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Murray/Bodill Round the World

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Murray/Bodill Round the World

Old 22nd Dec 2003, 02:07
  #101 (permalink)  

The Original Whirly
 
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I hardly think their age and financial position are relevant, except in that they've financed the trip themselves. As to stamina etc, both have flown round the world solo; isn't that enough to prove something? CFIT? You don't know; that's pure and uncalled for speculation.

As far as I can see the taxpayer isn't funding any of this, and in any event I'd rather my taxes went on rescuing them than the fortune that gets spent every year in rescuing idiots (many of them YOUNG!!!) who get lost in the Welsh mountains with no preparation or suitable gear...probably happens all over the world but I live here and know about it and see the imbeciles who start off up Snowdon in shorts or flimsy dresses and stiletto heels (Really!!!!!!!!)

They were prepared; they tried; they failed (for now). It's entirely up to them whether they do it again or not. Though for anyone who's counting, I hope they do.
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Old 22nd Dec 2003, 03:11
  #102 (permalink)  
 
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Whirly, last time I climbed Snowdon I rescued 7 people off it for free (a youth group from Birmingham who had parked in an unidentified carpark after lunch, decided to go for a walk, found themselves on the summit about half an after everybody else had left it, and just as it was starting to get dark).

Where do I apply for a slice of my tax money back for this?

P
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Old 22nd Dec 2003, 04:49
  #103 (permalink)  
 
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"I hardly think their age and financial position are relevant."
Age irrelevant?
Mrs Murray has made the most of the extra publicity she's gotten for being the first grandmother to do whatever's she's up to at the time she wants to get publicity for herself.
Financial position irrelevant?
Having a rich hubby isn't irrelevant to being able to afford these publicity seeking junkets.

Just out of interest what makes a proffesional
is it a cpl with 300 hrs on a r22 and a frozen atpl

Yes, someone with a CPL or ATPL is a professional. You can't compare CPL and PPL. especially in England where you have that big jump from PPL to CPL and not much from CPL to ATPL except hours.
Would I want on of my loved ones to fly round the world with a cpl with 300 hrs on a Robbie. No. But I wouldn't want them going with a PPL unless the PPL had many years and thousands of hours helo flying experience, and many hundreds of hours on type and lots and lots of experience flying in extreme weather conditions. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think Mrs Murray has got any one of those.
ex mil piot with oodles of hrs
Yes.
a police pilot like tc lol
Yes and since you mention tc I'd be happy to fly with someone whose spent his life flying helos, in the Navy before he was a police pilot.
a pilot who has flown twice around the world"
Hmmm. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the first time she claimed to be the first grandmother to fly round the world didn't she have a professional pilot sitting next to her?
And the second time didn't she have a pro pilot flying alongside her in another helo?

Don't get me wrong. I know a lot of pro pilots who I don't think have enough experience to do a trip like this. I don't know any PPLs who should be doing it.
Flying helos isn't difficult once you know how. Coping with emergencies is when you need experience.
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Old 22nd Dec 2003, 04:54
  #104 (permalink)  
 
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I flew with Q (Quentin Smith son of Mike Smith CAA Panel examiner) doing my LPC's this week and we flew in a new R44 RavenII which was fitted with various bits and pieces for their next pole trip which presumme he will be completing with his previous swimming partner Steve Brooks.

Either way i am not that interested in the tax payers money etc but what i can tell you he his an exceptionally skilled / knowledgeable pilot. We completed some very interesting flying followed by finishing off in an r22 at night, engine off constant attitude to the ground in nil wind with two feet of radiation fog on the field at Denham. He took control in the last three feet and completed the excercise perfectly.

I flew with him several years ago during my early instructor days where he helped me with my EOL's and i recommend him to any hungery for knowledge pilot. a million miles from the factory courses

I know where i will be doing my next LPC's if he's not been eaten by a polar bear.
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 02:59
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Flung dung. . . I just wanna say I did some of my PPL with Q and still sometimes fly with Mike. They are mines of information and always interesting to fly with.

