Robert Russell Obituary - Columbia, SC | The State Neighbors tried to save Russell after plane crashed into pond - wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina I did not know Bob Russell except in passing. As we passed through GMU I took a picture of his Legend Turbine a few weeks ago on the ramp in Greenville, noting how cool it looked. Of course this was interesting due to the thread "Turbine Legend Anyone?" Of course I noted the post about how they killed people, so this so somewhat prophetic although it appears to be related to an engine issue and although turbines are so reliable. He apparently was one hell of a pilot even at age 85. This often brings up flying at old age. I suppose there is something to say about it, and it is a good way to go as opposed to lying in a nursing home bed, something I know a great deal about. I have family who's grandparents went out in a bang in their late 70s on the Guadalupe Mountains. The only solace is that they went out doing what they loved and there was no long-term illness. Interesting at our Ferrari Club of America event last week we had a Carbon Club fly over low a few times, rocking it's wings. My fiend looked at me and said "That's Ed Byars". He has one leg, and one eye, and is 93 years old!" Who knows how long we have to live, and for those of you that are pilots, to fly. All I know is that from seeing many of your post here, it appears to be near the top of "the list". I've read that Bob was considered to be a great pilot, one of the best around these parts, a Hall of Famer. He went out doing what he loved. Image Unavailable, Please Login
update via Kathryn's Report. https://scaaonline.com/?hall-of-fame=robert-bob-russell Kathryn's Report: Turbine Legend, N42BR, BR Legend LLC: Fatal accident occurred May 23, 2015 near Columbia Metropolitan Airport (KCAE), Columbia, South Carolina
Very sad to see this kind of ending for such an accomplished pilot. There aren't many out there and any loss is very bad. The Turbine Legend is a true high performance airplane. After reading this preliminary and others that are similar, I can only hope that there is a greater push for BRS in high performance aircraft with typically high stall speeds. Loosing an engine in a low & slow airplane with very low stall speeds is almost always survivable - even off runway. But, much tougher situation with high performance airplanes - especially off runway. BRS not only saves the occupants - but also engine, avionics and most of the expensive parts of the plane. That is in addition to likely causing little or no damage to whatever it lands on. RIP.
