Hmm. CRAN seems to want to attract the "high-acheivers" in the community. I guess all these Robbie drivers who post here aren't good enough for him? "Hey, where can I find a good R-22 school in NZ?" "I have 160 hours. Where can I get a job?" "How come the tail rotor turns this way?"
Hello, Steve76: Reality calling- are you home yet? Apparently you're not. "Full stop"?? You don't run this forum, Sonny Jim. You want my name? Don't hold your breath. ...Or better yet, DO hold your breath! The longer the better. This is an anonymous forum and there are no minimum requirements for posting one's opinion here. In fact, my credentials do not matter one whit, and your focusing on them is a feeble attempt to sidetrack people or distract attention from the REAL issue which, I repeat, is that a person on the ground is dead because of the actions of a pilot.
Retract my post? Get real. "Disrespectful idiot?" Well, I have no respect for pilots who endanger their pax and kill people on the ground. So yes, I guess I am disrespectful. Idiot? I suppose... Then again, I think YOU are an idiot, so I guess it's a draw, right? Hey, wait a minute! Weren't you the one chastising me for slander earlier? Maybe I should sue *you* for slander, hmm? Ohhh, you probably don't even have slander laws down there in NZ like we do.
To Bronx. You say:
Flare saw "an" eyewitness account on a skydiver's website, took it at face value, assumed it was unbiased, and decided that was good enough reason to name the pilot on an international public forum and heap a whole loada **** on him.
So...you think I've formed my opinion on this mess on the basis of ONE newsgroup posting by a skydiver who was at the WFFC convention? Are you THAT much of a simpleton? I refuse to believe that...despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
I look at the total package: First the FAA report, then what I know about the U.S. FAR's and the U.S. legal system, then the reports on the skydivers' and WFFC websites, then the pictures. Oh boy, the pictures!
[Oh, and Bronx? My lawyer relatives are not "ambulance chasers." They are highly intelligent people - more so than me I might add, whom I often look to for advice and counsel. I
could say some disparaging things about YOUR relatives, but common decency prevents me from taking such a cheap potshot.]
There were a number of pictures that were posted in this thread by TwinHueyMan. In a move that is simply incredible to me, the Moderator deleted them! Unbelieveable!
Anyway, one of the things posted by THM was a little group of four "thumbnails" which
had been linked to full-size pics on their original website but had since been deleted for some strange reason (gee, I wonder why?). One of the little thumbs shows the 412 on its take-off run, VERY low and heading right for a group of people and a golfcart parked right next to some corn stalks that appeared to be eight feet high or so. The pic clearly showed one of those people crouching and very obviously running away from the golfcart. In fear? It's hard to tell, but I doubt he suddenly had an urge to visit the loo. Had the Moderator not inexplicably deleted these pics you'd be able to see for yourself. But you can't. You can't make your own minds up on this issue anymore. Thanks, Pedalstop!
You chaps can stick your heads in the sand all you want. I'm not ashamed to say that we pilots need to hold ourselves to a higher standard that that. We need to be intolerant of pilots who do unsafe things. We need to not be afraid of calling a "foul." And we need to do these things BEFORE someone gets killed.
Personally, I am horrified that it got that far. The fact that other pilots turned a blind eye to *** ******'s actions for so long is deplorable and shameful.
Now, to the Moderator(s) I say, perhaps it is time to close this thread. Let the ******-supporters and Flare-slammers have their final say. I think this topic has been thoroughly explored, and further discussion is only going to p*ss me off. To you guys who feel that what *** ****** did was somehow justified or "not that bad," I hope I never, ever, ever meet any of you face to face. With your apparent attitudes toward safety, none of you will EVER share my cockpit.
Then again, maybe this whole thread will mysteriously disappear like the "Where's Lu?" thread... That's my bet.