When I was learning, thought I'd over pitched the tail rotor in an R22 and told Q about it. He showed me how you can fly at 40-50 kts and pedal turn 360 deg. Then let me try! It really put my mind at ease (as well as being great fun).

I can recommend you try an LPC with one of them. .
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 04:21
  #106 (permalink)  
 
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Johe2
What is the sideways flight limitation on a Robbo, please?
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 05:26
  #107 (permalink)  
 
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Scary to think about how much stress has been put on those piddling little bolts that hold the tail boom on.

Sounds like this Q person is of that elite group to whom "limits" mean nothing. The last one I met was known as "Captain Death", he defied all the limits and amazed the junior pilots. Then he crashed, killed one and gained a permanent back injury for himself.

yeah, it's great fun to do all this stuff, until the metal (which has a perfect memory) decides to pull the rug out from under you.
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 17:33
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I was always worried about LTE in flying in high winds but I now know those R22's can really take it. It's the pilots that can't. . .

The sideways limitation is walking pace I believe but that's in case the engine fails isn't it?. But don't say what if the engine fails because I know he could have landed it safely.

He chopped the throttle on me once climbing away from the field at 60 kts 150ft. Before I knew what was happening the RRPM was at 80% and he said, 'too late' threw it into a 180 and did a perfect engine off back inside the airfield boundary!! Some people say he's crazy others know he's really that good!! Well he has been flying since he was 4 yrs old.

But anyway this has turned into a Q thread. . . I think it's a shame Jennifer didn't make it but at least this was a 'real' record attempt for a grandmother (ie without Q's magic touch).

Have a good Christmas
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 18:04
  #109 (permalink)  

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And this is the very same Quentin Smith who was being severely criticised recently on here for ditching on the way to Antarctica. And he also happens to be the "professional pilot" quoted by someone (can't be bothered to read back) who flew with Jennifer the first time she went round the world, and was one of the support crew when she did it solo. Fantastically good pilot or risk taking loony? Take your pick. Why do I suspect that the same people who imply Jennifer couldn't have done the trip without him criticised his Antarctic attempt? Is it me, or has logical thinking flown out the window.

If I were Q, or Jeffa, or Colin, or anyone else similar, I'd just ignore all the comments...and I suspect they all do. One thing though - I'm glad I don't have kids. It means that if if I ever do anything amazing/adventurous/mad/dangerous, at least I'll be considered by the media and everyone else as an individual, and not as someone's "grandmother".
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 19:03
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johe2 -

A 180 auto from 150' in a climbing R22? Excellent! Shame he ended up downwind tho', dontcha think??

Might be more constructive to teach you how not to get in such a mess that you would actually need to consider this manoeuver.

Oh and by the way, do the words "Surprise throttle chops can be deadly" ring any R22 safety notice bells?
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 19:26
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What I find irritating is the contrasting treatment of the Virgin Captain and JM in the press.

One vilified and presumed guilty, the other receiving plaudits as a pioneering expert aviator.

I have no problem with JM taking a trip to the south pole if that's her thing, but it's the disproportionate attention and assumption of expertise in the media that is somewhat nauseating.

Professional pilots fly in hostile environments every hour of every day all over the globe, but are rarely perceived as heros. They just get on with the job.

If this crash had happened to a passenger carrying helicopter with a professional pilot, you can bet the farm the press would have been all over it like a rash, looking for any angle from which to point an accusatory, sensationalist finger at the pilot.

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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 19:29
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Ha ha. . That's true Steve, but landing downwind was the last thing I was worried about!!

Actually, I was adjusting my headset at the time and his point was, never take your hands off the lever when you're climbing out. Good advice . . . from a 'crazy person'.

Well said Max. .

