Jesse C. wrote:
From the article:
"The P51 Mustang was the pride of the American Air Force in World War II flying countless missions before being decommissioned in the 1980s."
Wow, I didn't know the "American Air Force" decommissioned the P-51 in the 1980's. Silly me, I thought they last flew in the 1950's. I was alive back then, how come nobody told me about the P-51's in the boneyard at Davis-Monthan in the 1980's.
"Besides the obvious dangers associated with flying, in regular flight, ejection is an option in the worst case scenario. Not that ejecting ensures saving lives, but it beats the alternative. The problem: at low level altitude you cannot eject. For that matter, even small mistakes mean huge consequences. The real challenge: the P51 must fly the course at only 50 feet of altitude."
Wow, I sure hope that Jesse gets checked out really well in those P-51 ejection seats! But he has just a split second to react to hitting the ground, so, on second thought - never mind about learning the seats.
"The real challenge: the P51 must fly the course at only 50 feet of altitude. And at 325 plus mph, the plane will travel nearly 2 football fields every second. The super cool, relaxed and confident Jesse uses his instinct, sight, and feel to navigate his vehicles. Since this is Jesse’s first time trying to pilot a plane on an unfamiliar course, memory is not even a consideration. Teaching Jesse to trust his instruments and keep his eyes on the dials rather then ground will be his toughest test yet."
Wow, thank goodness that Jesse is looking solely at his instruments and NOT at the ground. Those instruments will surely tell him about all of the hills, valleys and peaks below him roaring by at 50 feet.
"Considering these issues, racing around a track where the plane is almost perpendicular to the ground, makes the possibility of spatial disorientation a huge concern, especially for someone who is used to using his instinct and visual perception."
Wow, not only is Jesse going to be breaking speed records with no flying experience, but he's going to be doing it "almost perpendicular to the ground". I guess he will be pointing nearly straight up and down during portions of the course. Doesn't he know the plane will go faster if it is
parallel to the ground rather than perpendicular?
"Since it is unrealistic for him to spend hundreds of hours in a plane working on his skills, we set up the only test we know that could challenge him. Take away his sight and have him navigate a truck at night using instrumentation only. This “crash course” in piloting without visual references, proves more of a challenge than Jesse anticipates."
Wow, relying on instruments only at 50 feet above the ground. If that isn't a "crash course", I don't know what is? That will sure teach him how to crash!
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