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My 25 and 30 year old cars don't fall out of the sky if the engine stops working, and even if I do wreck I'm not looking at guaranteed death like that in a typi

My 25 and 30 year old cars don't fall out of the sky if the engine stops working, and even if I do wreck I'm not looking at guaranteed death like that in a typical plane accident. One of them doesn't even have airbags! Live a little.

heelix 7y ago
Good lord... I realize my plane is 64 years old now. I was able to solo with about 8 hours of training (a few takeoff and landings by my lonesome). Most of getting licensed is learning how to deal with bad situations. Engine out, getting lost, that sort of thing. Every biennial flight review, at some point, the engine will 'fail'. The plane may or may not belong to the insurance company after in a real event but most engine out scenarios should be survivable. I can't think I've even seen an aircraft that is without 4 point shoulder straps. Even big stuff can do that sort of landing. (Your call on if you consider that gliding, or just falling with style) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549
- allovernow 7y ago
  Sure, I was being hyperbolic. But all of those are emergencies that require technical training and a cool head to evade - and not everyone is capable of flying a plane. Contrast that to a car where the worst that can happen is you roll to a stop. Hell, during near misses, you can panic brake and lock the steering wheel and that's it, your ride is safely over. No need to hit a runway with just enough glide left within a speed range with some special configuration of control surfaces. Sounds like a cool plane though, clearly I appreciate old mechanical technology!
WalterBright 7y ago
> I'm not looking at guaranteed death like that in a typical plane accident. I don't have the numbers handy, but most plane accidents are survivable. In fact, there are many crashes where everyone survived (like the Gimli Glider).

heelix 7y ago

Good lord... I realize my plane is 64 years old now. I was able to solo with about 8 hours of training (a few takeoff and landings by my lonesome). Most of getting licensed is learning how to deal with bad situations. Engine out, getting lost, that sort of thing. Every biennial flight review, at some point, the engine will 'fail'. The plane may or may not belong to the insurance company after in a real event but most engine out scenarios should be survivable. I can't think I've even seen an aircraft that is without 4 point shoulder straps. Even big stuff can do that sort of landing. (Your call on if you consider that gliding, or just falling with style) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549

allovernow 7y ago
Sure, I was being hyperbolic. But all of those are emergencies that require technical training and a cool head to evade - and not everyone is capable of flying a plane. Contrast that to a car where the worst that can happen is you roll to a stop. Hell, during near misses, you can panic brake and lock the steering wheel and that's it, your ride is safely over. No need to hit a runway with just enough glide left within a speed range with some special configuration of control surfaces. Sounds like a cool plane though, clearly I appreciate old mechanical technology!

WalterBright 7y ago

> I'm not looking at guaranteed death like that in a typical plane accident. I don't have the numbers handy, but most plane accidents are survivable. In fact, there are many crashes where everyone survived (like the Gimli Glider).