Originally Posted by
Katamarino
This is exactly the same arguement that the H&S nazis that we all hate to much use to try and stop anything we don't like.
Why stop there, Big Pistons Forever? How about those aerobatic pilots? They're exposing themselves to needless risk for no good reason except cheap thrills, after all;.
I enjoy both flying and teaching aerobatics. The difference is I am trained for what I am doing, I am flying an aircraft designed for the task, the exercise is carried out in a block of airspace designated for aerobatics and at an altitude sufficent to recover if a manoever is botched. All my students are pretty pumped when they land and the most common comment is "what a thrill, that was awesome". The difference is they got their thrills flying in a way that is specifically designed to reduce the risks to a sensible level.
As for the fact that you seem to think I am some straight and level kill joy, well I bet my last flight was more exciting than yours
. I was flying the deputy lead position in a Formation flight of 4 Nanchang CJ6's. I was within 30 feet of the lead for an hour of manoevers that included up to 90 degs of bank and 45 deg of pitch (the latter when detached as 2 ship elements).
But again I was fully trained by an ex Air Force demonstration team pilot, the flight was carefully briefed, we worked in a protected area, I was wearing a nomex flight suit and parachute, etc etc. There is no comparison between a properly conducted aerobatic, or formation flight and some guy who decides, probably on the spur of the moment, to showboat at wave height with a passenger on board.
Bottom line from my POV is that there are plenty of ways to get your thrills in aviation while appropriately managing risk........or you can impulsively choose to accept an unplanned and unlimited amount of danger for some momentary cheap thrills ...... which I would suggest is a pretty good definition of "stupid".