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germaine greer?

Posted by bdk on Wed Mar 03, 2004 07:26:31 PM

In reply top Re: Inertia posted by steve on Wed Mar 03, 2004 06:46:39 PM

That one doesn't translate to American English unfortunately. I assume that he is a sensationalistic TV journalist or the like.

I agree with everything you say, but would like to add that maturity and judgement are two of the most important skills a pilot can have. You need to leave enough of a buffer to prevent your mistakes from becoming fatal.

My comment about flying a display at 10,000 feet was tongue in cheek, but you have to balance safety with the need to adequately entertain the paying customers.

On the subject of the safety of the airshow scene in the UK, my impression is that the record is not all that good (number of fatal crashes during a display- i.e. while the public is watching). Some of the low level flying I witnessed during a show at Duxford a few years back was downright scary. Perhaps the situation is different now.

I think that the US has made some important strides in airshow safety over the past ten years, including formation training and certification for displays. I think that would make an excellent thread for further discussion.

All this being said, I can only wish for the opportunity to fly a Spitfire at that speed, that close to the ground, over such a historic airfield....once! Until then, the greatest danger for me is falling out of bed and hitting my head dreaming about it. :-)

: :The biggest danger is clearly pilot error and the proximi
: t
: : y to the ground (i.e. flying into it). In that case, his
: e
: : xcellence as a pilot would certainly be in question!
:
: not a case of his skill as a pilot being in any doubt but
: even the best can and do make mistakes. Mr Hanna is one of
: the best in the business as we all know and has done a he
: ll of a lot for Historic Aviation but look how close he is
: to DeCadenet and try and say that was safe.
:
: As for the issue of height, i would say the primary issue/
: danger here is that a pilot would fly right on the deck ai
: ming himself at a tv crew! At a time when the safety of Hi
: storic aircraft flying is constantly under scrutiny and ac
: cidents prompt wild accusations in the press (ie germaine
: greer and co), then such scenes, as amazing and watchable
: as they are, dont help.
:
: I wouldnt suggest doing displays at 10,000ft, the implicat
: ion that i would is unrelated to my comments. I made no me
: ntion of airshow displays, the way that airshows are run a
: re done with safety in the foremost of the organisers mind
: s and we are lucky to ahve such a healthy airshow scene. I
: wouldnt change the way displays are run in the slightest,
: the point here is that this was NOT an air display and wa
: s a piece of flying done for a wow factor as a piece for a
: production. This piece could have been done with a more h
: eight between the Spit and DeCadenets skull.
:
: best regards

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