Aircraft & Aviation

[NeTree]

Of course; a very interesting fellow, indeed. He spoke at one of our pilot's association meetings a few years back.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

damn Erik, you lucky dog. That must have been very interesting.

I have to admit, that his designs appealed to me mostly because to my untrained eye as a boy, they looked like spaceships.

Even now, I LOVE the design of the quickie plane.

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7DtoAp2mrHk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[NeTree]

I could tell you I have his autograph in my log book... but I wouldn't wanna get you angry.

A very innovative guy, no fear about thinking different about how a plane should look and perform.

 

[Bermy]

Saw him at Oshkosh once...and Steve Fossett and Paul Tibbets...

 

[NeTree]

Burt is at Oshkosh as we speak, along with our buddy Mike Goulian.

 

[woodworkingboy]

John Denver, I believe was flying some type of experimental plane when he crashed into the sea (lake?) and was killed. I recall a report that he had been drinking before taking off.

 

[Bermy]

Oshkosh...I never thought I could last five days of nothing but planes...boy was I wrong...AMAZING! The War Birds were my favourite.
Mind you I went home with an MS250 in my luggage from the local saw shop...

 

[NeTree]

I believe Ed and I both have an affinity for old warbirds, if the posts in another thread are any indication.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Tibbets has taken a lot of heat, at least indirectly. I saw a documentary about one of the guys in the Enola Gay flight crew that came to Japan and met with some survivors of the blast. I don't recall if it was Tibbets. They tried to eek an apology out of him, but he wouldn't budge on it. "That's not why I came here". If one of those guys felt that they had to apologize, it probably would have killed them long ago.

 

[NeTree]

I still believe that dropping the bombs, while horrific, saved many more lives on both sides in the long run.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

You guys know what a bleeding heart commie liberal I am - And I believe that Japan thoroughly deserved both bombs. I dont like feeling that way, but when you read what the Japanese army did in places like Nanking and Singapore, those bombs were inevitable. It would have been atom bombs, or another Dresden, Kiel or Bremmen.

 

[Tree Reb]

Not to mention what they did in Sandakan and Burma, as well as a lot other places.

A lot of people don't know about the Tokyo bombings, a lot died there. More than Hiroshima.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo

As for Dresden, a total disgrace in my opinion but that's another story altogether.

 

[Cobleskill]

John Denvers plane was built with the fuel selector in an unusual configuration. The original owner preferred it that way, for some reason. They think that caused him to not switch to an on fuel position. Should have just flown the plane and he probably would have survived. I doubt the drinking played a part. I think it would be common knowledge if it had.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

When you start aggresive military policies against other nations civilians, then you have to inevitably expect reprisals against your own civilians. WHOEVER you are.

In 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzō apologized in print, acknowledging Japan's bombing of Chinese cities beginning in 1938, killing civilians. He wrote that the Japanese government should have surrendered as soon as losing the war was inevitable, an action that would have prevented Tokyo from being firebombed in March 1945, as well as subsequent bombings of other cities

 

[Tree Reb]

Pity he wasn't Prime minister then.

Ed, you have mentioned the de Havilland Mosquito [made of wood] in other threads, I just came across this a few days ago I'd never heard of it before, made mostly from wood.

The Horten 2-29, Hitlers Stealth Fighter.

There's a youtube video as well, I'm just watching it now.

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3jUlZNJYdDI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Thor's Hammer]

Yes the HO was a very advanced aircraft. A lot of Hitlers so called wonder weapons struggled with intrinsic design problems though. People have claimed that if the Nazi's had more messerschmitt ME 262 jet fighters, that they could have turned the war. What they forget is that Germany's metalurgy skills were just not advanced enough, and that the engines did'nt last much longer than a few hours.

The Nazi Flying wing did finally get famous though, remember this...?

 

[Tree Reb]

No actually, I had to look it up.

What they forget is that Germany's metalurgy skills were just not advanced enough, and that the engines did'nt last much longer than a few hours.

After watching that video I'd say we are all lucky they didn't last long, and the war ended when it did.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Dropping the atomic bombs was justifiable to the planners of the operations for a few reasons; ending the war against a fervent enemy that didn't surrender easily, justifying the enormous expense that had gone into developing the weapons, revenge for Pearl Harbor, and last but perhaps not least, a big warning to the Russians. I believe that the final Nagasaki bombing is the one that seems most questionable to the Japanese as far as whether it was justified or not. Many historians seem to think that sending a double clear message to the Russians was the main purpose of that devastation.

 

[NeTree]

John Denvers plane was built with the fuel selector in an unusual configuration. The original owner preferred it that way, for some reason. They think that caused him to not switch to an on fuel position. Should have just flown the plane and he probably would have survived. I doubt the drinking played a part. I think it would be common knowledge if it had.

A huge percentage of airplane accidents are made worse because the pilot gets fixated on a smaller problem... and forgets to do job number one- FLY THE PLANE.

 

[stig]

Jay, I'd agree that they could have waited more than 3 days before dropping the second bomb, in order to give the emperor a chance to surrender.

I think the Russkies got the message after the first one.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

A huge percentage of airplane accidents are made worse because the pilot gets fixated on a smaller problem... and forgets to do job number one- FLY THE PLANE.

John Denver was flying a Rutan long EZ. I know what you mean about small problems - I once drove clean off a road and into a small ravine, going end over end until I landed upside down in the river. Why? I took my eyes off a windy road to fiddle with a stuck safety belt...

 

[NeTree]

I wonder what "non-standard" location or configuration the fuel selector could have been in?

 

[woodworkingboy]

There seems to have been a number of factors that contributed to Denver's crash, according to the conclusions that were reached later. Whatever an "overly optimistic" pre-flight check exactly is, that was mentioned too. The fuel control was also known faulty, like stiff or something. Pretty rad looking plane if it is the same model.

 

[NeTree]

Old pilot saying... Take-off is optional; landing is mandatory.

 

[Cobleskill]

It was mounted behind the pilot. They blamed stretching to reach over his left shoulder with involuntarily stepping on the rudder.