Official Aviation Thread...

[ThatM20Guy]

Am I the only one that is captivated by the investigations that occur after a crash?

To me, its a mixture of science, and even looking into people's lives. Something about it really is interesting of looking at what went wrong - and how a simple mistake can cause such trouble. Like a ground crew setting a normally "auto" function to manual, and the pilots not seeing it.

I honestly think that is a really cool thing to look into. I love looking at the simulation of the plane before the crash and looking at the control inputs to basically see how they got themselves into the situation.

[Joe G]

^ That is absolutely nuts. If your dad hadn't been feeling sick, you wouldn't exist.

Stuff like that is pretty crazy to think about.

[LateFan]

Not at all. A friend and I are on the email as soon as something bad happens, reading the reports, wondering how it could have happened. The Air France plane lost in the South Atlantic because they read the signs wrong and it stalled, the Tenerife 747 collision, the Asian 777 that hit the runway bulkhead in San Francisco recently, the lost Malaysia plane - they're all so interesting. Mocking up the recovered pieces in a hanger and trying to learn what happened - like you said, it's science and old fashioned detective work.

Another weird one - my dad was supposed to be on a DC-4 from Denver to SLC in 1955. He and his boss were headed over for meetings. My dad was feeling sick and decided he shouldn't go. The pilot essentially took a short cut where they curved around the mountains and slammed head on into Medicine Bow Peak in southern Wyoming, the only mountain anywhere near there higher than his altitude.

Nobody really talked about it since it happened so many years before I was born, but I looked up the report. They were simpler then, and only took a couple of months to turn out.

Flight 409 - All 66 on board died.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_409

It hit the 12,005' cliff at about 11,570'. They said it appeared he was trying to climb. He may have been in clouds. Some loggers at a camp 10 miles away saw a 4-engine plane pass overhead and later heard what sounded like a cannon or mining blast.

Bits are still on the mountain.

[george graves]

Am I the only one that is captivated by the investigations that occur after a crash?

To me, its a mixture of science, and even looking into people's lives. Something about it really is interesting of looking at what went wrong - and how a simple mistake can cause such trouble. Like a ground crew setting a normally "auto" function to manual, and the pilots not seeing it.

[LateFan]

Not so unrelated! Basler bought it to dissemble for parts or convert it and sell. The museum guys tracked down the tail number, found it there still intact, and raised the money to buy it.

[flyboyx]

Completely unrelated (but kind of), basler is the company that hangs Pratt and Whitney pt6's off the front of old dc3's.

When I graduated from college, I sniffed around there looking for a job. I had an interview scheduled, but a twin otter job came available in the south Pacific. Seemed like a better adventure.

[LateFan]

"Basler’s specialists are doing the restoration because they have dismantled plenty of old C-47s and technicians had many of the parts they needed. The plane had a successful engine test in December, and Commemorative Air Force hopes to see “That’s All, Brother” take flight in the coming days.

"Ultimately, Mr. Chetwynd said, the goal is to fly the plane over Normandy in 2019 to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day."

[BlackbirdM3]

The C-47 that led the D Day invasion....

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/u...-article-click

[ATTACH]119226[/ATTACH]

I'm guessing they want to take it to Oshkosh. I have media credentials waiting for me, if I can get back there. As always, Oshkosh will be epic.

Will

[M-technik-3]

Nothing sounds like a radial....

[LateFan]

The C-47 that led the D Day invasion....

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/u...-article-click

[flyboyx]

the youtube thing has been inop for months.

[BlackbirdM3]

I have a ride in this bird waiting for me if I can get to Kansas...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXOfBCQcUD0

(I couldn't get the video to embed and work for some reason hence the full link.)

Will

[flyboyx]

I used to know a couple pilots that flew the dc3 there. They had great stories. Flying in New England all summer and the carribean all winter. One guy used to park a sailboat in the keys that he used as a live aboard when the company was down there. He used to tell stories where flight attendants would always call him when they were in town, he would take them sailing, then shag the crap out of them while they were at sea.

[M-technik-3]

Pba? Is that Provincetown Boston airways?

Correct

[varg]

I was sitting in the couch late and heard a nice piston twin prop hotrod outside. Working hard so I assumed climbing out of the valley. Quick went to FA on my phone to see what it was, and not a plane in the sky or any flights near MSO.

I see private owners are able to block their ID (even though it's public records info). Think that's the case here? Even if he was going to a small local airfield he'd show up within 50 miles of MSO on the map.

VFR flight most likely.

https://flightaware.com/about/faq#vfr