F-86 Down in Hickory, NC

[MJG]

Very sad to see this come across the news. God bless the pilot and his family. Anyone have any more info??

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-072406-al-plane_crash.1b3b58b1.html

 

[epic!]

i hate to see this happen. my thoughts and prayers to the family. i was thinking about flying up to hickory today too.

 

[agpilot34]

Sad deal, especially since it comes right on the heels of the vintage British Hawker Hunter (Blue Max II) jet that crashed into a house in Oregon at the Hillsboro Int'l. air show week before last. My prayers go out to the pilot's family. Now, I am just waiting to see which uninformed news media outlet takes this story and starts whining about warbird operations and airshow safety again.

 

[LJDRVR]

Looks like Ed Shipley. What a shame. The jet warbird arena has had a horrible safety record the past couple of years. It would be tempting to blame the experience level or lack of oversight, but most folks involved in that arena have a very strong sense of doing things right from the standpoint of MX and safety. You could blame pilot experience level, but two of the most recent four were extraordinarily experienced aviators. (Jimmy Rossi and Tom Delashaw.)

It will be interesting to see how this affects the investigation into T. Michael Mosley. (The current AF Chief of Staff who awarded a no-bid contract for fifty million dollars worth of jumbotron airshow TVs to his friend Shipley. After a GAO audit resulted in the cancellation of the purchase by the DoD, Shipley sued the Air Force.) It's begining to read like something out of a crime novel.

Best wishes to Shipley's family, friends and employees.

Damn shame.

 

[Rolling-Thunder]

Are you sure it is him?

May be another well-known F-86 driver..........

Edit:

Here's what I found on the net. Apparently, it is NOT Shipley

http://www.wral.com/news/9565571/detail.html

Sad no matter who it is............



.

 

[LJDRVR]

Yeah, I mistook the stripes on the vertical stab for ES's plane.

RIP Wyatt.