Big brass balls or ultimate stupidity?

[IRGuy]

Not sure which applies to this guy....

http://on.aol.com/video/fearless-pilot- ... d%3D569851

[Pete Fallon]

IRGuy,
I think that he was very, very, very lucky not doing a cartwheel after touching the ground with his wing tip. I bet he had to change his shorts after that flight, I know I would have had to.
How is your knee doing after the operation. I am still having a few minor problems with mine, but it's better than it was before the surgery.
Pete Fallon

[IRGuy]

Hi Pete...

I am not sure if the pilot was trying to do what we saw, or if he just cut things too close and was lucky. I sent this clip to my son-in-law who flies 777s.. will be interested to see what he has to say.

Re: The knee.. all seems to be going well.. I felt the PT people were moving too slowly so I stepped up the exercises I am doing at home.. they prescribe 10 repetitions of an exercise, I do 20.. they say hold each for 3 seconds, I am doing 10.. so far I have increased my range from 1o8 degrees, to now 125.. so the PT guys say keep doing what I am doing.. I weaned myself off oxycodone pain pills about 3 weeks ago.. now even after doing an exercise routine I don't really have pain, just some discomfort that goes away after an hour or so.

I have been really impressed with the great care I received in the hospital.. everybody, from the nurses to the guy who cleaned the floor were all excellent. I finally got a summary of the charges from the surgeon and the hospital today.. these get marked down drastically by Medicare.. and my supplemental BC BS.. the total for all charges were somewhat in excess of $70,000. I haven't taken the time to do an analysis, but it looks as if the payments were discounted about 65%.

[Pete Fallon]

IRGuy,
I am glad your knee is coming along sounds like your doing the correct thing. I did the same thing on my 2nd replacement did twice as many reps than they said to do. I was back playing golf in 6 weeks from the date of surgery. That knee was going along nicely until it loosened up after about 2-1/2 years after I stepped into a grass covered sprinkler hole on the golf course, who said golf was not a contact sport. This knee surgery is moving very slowly I talked to the doctor today , he said it going take quite a while to get back to some sense of normal, some time in February is when he said it should be okay. They did a lot of cutting and grafting of the nerves, it seams to have worked because I don't have the pain that I used to have, it's mostly around the site of the incisions. Anyway have a good turkey day, looks like we are going to have a pretty good storm with heavy snow 8 to 12"outside of 495 and just a little along the immediate coast line where I am. All I can say about that pilot is he is very lucky to be alive, one little pot hole in the grass and he would have been toast.
Pete Fallon

[Pete Fallon]

IRGuy,
I forgot to tell you that the last implant they put in down in Ft. Lauderdale was $115,000 the implant alone was $15,000. and it only lasted 2-1/2 years. That was prior to me going on Medicare in 2010. I could of put a pair of brand new 330 Cummins, trannies and shafts and a topside paint job for that price. I am going to start looking for another 31' Express as soon as I get back on my feet again. Mine ended up in St Johns in the American Virgin Islands last August.
Pete Fallon

[Bruce]

Pete,
You just ain't playing golf right.

[Pete Fallon]

Bruce,
The guy that hit the golf ball looks like he might have made a deposit in his pants. I think that if you can get the ball past the shotgun blast you should get the next shot for free. It would also speed up the pace of play especially at some of the South Florida courses. It might contribute to a few heart attacks on the course but most of them are already really deaf it wouldn't matter much. Like Clint Eastwood says in the commercial while we still young. Have a happy turkey day to all on the board.
Pete Fallon

[Carl]

If its a Poll....think it goes under the heading of Ultimate Stupidity.

Even if the guy flies at 100% a 100% of the time...he has little to no control over the smallest imperfections of the ground.
Hey...what do I know.

[Bruce]

I don't see it as either. I see it as an ultimate confidence he has in himself of his ability. That's what makes a serious racer, a test pilot, an astronaut, a pylon racing pilot, a sky diver, a Navy carrier pilot doing night landings on a choppy sea or anyone who chooses to get up out of the lazy boy of life and walk on the edge of the world.

I'd bet he walked that field before that maneuver to check any elevation issues.

[Carl]

Ultimate confidence in ones ability or taking a piece of equipment and pushing it to the very edge is one thing...but riding on chance is another.

Placing the wing tip to the ground sets up too many variables in my head and to me this becomes a game of chance.

[Navatech]

I would say neither!... Any sensible pilot would know that doing this and incurring ANY variable (e.g. a gust of wind, a slight change in ground features etc) could cause a fiery crash (his death)...

Also, I can't imagine that this can be good for the wing tip... IOW, I think this was an accident that the pilot filled his underwear when he got to review the video...

[Bruce]

I would say neither!... Any sensible pilot would know that doing this and incurring ANY variable (e.g. a gust of wind, a slight change in ground features etc) could cause a fiery crash (his death)...

You could say the same thing about the flying formations and maneuvers of the Blue Angels, or any other formation flying group that flys wing tip to wing tip or fuselage to fuselage, yet they still fly. And I'm more than sure that these top talented pilots are extremely sensible and are more safety conscience than 90% of the population.

Chance favors a prepared mind.

[Navatech]

You could say the same thing about the flying formations and maneuvers of the Blue Angels, or any other formation flying group that flys wing tip to wing tip or fuselage to fuselage, yet they still fly. And I'm more than sure that these top talented pilots are extremely sensible and are more safety conscience than 90% of the population.

Yes, chance does favor a prepared mind however I have never seen (or heard of) an aerobatic team that fly so close together that they actually touch each other...

[Carl]

I recall an interview with the Blue Angels and from what I gathered they leave nothing to chance. Every move is planned, practiced and later gone over extensively in debriefing. Before every event they sit and go over their routine, executing every command and motion.

To my eyes, this stunt leaves a pretty big variable wide open...

Walk a field a 100 times and you may never see a several inch dip, tip of a boulder, soft patch, hard patch.
Hey, it's my take on what I see...to each his own.

Nobody around to get hurt, he has insurance to clean up the mess...go ahead enjoy, live on the edge.