Podgy -the family unit doesnt consider Coventry a tourist attraction of choice! However a family on holiday will often choose a different attraction i.e like Flambards as was for a day out -such would be the attraction of Cornwall.

Enthusiasts despite what they might think are a tiny part of the revenue for a museum.

Well I’m an enthusiast who visits Airbase several times a year, buys pleasure flights when I’m there,and through being a member of the Classic Flight Club and donating each month give them far more money each and every year than a “family unit” on holiday is likely to do. I appreciate that I am only one thought. But I really can’t see the point of me carrying on doing that when they’re 300 miles away rather than 40. Whilst I like to give something back I do need some engagement and it’s not going to happen for me at St.Mawgan. Enthusiasts may not give much, but they’re more likely to provide repeat business, and income especially in the barren winter months. Not me anymore, when Airbase goes to Cornwall I fin somewhere else for my money to go.

Andy

No VC10s at Brunty last weekend – so all four must have been chopped

Andy

I certainly hope the thread isn’t closed – if it offends people here in historic, maybe it can be moved elsewhere (general aviation perhaps). As someone who watched “The Galloping Ghost” crash – albeit from a distance – I really need to understand more about what I saw happen. I’ve watched the videos, and I’ll watch others that surface – and its not morbid curiosity. I doubt I will ever forget seeing “The Galloping Ghost” flying into the ground very close to the grandstand, at about 80 degrees nose down and going very fast. Aeroplanes don’t normally do that I saw something I didn’t expect to see and don’t fully understand, and the discussions and videos help me rationalise what I saw. Some will say ‘wait for the report’ but I don’t really want to do that… As a GA pilot, my type of flying has no relationship to air racing nor is our aeroplane anything like a Mustang, but since I’ve seen the images you can be damned sure I’ll be taking a closer look at the elevator trim tab when I fly our aeroplane tomorrow. Discussing and watching sheds some light on what I saw from a distance, and gives me a little reassurance that I’m unlikely to end up plowing into the ground myself when I fly.

Why am I reminded of a group of rubber-neckers stood around a car crash debating how the wheel came off which then caused the car to slam into a bus stop full of people?

In over 30 years, 2200 flights, 500 hours PIC, countless airshows and other events, 100000s of pictures… the demise of “The Galloping Ghost” was the first time I’ve seen a fatal air crash actually occur.

I love air racing and the people involved, I’ve been to Reno each of the last few years, and every day safety was mentioned – every day at the media briefing, safety was ephasised – every day, we were reminded about safety and told where we could and couldn’t go for the sake of safety. And ever since I witnessed the accident I’ve been hoping that it wasn’t some stupid oversight that caused what happened, because that would probably be the end of the Reno races as we know them now. Even so, I’m not yet sure whether I could go back again even if the races keep going – not because of concern about my own safety, but because I don’t want to see another fatal accident, particularly if it was to be proven this one was avoidable.

Thus, whilst I know that there’s no real clarity until the NTSB reports, having watched Jimmy’s last flight to the end too (albeit from much further away than did Dave, on the other side of the course), I think it helps me rationalise what happened by looking at the photos, watching the videos, and reading and discussing the thinking on what caused it – firstly with friends in Reno, and on the forums now I’m home.

God bless Jimmy and all of those who died anyway…

Andy

I also want to add, for anyone questioning the safety of the event, that there’s a huge focus on safety throughout, from planning right through to sterile ramps during races and the FAA and NTSB being on site throughout monitoring the event. The grandstands are way further away from the race than [say] the granstands are at RIAT, and the forward vector of the race planes DOES NOT come close to the crowd – the section of the course closest to the crowd is pretty much straight, with the inward turns completed well before that section of the course – in fact, by the time they pass the grandstand they’re starting to turn away. An aircraft that departs radically from it’s intended flight path – whether mechanical or pilot incapacity induced – can go anywhere, and it can happen at any event. Its sad that it happened near the grandstands – the reality is that it could have happened out on most of the rest of the course and killed no one but the pilot. I don’t believe you can truly legislate for the event that occurred without stopping the racing. None the less, even having seen the crash, I don’t view the Reno races as unsafe im any way and I sincerely hope that they continue.

What, no pics of the Skyvan!!!??? Dammit, that was my favourite! Despite the Skyvan’s omission, seriously, the Ark was magnificent – especially doing touch and gos on the canal on Friday afternoon… And the guy who owns it – an absolutle gentleman 😉

Anyway, interesting pics and thanks for sharing… Sad to see the ding to the Pitts (the S38 also hit a hangar door Thursday night too, but only sustained a minor dent to the very tip of upper leading edge and was able to continue flying). I never even saw F-BULT – mind you, the aeroplanes were spread out quite a bit and I was doing other things (photos in a week or so all being well)…

A380 was moving, CRJ was stopped. Air France to blame – end of. Commander is ALWAYS responsible for the safety of the aeroplane.

Now, there could be faults with the layout of the apron and taxiways, ATC may have cleared the A380 to taxi incorrectly, or the CRJ pilot may not have complied with instructions or procedures associated with parking on the ramp… Those extenuating circumstances may have increased the likelihood of a collision. But, the A380 bumped into the CRJ and no amount of bad design, duff ATC instructions or failure to comply by other pilots absolved a commander from ALWAYS ensuring his aeroplane is bei g operated safely. On the ground – if in doubt, stop.

Andy