pmccarthy

We often complain about "Cessna plummeted to the ground" type stories. So where did the verb "plummeted" come from? It did not exist until it was invented by reporters for aviation accidents during the 1930s. A plummet was a lead weight used in a ship to sound the depth. It was also a plumb bob used by builders and surveyors. For a long time, people wrote that something “fell like a plummet”, referring to the way the plummet line spun out in a ship. In January 1930 in describing a mid-air collision in the USA a journalist wrote “There was an explosive flash, and bodies were hurled out of the flaming ships and began to fall like plummets into the sea.” In the same month an accident at Point Cook , Victoria, “A surmise that a structural breakage can alone account for the sudden drop of the seaplane Widgeon 'straight down like a plummet into the water' from an altitude of 400 ft., would seem to be founded on the unlikelihood of 'engine trouble,' the occurrence of which is hardly thought compatible with a dive so swift and sudden.” Then in 1933 “The U.S. Navy airship Akron dived into the ocean, off the American coast, with all hands aboard. Aboard her as she faltered and plummeted into the-storm-swept sea were 76 men, including Admiral William A. Moffett, chief of. the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics. Four men were rescued, but one of these died later.” This is close to the first invention of the word "plummet". As the 1930s progressed, “dropped like a plummet” gradually gave way to the new verb “plummeted”, which had mostly taken over in aviation stories by 1937 and then proliferated during World War 2.

This subject keeps coming up in threads about accidents. The ATSB say that they are not funded to investigate RAA accidents or even all accidents (fatal or otherwise) and that they will choose which accidents might yield new insights to improve safety. I think this approach misses a vital point. The investigations should not be carried out to better inform ATSB about the causes of accidents. They should be carried out to inform pilots. I accept that the rules are "written in blood" and that conceivably every possible cause has already been investigated and reported. So, all causes are recorded in the bowels of ATSB, in past investigation reports and articles in crash comics. But that doesn't put them in the minds of pilots. We are all interested in recent accidents and keenly await investigation reports. The learnings from them may be old ones but they become new again when they are recent or involve people we know, or people known to our own acquaintances. The old stories need constant refreshment, and this is best done by investigating and reporting as many causes as possible as soon as possible after each incident. These stories will stick in our minds and influence the way we fly. It doesn't matter how many "stall spin" accidents are in the files, students and new pilots will not read them or will consider them to be old, irrelevant stories. It is the one that is in the news, or happened on the next airfield, that will change our behaviour for life.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-mid-north-coast-light-plane-crash-at-gaagal-wanggaan-national-park-near-nambucca-heads/ce07835b-342a-437a-9438-87805059dc51 includes a before photo of the Sting ( unless it is a stock photo of another one).

Good analysis here…

From the video I think most will be dead.

Stabilator on the Vixxen works really well. I previously had a PA-28 so appreciate it.

IMG_1077.MOV

Doesn't it have a shorter wing?

Beware of radon gas levels from that granite.

Or pitchy in twitch.

This exchange reminds me of several cases some years back when a valuable forum member was driven to leave the forum by repeated attacks. We were all the losers each time that happened. I have learned a lot from Skippy's posts over the years and I hope this exchange is over and he doesn't take it to heart.

Latest image, Ukrainian drone hits Grozny.

I found it was a slight breeze on the microphone from the cockpit ventilator. Turning the vent just a bit stopped the “static”. Happened on both headsets.

Eurofoxes are becoming affordable.

Having trained back when we did full spin recovery after three rotations, stalling and recovering have never bothered me if there is sufficient height. But it has made me super vigilant about airspeed and attitude when at 2000 feet or less AGL, because I know how much height you lose. I think that sort of training should be compulsory still.

Contact Kyneton Aero Club, very serious AFR review but not silly.

He's just stoned.

Both Danny G and I looked at the Bushcat at Avalon some years back. I thought it looked good and seriously considered getting one. I have since followed Danny's posts about his build and am glad I didn't try it, but with local manufacture and support I hope they do well.

I looked this story up and the accident may have been a stall, with the pilot detaching the canopy to bail out. The entire aircraft disappeared into a crater in the ground and only the canopy was found intact some distance away.

I took these photos of VH-IVI at Bankstown around 1971. the writing on the tail said Mustang P51-D R.J. Whitbread Motors Pty Ltd Kogarah 587-8011 VH-IVI was registered in June 1969 to warbird proponent Langdon Badger. He sold it to Sydney businessman Ray Whitbread in September 1970. In mid-1973 the aircraft struck the ground in a vertical dive near Windsor, NSW; destroying the Mustang and killing Ray Whitbread, who was practising aerobatics. The canopy detached and struck him, rendering him unconscious.

The energy absorbed helps the quick transition from flying to not flying.

When I think of instructors, I picture a 40-something person or older imparting knowledge and wisdom. That has been my experience. Someone with a couple of hundred hours in their early twenties may be able to teach the basic skills, but they do not have wisdom. I think there should be a reassessment of minimum standards (age and hours) for instructors.

https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/237212267/vh-ldv-2013-morgan-aeroworks-cougar

But did you see the baggage container ingested the other day?