Oh...my...God. WTF??? I don't know how many ratings this clown has and I don't care -- didn't this guy learn ANYTHING in PRIVATE training????
One of my instructors told me that the most important maneuver in flying is the 180 deg. turn. Switches
Thanks, Russ. I believe that he implied that in his statement and I have never forgotten it...even when I inadvertently got caught in IMC once and wiggled my way out of it. Switches
The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me. I mean really how hard is it to turn around and not risk it?
My incident of stupid happened when three of us were flying home from attending the Merced Antique Fly in. We were fighting deteriorating weather as we flew north. Finally it stopped us in Redding , Ca. and after three days of waiting , we charged ahead. Things were not clear but lifting and the heavy rain had stopped. The climb up through the Sacramento River Canyon toward Dunsmuir got worse as we climbed higher and the other two airplanes began to play hide and seek in the broken and thickening clouds. I was maintaining intermittent visual contact with the left side of the canyon and seriously considered a 180 but I had no idea where the other two guys were except that they were behind and I thought to my right. So, I kept going okay..until near the top. We entered a heavy blinding rain storm that sounded like it was raining marbles. I had no instruments to speak of so I locked in a heading as best I could ( the compass was swinging from side to side and wasn't holding a steady heading), put us in a slight climb ( my wife was in the back seat), centered the ball, kept the airspeed at 70, and tried to keep everything there where it was. Keeping my eyes on the airspeed and heading. After what seemed like five or six hours, we broke out in to sunshine, off course to the right and right wing down. I continued to Ykreka-Montague and landed for some fuel and a breather. The other two in the flight finally showed up too. Not a terribly smart leg on the trip and I'm not too proud of having done it. Partial panel, partial brain. Switches
That short video was terrifying to me to watch. I am a student pilot in a Cessna 172 and the idea of flying up the side of a mountain canyon in IMC or near-IMC is beyond what my stomach can take. The hitting of the right wing on bushes is mind boggling scary. What speed was he at? Maybe 150 knots? Yikes! The saddest thing is seeing the face of the rear passenger. I don't think he realizes he is inches from certain death! I can't imagine not turning around. Actually, I can't imagine taking off in the first place, given my novice skills.
That's no good...that GPS (696) has a terrain function and that guy should have been using it! It really makes me believe in the new synthetic vision systems that are available now, even in the small airplanes.
I have a couple of friends, both high time jet guys (one of whom also had years of charter experience in Alaska), who crashed in a Cherokee scud running in Washington. They flew up the wrong canyon looking for a pass, and couldn't turn around. The good news is that both survived, and they both still have flying jobs!
