Light Twin down 60km north of MEL

[Windy Chester]

QNH 1013.2
You are half right. Apparently the Left gear was found extended.

[turbantime]

Mate, you will be missed, as many have pointed out you provided many of us with a great start in this industry. I was always amazed at his knowledge especially towards his beloved shrikes and how hard he worked day after day building his company. Had the pleasure of meeting JJ once or twice, lovely girl.

My thoughts are with both families and the guys/gals working out there, especially in Melbourne.
___________________________________________________________
westking101, This is not the place for you to put out your conspiracy theories. I will reply to your allegations only to defend old mate and the company he built. For the record, I don't work there anymore.

These aircraft fly over loaded

We never ever flew overloaded, load sheets provided for every sector and in most cases you bulk out before reaching structural limits.

the pilots are overworked (fms)

While I agree FMS is a crock, most (if not all) people worked 4-5 days a week with weekends and public holidays off.

underpaid

Everything as per the award.

those Shrikes by some miracle have the cleanist mr's in the counrty

Any problems were always looked at, especially out of Melbourne with the main engineering base down there.
So to MBA747 and westking, take your whingeing and take it elsewhere.

Someone posted a question about the wheels down. It was in my experience common to extend the gear and allow aircraft to slow down to the Va speed rather than slap back the throttles and suffer related engine problems.

[Peter Fanelli]

Hung Start

You new(sic) the man for 25 years, and yet you are only 17 years old?

[archangel7]

As a result it wasn’t disengaged correctly and resulted in a trim runaway type situation.

How hard could it be to disengage an autopilot?

[the wizard of auz]

I first knew JJ from the old days of PPRuNe chat around 1998-99, when the chat room was alive with Go Girl, Reddo, Raven, Hugh Jarse, Turbulent Eddy, Jazzi, Kapton Kaos, Apache, Compressor Stall, Monte, HOTAS, kfras, Disco Stu, Thermal Bandit, Gaunty, Capt Claret, VNE of course and several others.

Strewth Bendo........ I feel much older now.
I met JJ the same way, as I was one of the others.
R.I.P. JJ

[Sprite]

Oh and BTW, that photo posted by Windy Chester was of a different aircraft. The photos posted clearly show BOTH undercarriage extended and the AC in trees. Why post a photo of a different aircraft?

[Jet_A_Knight]

I'm not making assumptions, but this article may be of interest - particularly appendix B

http://www.casa.gov.au/airworth/pape...oCommander.pdf

[kam16]

Sprite

I believe that was the TASAIR shrike crash.

kam

[lokione]

Many years ago I had some Aviation business dealings with Steve and flew his shrikes, getting to know he and his future wife. I stayed with them in Melbourne. Years later they came and spent time with me on Safari in Africa. My last memory of him is sitting around a campfire with the sounds of the African bush filling the night. He was clutching a beer and talking about his beloved Shrikes. God bless you Steve . RIP. My thoughts are with your family and that of JJ, whom I did not know but am sure would have liked and felt a kinship with.
To those speculating - why not wait for the report. This site should be a tribute to these wonderful aviators, that their family and friends can visit for affirmations of support and friendship.

[VH-KAM]

Thank you for the kind words everyone, it has been a long time since I have posted on Prune but I basically met JJ here on here 7 years ago and have been her partner ever since.

I have lots of family and friends around me and we would like to thank all who have called with their condolences, one thing that is for sure about JJ, she knew everybody!!!

The media are bugging us a lot at the moment and we will release a few nice words about JJ and a nice photo of JJ to them shortly.

Thanks again,
Tom

[Diatryma]

Sincere condolences Tom. Stay strong.

[MBA747]

Jet A Knight good posting, hopefully a few of the GA brethren will take the time to read the article.

Perhaps CASA should consider restricting these and other aircraft of this vintage operating into areas of forecasted severe turbulence and icing.

[QFinsider]

Please let us pause for a minute and consider that the investigators need time to ascertain the cause.

The process is exhausting.

Many of the GA aircraft we all have flown are flying longer than the initial designers suspected. It is this to which many have turned their attention in recent years.

Perhaps another thread can look at aging aircraft issues.
I am not knocking any post. There does seem to be attention focused around structural failure or some sort of overload. I merely want to add if there was an engineer in Australia who understood the issue it is Steve.

Please let us focus on the person who gave many a start, the young lady, the grieving families and friends. These types of shocks remind all of us how precious and light is our grasp on our lives.

God Bless you Steve and Janelle.

[smiling monkey]

My condolences to the friends and families of the pilot and engineer. Although I don't know them personally, I've heard a lot about Steve. And if the pilot's the only female pilot at GAM, then I often hear her on the radio as Uniform Juliet *. RIP and God bless.

[bythenumbers]

condolences to the familys and friends...

unfortunatly and im not saying in this case but alot of pilots do not understand aerodynamics enough to save their ass's. VA to alot of people is the number you stay below and she'l be right... but there are alot of other factors effecting VA. Weight, Flap setting and airframe age. Not to make this a lesson in aerody... im sure most of you know it very well but VA is directly related to stall speed.

If you have ever flown around melboure in very windy northerly conditions and had the stall warning chirping away; trying to stop your head smashing the roof and you wondered if that was it. you get the picture

To finish. It is physicaly imposible to overstress an aircraft if it is flown at a correct speed using a correct technique. Gear is your friend and if you rip the gear doors off trying to slow down... bad luck (you should have been thinking ahead)... at least you'll be alive.

condolences once again.

[trashie]

I agree with Lokione, can we please leave this thread as a tribute and memorial to Janelle and Steve. Postulation on the cause of the accident and aerodynamics do not belong in this thread.

RIP Janelle and Steve

[Centaurus]

Gear is your friend and if you rip the gear doors off trying to slow down... bad luck (you should have been thinking ahead)... at least you'll be alive.

I'm no expert but that statement above is personal opinion only and not supported by hard cold data. Just be wary of having inexperienced pilots reading these pages and treating everything said as hard data attributable to the aircraft manufacturer - when it clearly is not.

[Reverseflowkeroburna]

if there was an engineer in Australia who understood the issue it is Steve.

Agreed.

And to further highlight Notty's abilities and unmatched knowledge of his stable of workhorses, Bob Hoover once paid Steve a rather succinct compliment by saying that the GAM aircraft that he flew in his aero display at Avalon now flew even better than the day it emerged from the factory, where Bob was test Pilot.

It sums up Steve & the Aero Commander really.

R.I.P. Steve

[hung start]

Peter Fanelli

That should read 47 ,and thanks for the spell check .Anyway i here GAM is going to continue and i wish them all the best . Some big boots to fill but i am sure Michael and the boys are up to it .I didnt know JJ but condolences to her family .

[megle2]

Janelle as described in these posts sounds like the GAM pilot that was based at Emerald Qld about a year or so a go. I am sure she was transferred to ML.

If so a tragic loss of a dedicated pilot and a pleasure to share the airspace with. Often had her as traffic at Emerald / Dysart / Mackay.