Frank, I share your distaste for political over-reaction without
knowing the big picture. Predictable, though.
Screaming in, unannounced on the Santa Monica Pier in an Albatross is
the height of stupidity and the "government" could hardly be expected
to ignored it. We as airshow types might have been thrilled, but this
(the pier) was not an actual airshow location, and It scared the hell
out of people. It might not be fair to punish everyone, but what do
you expect?
The reality is that the "entire class" that you refer to (meaning us)
is a niche group, and the outcry is by the greater community
(supposedly). Under those circumstances, you can expect politicians to
come down in deference to the majority every time, especially where
the behavior was apparently reckless. If we're to be allowed waivers
and other things we need, this can't be accepted by us, either. Having
said this, I would hope that any (government) sanction would be
directed only towards the offending pilot. Not always realistic,
unfortunately.
I only know what i read about it here, and in the articles attached,
and from the video clip. So, admittedly, I'm characterizing the
actions of the L-39 pilot with the caveat that we may not know all of
the details. For example, he may have thought he had permission from
someone who denied it later after the pubic reaction. Even if that
were the case, I think most airshow pilots have enough imagination to
realize such a stunt has a high disaster potential (and I mean that in
the P.R. sense).
Airshow performers are special individuals, and that's why people want
to watch them. But let's remember that arranging for airshow events,
practice boxes and all of the other things we love takes countless
hours of organization, red tape cutting and arse kissing by many
people. To undo all of that in one stroke is really bone-headed.
Finally, anyone who's been around this business knows that the
military is not set up to train pilots in planes that aren't currently
in the fleet. In most cases, civilian pilots are the only ones answer.
Try explaining that to the general public during the political s**t
storm that follows an unfortunate event like this. Better to not open
that can of worms in the first place, huh?
Incidentally, I love your links page, Frank... Top of my favorites list.
On Nov 15, 2009, at 7:54 PM, Frank wrote:
>
> Personally, I'm not too much worried about a publicity stunt gone
> awry.
>
> I'm worried about our Governments response to it.
>
> The usual response is to punish the entire class because one kid
> chewed bubble gum.
>
> In other words, why does our gov take the knee jerk reaction of
> punishing everybody for the actions of a few?
>
> That's the biggest tragedy of things like this (which I don't
> consider a big deal by-the-way).
>
> Frank
>
>
