Some Days Your The Dog On Others Your The Fire Hydrant

[Jack Cook]

F4U-1 VMF-124 12-43

F4U-1

F4U-1 VF-17 USS BUNKER HILL

[bdk]

Those would be easy retoration projects these days!

[skybolt2003]

kinda not so fun - whenever i see a plane flat on its back, i assume the pilot didn't far too well.
i'm feeling a little sensitive tonight–a guy that has been a major annoyance at the home drome, flying a true pos ultralight, clogging the pattern, and exhibiting a supreme lack of airmanship and understanding of regular aircraft movements and protocol, crashed in the pattern this afternoon. I was taxiing out and heard another plane call for airport advisory, with the accident aircraft calling out the wrong runway as active ( for some reason, the guys at my airport LOVE to land with quartering tailwinds. I hate it, and have to chastise, cajole and generally bully everyone into landing as close to the wind as possible. I corrected it, not knowing for sure if the ultralight guy had been flying patterns to the downwind runway or just couldn't remember which runway was which. in any case, i was disturbed to know this guy was flying with me. the airport has discouraged him from flying during active time (i.e.: the weekend) at our airport because in part it is a very busy field with a lot of mixed traffic (jets, lots of training, etc) and mostly because he's proved himself to be a major bonehead in the past. well i heard him call 'departing- closed traffic' and thougth, swell- i have to deal with him later. i do my runup and get up to the hold short line, checking traffic. i had my wife and kids with me and said to the wife kinda thinking out loud, someone else should be in the pattern . . . i called departing traffic and lined up on the runway and started putting the cobs to it when i heard to faint calls 'EMERGENCY-EMERGENCY'
i whipped the tail around to make sure that someone wasn't dead-sticking in behind me and then thought that it had to be (I'm sorry, this is what went through my mind) the individual of questionable judgement in the ultrlight probably just crashed on downwind. I announced departure when an instructor on the freq said we have an emergency, which made me abort and take an early turnoff - i was launching only after clearing the pattern for a dead-stick, knowing in all probabllity who was down and where, and launching with the idea of locating him, but the instructors voice made me abort. anyway i went back and took off, and he and i, after coordinating our altitudes searched for the guy. i'm a tow pilot and have located many planes that have landed out - gliders. in my experience, a plane that lands in a field is very easy to find - sticks out like a sore thumb even if you are searching a large area. even in a mature corn field, i've found gliders easily from the air. here i am searching a very small area - x-wind to downwind and after looking at the open fields realize there's no way i'll see him if he goes into the woods. I never could see him. i landed and went to the operation office (after telling them on the radio about the sit and assuming the authorities had been notified) and asked if they'd called the police/fire/whatever? well, they hadn't and wouldn't know where to tell them to go, etc. I mentioned that the guy took off in front of me, called closed pattern, someone sounding JUST LIKE HIM! only a lot weaker had called 'emergency!'on the radio, twice - and them said plane wasn't seen again - I think you should call someone! (The cherokee instructor had seen him last turning downwind) Then the ops guy said, "well, the LAST time he crashed . . ." he apparently ran out of gas in the same area after TO, walked out, filled up and took off. What kind of f***ing individual of questionable judgement runs out of gas in an ultralight with a clear gas tank right behind their head?? So I already know this guy is a hazard, and it's confirmed by the ops guy, but I also know that he has to be in the trees somewhere out there, so I actually have to MAKE the ground guy call the authorities.
Sorry for the long post - I guess I had to get it off my chest. They airllifted the guy out to the trauma center. I think if I hadn't insisted and just assumed, this guy would still be out in the woods. On principle, guys like this burn me up - they give all pilots a bad name, bring us negative press and make the general public weary of planes. We've had a few bad things recently - this only serves to reinforce the publics opinion.
sorry again for the spiel

[Bluedharma]

They airllifted the guy out to the trauma center. I think if I hadn't insisted and just assumed, this guy would still be out in the woods.

1.) I hope that guy is ok.
2.) That guy owes you a beer for saving his A##.
3.) He will most likely do the same stunt again in a week after getting out of the hospital, so lets hope the next guy insists on saving his A## too.
Skybolt2003: Way to be a stand up guy and calling it in (even if the dumba## never learns).

[Tinker51]

F4U-1 VF-17 USS BUNKER HILL

I have been looking at this picture for a couple of minutes and I can't figure something out. What is that in the shadow of the fuselage just aft of the flap/gear well?

[Nathan]

have been looking at this picture for a couple of minutes and I can't figure something out. What is that in the shadow of the fuselage just aft of the flap/gear well?

It's a Ghost!!

[DiggerWW2]

Check Out these films of WW2 Corsair carrier crashes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZAvLi1S ... ed&search=

More crashes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gpCLeWqY0w

Digger

[jbell]

F4U-1 VF-17 USS BUNKER HILL

I have been looking at this picture for a couple of minutes and I can't figure something out. What is that in the shadow of the fuselage just aft of the flap/gear well?

Tis a window.

[visaliaaviation]

Could it be a deck crewman or other personel?

Aside from the obvious condition of the aircraft(What I want to know is how'd they move it from the ground, to the edge of the deck, and then farther on??? And why??) the last one does give some detail into the tail wheel well.

[JDK]

Having screwed up developing a few B&W photos in my time, I'm 90% certain the white jellyfish shape in the middle of the photo is a mark on the print (maybe the negative). Could be caused on reproduction copies, the original, or whatever, by bad fixing or Dev or a few other errors in processing. But it's not a ghost or a crewman, IMHO.

The detail of the lower vent just aft of the nose is something you don't usually get to see, but I don't think revealing that was the pilot's aim.

[Jack Cook]

Whomever said window...well from my basic knowledge of how things work the shadow goes the other way. I'd say it's pooling gas from a ruptured or leaking main tank

[Ztex]

Yep I would say it looks like a reflecting pool of liquid...

[Wheels up]

F4U-1

3 items on this pic.....
Are we looking out toward bow of ship (straight deck)?
What are the two fellas doing to the port wint tip?(looks like mops)
And look at that chewed up flight deck! Splinters everywhere!

[John Beyl]

F4U-1 VF-17 USS BUNKER HILL

I have been looking at this picture for a couple of minutes and I can't figure something out. What is that in the shadow of the fuselage just aft of the flap/gear well?

T'isn't spilled liquid...if'n it was the carriers deck seams would show up as a black linear lines through it.

Given the angle the aircraft is laying at and what it's direction of travel was as it came to rest, it could be a part of the canopy but not the plexi. Plexi does not break, deform and bend like that. It is most likely a piece of the vertical fin that has deformed, sheared away and lodged between the upper surface of the wing and the deck.

John

[visaliaaviation]

I'm beginning to think JDK got it right. "Developing" worms or bad spot on the neg.