4 ms·

A friend of mine in the 90s was there as an F-16 test pilot and saw the accident. He said this sort of problem is a well known risk of being a test pilot so the

A friend of mine in the 90s was there as an F-16 test pilot and saw the accident. He said this sort of problem is a well known risk of being a test pilot so they spend a lot of time on planning how to deal with something bad. He also said they usually left much more daring things to safer places and preferred to keep the air show maneuvers less risky since crashes are not a good marketing plan.

to11mtm 4y ago
> He also said they usually left much more daring things to safer places and preferred to keep the air show maneuvers less risky since crashes are not a good marketing plan. Makes sense. Fancy maneuvers at lower altitudes (i.e. Air shows/Public/govt Demos) give less space to correct or safely eject when something goes wrong.
- Wistar 4y ago
  My first flight instructor, an accomplished aerobatics competitor and air-show performer, had a saying: "Make the difficult look easy, the easy look spectacular, and never attempt the impossible."
pastaguy1 4y ago
Since the cause was multiple birdstrikes, I don't know how specific to being a test pilot this episode was. Maybe they do more stuff with higher risk of birdstrike in general, or maybe they didn't yet know the plane's flight envelope, etc., but this would have been a bad day even if the MiG was production at this point, i would think. edit: I guess this plane was already production at this point. maybe i'm confused about what constitutes a test pilot.
- LorenPechtel 4y ago
  Civilian aircraft are speed limited below IIRC 18,000' because of the danger of bird strikes. Military aircraft are no less vulnerable, they just have ejection seats if the pilot loses the game with the birds.
- coldcode 4y ago
  My friend flew every plane they delivered, sort of a functional test, in addition to practicing/planning for airshows, as well as sometimes showing off for employees at lunchtime.
dehrmann 4y ago
> crashes are not a good marketing plan NASCAR disagrees.

to11mtm 4y ago

> He also said they usually left much more daring things to safer places and preferred to keep the air show maneuvers less risky since crashes are not a good marketing plan. Makes sense. Fancy maneuvers at lower altitudes (i.e. Air shows/Public/govt Demos) give less space to correct or safely eject when something goes wrong.

Wistar 4y ago
My first flight instructor, an accomplished aerobatics competitor and air-show performer, had a saying: "Make the difficult look easy, the easy look spectacular, and never attempt the impossible."

pastaguy1 4y ago

Since the cause was multiple birdstrikes, I don't know how specific to being a test pilot this episode was. Maybe they do more stuff with higher risk of birdstrike in general, or maybe they didn't yet know the plane's flight envelope, etc., but this would have been a bad day even if the MiG was production at this point, i would think. edit: I guess this plane was already production at this point. maybe i'm confused about what constitutes a test pilot.

LorenPechtel 4y ago
Civilian aircraft are speed limited below IIRC 18,000' because of the danger of bird strikes. Military aircraft are no less vulnerable, they just have ejection seats if the pilot loses the game with the birds.
coldcode 4y ago
My friend flew every plane they delivered, sort of a functional test, in addition to practicing/planning for airshows, as well as sometimes showing off for employees at lunchtime.

dehrmann 4y ago

> crashes are not a good marketing plan NASCAR disagrees.