Young Middle Eastern man,Arabic Hat, flight lessons

[rumpletumbler]

So yesterday I have this guy come in wearing his hat with Arabic lettering and wearing fatigues....he wants to know "how much to make the fly?" Anyhow.....his questions answered he goes out and climbs in his brand new BMW and heads out. I'm like "WTF is this guy thinking?" Post 9-11 he goes out in fatigues with his Arabic hat on and driving his BMW (many of the 9-11 guys drove BMW's) and inquires about flight lessons. I wanted to say "Could you be any less tactful?" "Are you really this stupid?" Anyhow.... I was amazed.......

 

[TurboS7]

Free country and I am sure that the flight school could use the bucks. Back in the seventies I think we taught everyone in the Middle East how to fly.It was good for GA, and GA sure could use the money. Personally I think fighter pilots flew the aircraft into the WTC no way could an amatuer pilot do what they did.

 

[rumpletumbler]

Free country and I am sure that the flight school could use the bucks. Back in the seventies I think we taught everyone in the Middle East how to fly.It was good for GA, and GA sure could use the money. Personally I think fighter pilots flew the aircraft into the WTC no way could an amatuer pilot do what they did.

I could talk my 9 year old daughter through doing what they did. There isn't any skill in what they did at all. Lord...we are in trouble if you need a fighter pilot to be able to hit a building with an airplane. Do you also believe a missle hit the Pentagon and all that other garbage?

 

[Weasil]

I used to work with a guy who was from Israel. He bought an airplane (extra 300) and went into Kinkos to have them make a copy of the AFM for him so he wouldn't damage the original by using it all the time. The 17 year old behind the counter called the cops and said she had some arab guy copying a book on airplanes.

Apparently that night they raided his house and put him and his wife in separate rooms to "interview" them. Turns out he hadn't told his wife about buying the airplane yet because she would get mad so what do you think she told the cops when they asked her about her husband's airplane.

Well it was all resolved but man.... what a night for that guy.

 

[rumpletumbler]

The point isn't that the guy was necessarily up to no good but that he was really, really stupid to do what he did in the way that he did it. I would look with suspicion on ANYONE who fits the PROFILE no matter their dress, their car, or anything else. Anyone who can't think that far ahead has no business in an airplane.

 

[Oakum_Boy]

I could talk my 9 year old daughter through doing what they did. There isn't any skill in what they did at all. Lord...we are in trouble if you need a fighter pilot to be able to hit a building with an airplane. Do you also believe a missle hit the Pentagon and all that other garbage?

Considering they had minimal training in these aircraft, if any in the actual type, I am still shocked they pulled it off.

 

[EagleRJ]

Maybe this guy's just another arrogant Saudi royal with too much money, or maybe not. If he's legit, he's either totally clueless, or he's a media troll out to prove how bad GA security is (like the two guys who wanted to rent a helicopter).

I'd drop a dime on him.

FBI homeland security hotline- 1-866-483-5137

 

[rumpletumbler]

I'd drop a dime on him.

FBI homeland security hotline- 1-866-483-5137

Yeah...had I been thinking I'd have gone out and gotten his tag number. His stupidity was contagious I guess.

 

[TurboS7]

Rumbletumbler sounds to me like you need some tough lessons. I garentee that you are not a hot of a stick as you think. The big airplane don't fly like flight sim and they don't even fly like the simulator when you start making turns at 340 to 380 knots.

 

[rumpletumbler]

Rumbletumbler sounds to me like you need some tough lessons. I garentee that you are not a hot of a stick as you think. The big airplane don't fly like flight sim and they don't even fly like the simulator when you start making turns at 340 to 380 knots.

I don't think I'm a hot stick at all. However, if you just point an airplane at a building you can hit the building. How hard can it be? They were still maneuvering when they hit the buildings which indicates they didn't line up very well I guess. I'm not in any way inferring that I'm some bad ass...it just seems like it would be very easy to me.