RIP Bryan Jensen

[Tim A.]

This has not been a good year for the airshow circut with three tragic events taking three lives in three different incidents. Being a fan of Aerobatic flying I was very saddend to hear about the death of Bryan Jensen a popular and accomplished pilot of "The Beast" at a show in Kansas City Mo. Saturday. Looking at the video clip he came out of a roll and spiraled straight with little or no control. My simpathy's go out to the families,friends and the entire airshow community for all the loss's.


Tim

 

[moon puppy]

It was a bad week for the airshow circuit as a whole.

Add

Todd Green

Jon Egging

And all their families to your thoughts and prayers. You know these guys knew the risk and they were doing what they loved.

 

[kryptosdaddy]

I missed that- i have been to several airshows and fortunatly have never seen an accident. Sad.

 

[moon puppy]

Wish I could say the same. I was at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort when LCDR Kevin Davis, Blue Angle #6 crashed in 2007. I tell ya, it's surreal when you see a column of black smoke where there shouldn't be one.

 

[Tim A.]

Can't imagine what is must be like to witness a crash like that. I was trying to see if the NTSB had come up with a cause to Bryan's crash. So far all I've found is other pilots that witnessed it said it appeared to them he may have suffered high G lock. I agree that it's possible he did suffer some kind of medical issue but it seems odd that he would pass out due to G forces when he done the same routine every week but I don't know...



http://youtu.be/sID5JVlzxXA Heres a link to one of my favorite pilots, Skip Stewart. His "knife edges" are thrilling to watch and you can see just how low he gets with the ribbon cut at the end of the clip.


Tim

 

[moon puppy]

Maybe we should have another thread on this but...
I bet those folks riding by that field were thinking they would never hired that cropduster to do their fields.

I saw one of them, don't know who wit was. But he took (and I'm guessing these are still Pitt's Specials? ) his aircraft and just hung it by the engine. went vertical and brought it to a complete stand still and bounced...up, down, up, down, up, down, and walked it down the viewing gallery....wings perpendicular to the crowd. Just shear raw horse power and amazing talent. I went home that evening and got on the flight sim trying to do that...no way!

 

[Tim A.]

When they hang it on the prop like that it's called a "torque roll" and your right, it's major horsepower a light airframe and a big prop. Bryan's "Beast", a Pitts was very powerful at 410 hp. Skip's Pitts S2-s is 400 hp. These planes are heavily modified. Skip basically stripped "Prometheus" down and re-built it to his spec's. I too love it when they fly facing the crowd straight down the runway. Thats actually routine for the bush pilots, I've read. Patti Wagstaff is the best I've seen at it. She was a bush pilot at one time.

Tim

 

[jknaus]

Got Patties autograph. She gave it to me when I fixed one the French Connections aircraft just in time to launch for the show.
James

 

[Tim A.]

Thats cool James, you saved the day!! :v I read her autobioghraphy, it's a great book. After keeping up with her for years I finally got to meet her at an airshow a few years back. Had on dark glasses to hide a black eye from a horse riding accident she said. This is us at Terra Haute IN. I was so nervous I could barely stand up for the pic


Tim