Warbird Information Exchange

Amen Randy!

If guys want to go and fly that low and kill themselves, I say let them do it, just dont take anyone with you with your stupidity.

I think maybe they should be on that show jacka$$.

Anyone that is a pilot knows that it is better to play it safe then to risk doing something stupid to get yourself killed.

Now, if I am being chased by a MiG, and I have to $hit hot it down on the deck like that, totally ok with me. Doing it to be a cowboy, might as well, play russian roulette, only with 6 bullets in the gun not 1.

Randy, as a brother USAF guy, thanks for your duty to your country. Bless you and all that serve and have served!

I have several questions relating to the video.

1. Where was it taken?
2. Was this a previously arranged "stunt" between the pilot and the people on the ground, or was the pilot an "innocent" participant?
3. Was the pilot on operational maneuvers?
4. Why do people think to question the actions of the pilot, rather than the actions of people who choose to stand under the flight path of an approaching, very low flying, aircraft?.

Also, please note, that by asking these questions in no way indicates that I condone the actions of either the pilot or the people standing under his path. I just feel I do not have enough information from a 30 second clip to place firm judgement against either.

Having said that, I am swayed by the comments from Randy and T33driver, and I am sure that I would certainly have had my a$$ reamed by senior staff if I had flown that low, even on ground support exercises.

Julian

Here's a salute right back at you and the same thanks for your service. Your research and participation on this website (and your sites, of course) is also really appreciated!

You're absolutely right...we really don't know what the details are. Again, I don't see anything really unsafe with that whole affair, but I really don't think that the Squadron Commander or any of his bosses would approve of a flight like that just to get a cool video.

There are times that departures as depicted on that video are operationally necessary -- it's called a "combat takeoff" or even an "unrestricted climb" and the purpose is to accelerate to as fast as possible within the confines of the airport. That allows the best maneuverability if the jet is shot at by someone sitting off the end of the runway with a shoulder-launched missile.

If that's what they're doing (can't tell on the video where it takes place...it might be a deployed location), then you're correct that it's the guy standing there on the video who is the stupid one!



I just went back and re-read my post from last night, and I think it came off more adversarial than I intended. What I did intend to convey is that flying is not a seat-of-the-pants, cowboy-it-up business, at least in my book. I personally take flight safety very seriously, and as you can see I get a little fired up about it sometimes.