Last edited by Johe02; 23rd Dec 2003 at 20:02.
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 19:44
  #113 (permalink)  

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I believe the figure of 17 kts was the demonstrated sideways speed on the R22 - the speed required by the FAA, but Robinson actually achieved about 35 kts during testing.

Tim Tucker has a saying relevant to the antics of these 'Watch this types'...

"If you exceed the limitations or recommendations in the POH you ve just become a test pilot..."

And to anyone who says "watch this.."

"No thank you!!"
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 21:02
  #114 (permalink)  
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I've flown with Q quite a bit and, like others, learned a lot from him.

The best piece of advice I ever had was from someone who told me not to try and copy the things that Q does, but rather to take very careful note of anything he avoids doing . . . .
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 21:26
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Cyclic Flare - if Q really did the auto you described into radiation fog at night then he is dangerous not skilled - what exactly was he using to judge when to cushion...the force? the depth of fog can change in a heartbeat and just because there was 2 feet of it on the previous circuit doesn't mean it couldn't change to 5 or 10 feet in the interim.
If this is the way he flys then I for one won't be surprised when he ends up as a statistic - anybody who arrogantly flaunts limits and approved practises as he seems to is too arrogant to last. As someone else has pointed out - what about the poor sod who gets into an aircraft that Q has just overstressed and suffers the mechanical failure brought on by more 'let me just show you how bloody great a helicopter pilot I am'.
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 21:42
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Isn't it ironic that the more of Q's acolytes who post stories of his antics in order to show us what a wonderful pilot he is only help to prove the opposite? Ah well.

Grainger - I'd be interested to know what sort of things he DOES avoid???
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 23:15
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Can you believe that someone could be THAT much better then you?

All sounds like sour grapes to me. . .
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Old 23rd Dec 2003, 23:23
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Johe2, no there are lots of pilots much better than me but there are also lots (your hero Q for instance) who are much more stupid than me. I have to sit and let pilots fly difficult and demanding winching scenarios in the dark and in crap weather, usually without being able to see what the hell is going on on the right hand side of the aircraft and relying on the tone of the winchops voice and the control inputs to tell me if its OK or not - but that is my job and SAR pilots can't learn without doing difficult stuff. Who on earth needs to learn to do a zero speed EOL at night into fog?
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Old 24th Dec 2003, 00:12
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I'd be interested to know what sort of things he DOES avoid???

StevieT:

Well, taking your hand off the collective whilst climbing away from the field at 60 kts 150ft for a start !

Entering cloud is another one that springs to mind.

Last edited by Grainger; 24th Dec 2003 at 18:11.
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Old 24th Dec 2003, 02:42
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Enough!

This thread gives scope for debating the wisdom or otherwise of the adventures of a named PPL who has actively sought publicity and whose exploits are therefore open to critical comment as well as adulation in any discussion which ensues.

Q's own adventure was discussed at great length when it happened. It is irrelevant to this discussion, and he has done nothing to invite or leave himself open to criticism on a public forum now.

It's obvious that Q has his admirers and his detractors. Those who've flown with him say they've learned from his skill and experience and will no doubt continue to do so. Those who haven't and don't wish, or have no need, to do so no doubt won't.
Others will make their own decisions, deciding for themselves whether to attach more weight to the views of people who speak from personal experience or more weight to those whose opinions are based upon descriptions of events they didn't experience for themselves and which may, or may not, be accurately reported.

Please let's keep to our well-established principle (and, incidentally, PPRuNe rule) of not attacking named people on a public forum when they are not here to defend themselves and have done nothing of a 'public' nature to invite comment.
I'm simply concerned about fairness in this instance. From what I've heard, he is much in demand as an instructor so adverse comments (informed or ill-informed) here are unlikely to damage his business interests.

Apart from all that, it's Christmas - the season of goodwill to all men.
No more posts about 'Q' from either side of the divide please.

Heliport

Last edited by Heliport; 24th Dec 2003 at 03:03.
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