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LancairDriver
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No doubt caught in a downdraft in a very underpowered airplane unsuited for mountain flying. (Bellanca Decathalon) Since he was a very experienced
glider pilot he may have been playing in the thermals and got more than he bargained for. As for remains- probably not much left after impact and the
bears took care of the rest. Anyway. we can speculate.
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dtbushpilot
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Perhaps the reason the plane crashed so hard with such an expirienced pilot at the controls was that no pilot was at the controls. Maybe he bailed out
and is living far away....wearing a parachute in this type plane is common, even required under certain circumstances. The fact that his personal
belongings were found quite a way from the accident site and the aparent un-survivable nature of the crash could support this theory.....dt
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LancairDriver
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| Quote: | Originally posted by dtbushpilot
Perhaps the reason the plane crashed so hard with such an expirienced pilot at the controls was that no pilot was at the controls. Maybe he bailed out
and is living far away....wearing a parachute in this type plane is common, even required under certain circumstances. The fact that his personal
belongings were found quite a way from the accident site and the aparent un-survivable nature of the crash could support this theory.....dt
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Thats a possibility. But think about bailing out of an airplane and wondering where it will finally crash. Maybe in downtown Mammoth Lakes, or Fresno,
or in a tree somewhere relatively intact with everyone wondering where the pilot is. That one would be hard to explain.
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Skeet/Loreto
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This is a very interesting Case.
The Crawford Lumber People crashed in Canada above Williams Lake. They were found 3 years later and some of their bones were found in the Area.
A very large Man Crashed his Cherokee 6 into the Ground South of Avenal Calif., There was still Rancid meat in Parts of the Aircraft one years later.
The salvage People tried to wash out all the Debris with little Success.
Since this incident I have been concerened that Fossett did not go in his intended or Spoken Direction. Why???
He is a Pilot who should have no trouble with a "Wave Condition" or Rotor Zone.
It would be interesting if they come up with any Debris in this Wreckage>
Wait at time with patientence. Let the rest of the Facts come in.
Skeet
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dtbushpilot
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| Quote: | Originally posted by LancairDriver
| Quote: | Originally posted by dtbushpilot
Perhaps the reason the plane crashed so hard with such an expirienced pilot at the controls was that no pilot was at the controls. Maybe he bailed out
and is living far away....wearing a parachute in this type plane is common, even required under certain circumstances. The fact that his personal
belongings were found quite a way from the accident site and the aparent un-survivable nature of the crash could support this theory.....dt
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Thats a possibility. But think about bailing out of an airplane and wondering where it will finally crash. Maybe in downtown Mammoth Lakes, or Fresno,
or in a tree somewhere relatively intact with everyone wondering where the pilot is. That one would be hard to explain. |
I've parachuted out of a small plane but never as the pilot so I can't be certain but if you provide me with a Decathelon and enough incentive (I
don't know what would incentivise a guy like him) I could probably trim it to crash in a 1 mile radius after bailing out. He would only need a couple
thousand feet AGL to do it.
This doesn't represent my theory of what happened, just trying to make it interesting....dt
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capt. mike
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i am with DT on this one if no DNA is found.
set up an accelerated stall climb attitude at full power. step out and push off, leaving throttle wide open. stall spin ensues and at full power it
rapidly corkscrews in.
might have to rig a bungee so controls don't neutralize and void the spin but that would leave evidence. full power would get it to strike with full
effect.
a rotor wave in that small and light a plane on the lee ward side would eat his lunch.
before he knew what was happening.
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Shark18
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Come on guys. Get real. Fossett was a gazillionaire. He didn't need to fake his death so his wife could collect insurance. By the way, every life
insurance policy I ever had had a specific exclusion for death while operating a private aircraft. It is a standard exclusion. Nobody is going to
write a life insurance policy for $30 million on a guy who flies balloons and experimental aircraft.
He died in the crash. Or else he died in the plane and then it crashed.
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bajaguy
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Additional photos from LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fossett3-pg,0,478534...
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Barry A.
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That site won't open up-----says it "has been changed".
BArry
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Barry A.
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-----try this site:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fossett3-pg,0,478534...
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cbuzzetti
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I don't know anything about the construction of this plane but I do know about racecars. A Nascar vehicle weighs in at 3,600 lbs. Most of that is the
chassis and running gear. The roll bar tubing is at least 1.75" with .095 wall thickness. If you ever get a good look at one you will understand why
they cannot build an airplane like a race car. It would never get off the ground. Too heavy.
BajaBuzz
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Barry A.
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Like others, I think he was trying to "catch the Sierra wave" and screwed up. Animals hauled off his body, down to where the "stuff" was found. We
will learn more later, I am betting.
Pretty strange for an "experienced" pilot, tho.
Barry
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tripledigitken
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Very strange for a very experienced pilot..........
and
Very large insurance policy
no body found...............yet
supposedly had a home in Mammoth? (heard this last night maybe a rumor)
Ken
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: | Originally posted by tripledigitken
Very strange for a very experienced pilot..........
and
Very large insurance policy
no body found...............yet
supposedly had a home in Mammoth? (heard this last night maybe a rumor)
Ken |
is this baja related? take it to OT  
what's the fascination with this plane crash? it was cloudy or partly cloudy day, t-storms in the area, he was probably out for an aimless fly-about,
screwing around and flew into a cloud and slammed into a mountain. not much more exciting or worthy of talk than a car crash, imho.
admitedly, the minarets and sierra top are a very pretty place to fly around, but i've only done it on nice days - you wouldn't catch me flying about
there at low altidude in a t-storm.
[Edited on 10-2-2008 by mtgoat666]
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tripledigitken
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Goat,
Easy, if you don't get it, don't read it!   
ps Did you get assigned to the Topic Police today?
Ken
[Edited on 10-2-2008 by tripledigitken]
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: | Originally posted by tripledigitken
Goat,
ps Did you get assigned to the Topic Police today?
Ken
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I woke up this morning and thought I was DK Whoa! that was some bad nightmare
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Barry A.
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| Quote: | Originally posted by mtgoat666
| Quote: | Originally posted by tripledigitken
Goat,
ps Did you get assigned to the Topic Police today?
Ken
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I woke up this morning and thought I was DK Whoa! that was some bad nightmare
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What's all this got to do with "Steve Fossett"?
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tripledigitken
Ultra Nomad
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Barry A.
| Quote: | Originally posted by mtgoat666
| Quote: | Originally posted by tripledigitken
Goat,
ps Did you get assigned to the Topic Police today?
Ken
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I woke up this morning and thought I was DK Whoa! that was some bad nightmare
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What's all this got to do with "Steve Fossett"? |
Go back 3 posts, unless you were trying to be humorous then..
Ken
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bajaguy
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Update
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26976119/?GT1=43001
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fishbuck
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It looks like he flew into a mountain top at full speed. They debris field is at 9700 feet. The scraped some human remains from the crash site.
There are a couple of big mountains in baja but you'd have to try to hit them.
I flew with a guy in a Cherokee 6 once out of Puertocitos going to San Quintin. The terrain rises pretty quick and he tried to fly in a straight line
across it. I wasn't sure if we would clear it or be too close to the summit because it was exceeding the rate of climb of the plane.
I pointed out a valley and asked him to fly around the mountain instead. It made more sense because we really didn't need to climb that high anyway.
Okay now it's about Baja!
[Edited on 10-3-2008 by fishbuck]
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." J. A. Shedd.
A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. – Albert Einstein
"Life's a Beach... and then you Fly!" Fishbuck
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