Newbie just saying hello

Hi everyone;

As part of my constant interest and involvement with safety issues involving the warbird community I've registered and will be lurking around a bit from time to time.
Nice to "meet" all of you. You have a very good forum here.

Dudley Henriques

Glad to see you here, and it's my privilege to be among the first to welcome you, my friend!

Cheers -

Hal

Welcome aboard Dudley! Hope to see you participate regularly! :cool:

Dudley, glad you are over here, though I wouldn't call you a newbie.
Do you have any thoughts on Reno?
Is it just too dangerous, with planes going almost 500 mph? Can it ever be safe enough for the crowd?
I have thought about it a lot. Mostly sorrow for Jimmy, he was a friend to so many of us.
But also for all those others lost or injured. Becky and I talked about going to the races and if we did we would have most likely been standing at the pit fence right next to the box seats. We went to AOPA instead.
The best I can come up with is to reconfigure the course so that all turns are before the spectator area, so that there is only a straight section where the crowd is. That is certainly not foolproof if a plane is uncontrollable, and I am not sure there is room on the other portions of the course.
I have never run a lap at Reno , have you? Art Vance talked to me about doing the qualifying school and it seemed like fun, but I never got around to it, and of course Art is gone now too.
The man who taught me won the Silver unlimited there one year in Habu.
Perhaps a berm and a chain link type fence could be built in front of the stands as some protection.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hal Bryan

Glad to see you here, and it's my privilege to be among the first to welcome you, my friend!

Cheers -

Hal

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Hi Hal;

Thanks for the warm welcome. I hadn't realized this was one of your "duties". I see the forum is in good hands .
Hope all's been well with you and yours these days.
Best as always,
Dudley

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chad Jensen

Welcome aboard Dudley! Hope to see you participate regularly! :cool:

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Many thanks. Looks like a great forum.
Dudley

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bill Greenwood

Dudley, glad you are over here, though I wouldn't call you a newbie.
Do you have any thoughts on Reno?
Is it just too dangerous, with planes going almost 500 mph? Can it ever be safe enough for the crowd?
I have thought about it a lot. Mostly sorrow for Jimmy, he was a friend to so many of us.
But also for all those others lost or injured. Becky and I talked about going to the races and if we did we would have most likely been standing at the pit fence right next to the box seats. We went to AOPA instead.
The best I can come up with is to reconfigure the course so that all turns are before the spectator area, so that there is only a straight section where the crowd is. That is certainly not foolproof if a plane is uncontrollable, and I am not sure there is room on the other portions of the course.
I have never run a lap at Reno , have you? Art Vance talked to me about doing the qualifying school and it seemed like fun, but I never got around to it, and of course Art is gone now too.
The man who taught me won the Silver unlimited there one year in Habu.
Perhaps a berm and a chain link type fence could be built in front of the stands as some protection.

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Hi Bill;

Glad to see you up and running here and hope the work on the Spit is progressing well.

Yes, There probably isn't a high performance pilot in the country who hasn't had serious thoughts about Reno. Although our safety work group has discussed the accident in detail among ourselves back channel, our general consensus in house is to not speculate publicly while the NTSB investigation is in progress. Lord knows there are enough people already doing that.
Our position is simply to work quietly back channel with suggestions that might help. Anything we come up with that might be of value is then passed through ICAS, ACES, and Race Pilots Association channels.
It's been a difficult time for our friends in the race community and there has been considerable public relations collateral damage as well to the air show community.
Right now everybody is working very hard to collaborate and cooperate with the NTSB and the FAA. I'm sure EAA is doing their part as well to help the affected communities recover from RENO and move on in a positive way with the safety of performers and fans alike foremost on the collective agenda.
Best to you as always,
Dudley