outnabout,
Some of their friends, me included, are in disbelief about how he found himself in that situation.
The accident happened right off my right wingtip, at about 30 miles to my west. I know what it was like at the time. It was awful on the ranges.I was in VMC.
If others, youngsters mainly can learn from this, all the better. We all have a fair idea what went wrong. The 178 seconds training video is proved once again.
As a friend of theirs, I find it almost impossible to believe they got sucked in. Makes me feel what hope do I have in this world when 3 of my mates this year from YCAB alone have died, and not one was a cowboy who you expected to crash an aeroplane. They were all conservative professionals in aviation.
When is a suitable time? 2 minutes, 2 hours? 2 days? 2 weeks? 2 months? 2 years? never? We need to talk some time.
The sad thing is none of these accidents are new. They are old, and repeated many times.
As Dora-9 said above,
RIP mate, it was a privilege to know you.
Mates, John included.
"DITTO"
To add to Dora's post above, I feel like including this as a tribute to Des, Kath, John and Carol, (not sure if Les and Janice were there), but given you guys were just over my shoulder, and like so many events, you made it all possible and gave so much to so many, this song is for you. RIP my friends.
There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong
I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted
But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame
He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came
And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.