Yes it would be nice to be able to afford a Mustang. Ya think it might be to much plane for me though. Formation flying for me is about 1000 ft of clearance. Formation landing is, Wiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Hate to be synicel but a very large pat of the loss is the loss of the plane.

http://www.aero-tv.net/index.cfm?videoi ... 7b-6f3b0f1

Tim

Tim,

Well, consider this, related to your contention:

Gerry Beck, the fellow who was killed in that "Mustang", was a rather prolific warbird rebuilder. He has restored MANY WWII aircraft to better than new condition at his shop in Wapehton, ND.

But.....not the airplane that he was killed in. THAT airplane was a homebuilt. Beck BUILT that Mustang from the original P-51A construction plans from North American, one piece at a time, and manufactured ALL the parts for it from scratch. It was a one off homebuilt airplane.

So, you see, the loss of Gerry Beck not only removes a person from our midst with the time and talent to rebuild warbirds, but probably the only person who's ever built a NEW one from scratch.

I do agree that formation landings aren't necessary nor wise.

But, the loss of Gerry Beck is a great loss to aviation.

MTV

I've heard they weren't doing a real formation landing just landing after a formation flight. Has anyone heard different? Sometimes the "loose" formation landing can be more dangerous than anything else.
I personally beg to differ on the previous perspectives (other than the "not neccessary"). I have whipped out many a fun formation landing both on wheels and floats just for a goof with no negative side effects. However I ALWAYS MEANT to do it, I flew trail unless with another experienced formation pilot (I flew lead when learning, of course.), we always had a plan that was discussed-read back-and executed, we communicated clearly throughout the manuver (both lead calling power changes, speed changes, turns, flaps, etc. and trail calling for the need to speed up, shallow up, or the ability to take more aggression with a given move without complcations) and most importantly- the trail had outs. In roughly 350 hours of formation flying I've only ever bailed out of two formation landings, and ever had a trail bail out of one (I was messin' with him, I knew he could handle it!). As with anything in aviation it can be done safely IF there is a plan, it is executed, lead fly's for the flight - not just himself, trail NEVER takes his eyes off of the lead, there are outs, and everyone is aware enough to use them when neccessary.
I personally do it for the satisfying feeling I get when in a synergistic cooperation scenario with another pilot (s). I enjoy the focus and multi-tasking neccessary to do it smoothly and cleanly. I also really get off on some of the kick ass visuals you get when doing it. Some of my most memorable moments have been at 21,000' on O2 with three other Otters, and a Skyvan watching bodies leaving the Skyvan 60 feet away with the sunset over the Pacific in the background then descending into the twilight below in formation only to break off into pairs on the downwind to land in formation as 100 parachutes land next to the runway. Or being rolled up in a 45 degree bank right under the tailwheel of another 802 turning a quarter mile final only to slide out to the right as we roll out and crack it into beta just before the mains slide onto the pavement with my left wing tip strobe reflecting in his right fuselage panel in the dusk. Or sliding onto some semi-glassy water at Port McNeil just abeam another Beaver and bump the power back up to formation step-taxi up to the dock. That's fun to me. Don't knock it 'till you try it.
Based on the comments I've heard I don't believe this was a formation landing accident, I believe this was a case of "loose" formation and one on the runway not being seen until it was too late. Either way a great loss to his family, the warbird community, and aviation in general. If anyone gets the straight story I'm all ears.

mtv wrote:But, the loss of Gerry Beck is a great loss to aviation.

Yeah, that is the biggest loss here. Anytime we lose someone with a vast amount of experience and knowledge, it's a tragedy, as it's something that can never be reclaimed. Especially for this guy, who had the potential to resurrect many other warbirds.

I guess that one of the things to be learned from this is that when we do somthing with a pretty good degree of danger, we really nead to be on our toes. We can all do beter.
Tim

I do agree that formation landings aren't necessary nor wise.



That P51 crash was not a formation landing but rather a tremendously screwed up arrival of several planes.

We are having a tribute/fly in over labor day in Gerry's honor at Battle Lake, MN. If anyone is interested, let me know and I will pass on the info.

Gerry was a wonderful person and will be missed by many.

If planned, briefed and executed as briefed formation anything isn't very dangerous, it becomes dangerous when it becomes a "pick up game"