Yesterday morning I was invited to tag along with a friend on a breakfast flight to Sante Fe. The Sante Fe pilots group was having a little get together at the restaurant there. At the current time, I am nothing more than a pathetic pilot without an airplane so, of course, I leapt at the opportunity!! What a gorgeous day it was! We are terribly spoiled here in New Mexico as nearly all of the days are beautiful, blue sky days. Having lived in places where this is not the case, particularly in the middle of January, I know how important it is to appreciate this “typical” weather. These photos were taken during the flight – mostly east of Albuquerque. The Fun-to-Suck ratio was very good!
The speaker (at the meeting), and his wife, had been sitting in the box seats at Reno 2011 and were just a few feet away from where Jimmy Leeward impacted the ground in Galloping Ghost. They described a very dramatic experience but were very clear – the scene that the media sensationalists described did NOT exist. It was not “gore”, “confusion”, and a “madhouse scene”; rather, they said it was all handled very professionally by very well trained emergency crews. Yes, there was death and injury but it was not the picture that the media tried to paint.
I am very thankful to have heard recently that the National Championship Air Races at Reno, NV will be ran again in 2012. Yes, accidents happen but that is no surprise in any sport or event where the absolute maximum is being extracted from man or machine. I am continually frustrated and saddened by our government and the media for trying to make everything 100% safe – including space flight, under-sea exploration, car racing, etc… It will never be absolutely safe, certainly not in my lifetime, and the participants in these activities know it. When it becomes totally safe, we are no longer exploring the unknown nor stretching the bounds of man or machine.
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