in 707's and DC-8's. If I had to pick a favorite, I guess it would be a stretch 8. Followed by the 727.

 

The Connie was one of the most beautiful airplanes ever made.

[Don Weaver]

L1011

[Jay Guard]

Without question the Super Connie was one of the most beautiful airplanes, but I'm partial to the little known Martin P6M Jet Seaplane.

Then again it may just be because my Dad was one of the design engineers.

 

 

[Pappy]

Pitts S1T

 

https://www.pitts-sp...tsteam/s1t.html

 

I found this picture. N666BD was the one I owned. It's still the same paint scheme. I bought it new in 1983.

 

https://www.google.c...=h6EqxnUjg4BaxM

[Horsepower]

Hi Butch! THAT is incredibly cool! Flying makes me nervous in the extreme but I have to admit I wish I had one.  When did you sell it?

[Pappy]

Hi Gary,

 

I bought the airplane new in 83, flew it a little over 250 hours and sold it in 85. That's a lot of flying in two years when you consider most of my flights only lasted about 20 minutes. I'd go up and fly three, twenty maneuver aerobatic sequences and come back in. When you're pulling 6 positive G's and pushing 6 negative G's it doesn't take long to wear you out. 

 

I delivered it to a guy in Arlington, Texas. Didn’t hear anything about the plane for years but a few years back a wing walking act in a Stearman PT17 crashed and killed both the female wing walker and the male pilot at the Dayton Airshow. Our local paper did an article about the pilot with a picture of him sitting in his own personal airplane, it was my old airplane (N666BD). I think it’s the same guy in the picture in the link I posted. 

 

I just looked up the N number in the FAA Registry and it looks like someone on March 31, 2021 reserved that N number which I think means the plane was either totaled or whoever has it changed the N number. Some people don't like that 666. lol  https://registry.faa...umberTxt=N666BD

[Dave Crevie]

 

 

I just looked up the N number in the FAA Registry and it looks like someone on March 31, 2021 reserved that N number which I think means the plane was either totaled or whoever has it changed the N number. Some people don't like that 666. lol  https://registry.faa...umberTxt=N666BD

 

 

Wouldn't be surprised if the new owner changed the number. But it could also be that the plane went through a really long major, and he didn't keep the number current. I would be sad if it was parted out. Things like that need to be kept alive.

 

If I had gotten my GA, the Pitts would be my first choice. If money were no object, a WWII warbird would be my dream. I just had to be satisfied with working on them if the opportunity arose. As for short flights in the Pitts, I can imagine an energetic stunt routine would sap you out. I have seen so much footage of the pros in Extras and Sukhois tossing those things around. Surprised they don't use G-suits. 

 

Can't say that if I had something aerobatic that I would try some advanced stuff or not. My mother certainly did. And as far as having an adventuresome spirit, I didn't fall far from the tree. The last several days I have been going through some boxes of paperwork looking for some documents. I came across a newspaper clipping, and entry list from a jalopy race at Soldier Field. Her father raced jalopies during that time, and lo, Ma was listed as an entrant in a powder puff race. While she was pregnant with me. She placed first. My addiction to cars came the same way crack babies get addicted to crack.   

[Pappy]

 

 Surprised they don't use G-suits. 

 

 

Dave, 

 

No need for G-suits, it's not a sustained G force like in a fighter jet, that sucks the blood right out of your head.

 

I did get close to blacking out one time, I designed a sequence where I was pushing negative G's for an extended period of time and then went into an inside loop from the inverted to the inverted. I forgot to slow down before I made my pull so I was doing about 150 mph with full power when I started. You're taught to control airspeed with back pressure so I kept honking back on the stick. The first thing that happened was I lost my peripheral vision, I could only see what was right in front of me. Next thing that happened was all the color disappeared, everything went gray. Then the stars started twinkling and I knew I was about to go to sleep. So I released the back pressure on the stick, throttled all the way back and eased out of it. So I changed the routine and just pushed an outside loop from the inverted to the inverted. The next maneuver was a Humpty Bump from the inverted with a 90 degree positive pull at the bottom which allowed my blood to stabilize between the push and the pull. 

 

The most positive G's I ever pulled was 8 G's. I dove straight down to 200 mph and started honking back on the stick. At 8 G's the wings started stalling out and the airplane just started shaking. I buried the G meter at 5 negative G's all the time and pushed harder than that in a routine. If you wanted to win you had to fly hard. It's the same with slot racing, if you want to win you have to drive hard and concentrate.