Cuda at SEMA

[Bob Johnson]

I bet one thing. I bet if you did wreck, and it did not kill you, you could beat any time limit, getting out of it. Once that adrinaline starts pumping, your butt will come out,quickly, pants or no pants. I know, I have climbed out of a VERY small opening, in a ditch, upside down. Did I mention this was after I crashed the airplane I was flying??? Of course, that is a whole nother story, but fact is, you WILL get out, on your own. Yoga or not...lol

I was taking flying lessons in the late 70's and my instructor crashed us during a full power accelerated stall. That crap about landing a plane in the trees doesn't work. We went straight down under full throttle into a heavy forest..luckly for me (unluckily for everyone else except Alan maybe) we hit a Poplar tree with the prop dead center..it broke some of the fall and hung up on other limbs on the way down..4 or 5 limbs went completely thru the cockpit impaling the instructor thru his thigh. Busted my bald head open and I was bleeding like a stuck pig. We were 1/2 of the way upside down pointing straight down with the nose about 6" in the ground..I had blood spurting out of my head everytime my heart beat which was pretty fast about then. I got out pretty quickly..getting him out was no easy chore..skinny little bas*ard got pretty heavy after carrying him for 300 or so yards out of the woods..I've crashed and been in crashes several times before..Unfortunately time wise, when they test you it is not under real crash circumstances..

[Bill Howell]

We went straight down under full throttle into a heavy forest..luckly for me (unluckily for everyone else except Alan maybe) we hit a Poplar tree with the prop dead center..it broke some of the fall and hung up on other limbs on the way down..4 or 5 limbs went completely thru the cockpit impaling the instructor thru his thigh. Busted my bald head open and I was bleeding like a stuck pig. We were 1/2 of the way upside down pointing straight down with the nose about 6" in the ground..I had blood spurting out of my head everytime my heart beat which was pretty fast about then.

So..... been flying lately? My ordeal kinda wrapped up my desire to get my licence. I flew a couple more times, but then would read about another pilot augering in, and decided to keep my fat butt on the ground.

[Bob Johnson]

So..... been flying lately? My ordeal kinda wrapped up my desire to get my licence. I flew a couple more times, but then would read about another pilot augering in, and decided to keep my fat butt on the ground.

I had just soloed the lesson before..I never did get the license..sued the flying school so I didn't want to continue my lessons under another instructor..should have because one wimp on the jury hung it because they had admitted evidence showing how much money I was making. Everyone wanted to give me 500K plus but he said it would make his insurance go up and I already had too much money. They finally awarded me 5K..made the insurance double it to a measley 10K or told them I would appeal it..That way I didn't have to give that dumb as* lawyer but $3K on his contengency..I was too busy at the time to appeal it anyway.

[kennyd]

I was taking flying lessons in the late 70's and my instructor crashed us during a full power accelerated stall. That crap about landing a plane in the trees doesn't work. We went straight down under full throttle into a heavy forest..luckly for me (unluckily for everyone else except Alan maybe) we hit a Poplar tree with the prop dead center..it broke some of the fall and hung up on other limbs on the way down..4 or 5 limbs went completely thru the cockpit impaling the instructor thru his thigh. Busted my bald head open and I was bleeding like a stuck pig. We were 1/2 of the way upside down pointing straight down with the nose about 6" in the ground..I had blood spurting out of my head everytime my heart beat which was pretty fast about then. I got out pretty quickly..getting him out was no easy chore..skinny little bas*ard got pretty heavy after carrying him for 300 or so yards out of the woods..I've crashed and been in crashes several times before..Unfortunately time wise, when they test you it is not under real crash circumstances..

here is a flying story , the same guy who was in the willys crash with me told me .
he bought a single engine plane in south arkansas and was flying it home when the engine quit, he looked around and decided to put it down in a field he saw . the only open field in sight , he was gliding along droping fast when he saw a ditch was plowed in the field in his way . the plane flipped and he was hanging upside down in his seat belts . he cut the belts , droped out and crawled out . he was standing out side the plane thinking wow not a scratch on me . then out the corner of his eyes he see's a bull charging the plane , so he ran to the fence and tried to jump the fence and got cought in the fence and cut himself from on end to the other on the barb wire . it was a retired rodeo bull ! not as funny when i tell it as when he tells it .

[Damn True]

I was taking flying lessons in the late 70's and my instructor crashed us during a full power accelerated stall. That crap about landing a plane in the trees doesn't work. We went straight down under full throttle into a heavy forest..luckly for me (unluckily for everyone else except Alan maybe) we hit a Poplar tree with the prop dead center..it broke some of the fall and hung up on other limbs on the way down..4 or 5 limbs went completely thru the cockpit impaling the instructor thru his thigh. Busted my bald head open and I was bleeding like a stuck pig. We were 1/2 of the way upside down pointing straight down with the nose about 6" in the ground..I had blood spurting out of my head everytime my heart beat which was pretty fast about then. I got out pretty quickly..getting him out was no easy chore..skinny little bas*ard got pretty heavy after carrying him for 300 or so yards out of the woods..I've crashed and been in crashes several times before..Unfortunately time wise, when they test you it is not under real crash circumstances..

Holy smokes!

I had 1500 helo aircrew hours, and 400 worth of stick time when I got out of the Coast Guard and declared one emergency in that eleven year period. Kinda miss it.