# I drove by a plane crash **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 26, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022 "2007-08-26T21:27:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/21 "2007-08-27T12:55:38Z")
I remember seeing that plane hanging from the wires on the news. How uncomfortable for the pilot. šŸ˜‰ I donā€™t have time to read the article (at work), but I wonder how the plane came out. Getting it down undamaged would likely have been a problem. He/she must have been pretty close, altitude wise, to the lines for that to happen. mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/22 "2007-08-27T15:18:50Z")
[QUOTE=Tikki] Johnny, any word on if anyone was injured in the Stearman accident? [/QUOTE] Hm. Nothing in the Bellingham Herald, and nothing iin google news. I wonder if it really was a training exercise after all? But you think thereā€™d be some mention of it anyway, sleepy as the area is. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/23 "2007-08-27T17:07:31Z")
Stop by the airport and ask? Maybe you can get a good deal on a nice little Cessna (or something) while youā€™re there. A Navy pilot once told me that a Huey is actually harder to fly than a F4. This was during the Vietnam era. True? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/24 "2007-08-27T18:43:54Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] A Navy pilot once told me that a Huey is actually harder to fly than a F4. This was during the Vietnam era. True? [/QUOTE] I havenā€™t flown either. šŸ˜‰ But Iā€™m guessing the Navy pilot flew Phantoms, since the Navyā€™s helicopters at the time were (IIRC) Sea Kings and Sea Sprites. If he was a fixed-wing pilot, then thatā€™s what he was trained in and what he would know how to fly. So heā€™d say a Huey was hard. Iā€™m a [del]double-threat[/del] fixed/rotary wing pilot. IMO a fixed-wing will fly itself. OTOH, a heli just seems more ā€˜naturalā€™ to me. So I canā€™t say one is easier to fly than the other; just that theyā€™re different. Actually there _is_ a C-172 for sale in Bellingham. Only itā€™s on floats (so itā€™s expensive) and I donā€™t have a seaplane rating anyway. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/25 "2007-08-27T19:16:34Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] I havenā€™t flown either. šŸ˜‰ But Iā€™m guessing the Navy pilot flew Phantoms, since the Navyā€™s helicopters at the time were (IIRC) Sea Kings and Sea Sprites. If he was a fixed-wing pilot, then thatā€™s what he was trained in and what he would know how to fly. So heā€™d say a Huey was hard. Iā€™m a [del]double-threat[/del] fixed/rotary wing pilot. IMO a fixed-wing will fly itself. OTOH, a heli just seems more ā€˜naturalā€™ to me. So I canā€™t say one is easier to fly than the other; just that theyā€™re different. Actually there _is_ a C-172 for sale in Bellingham. Only itā€™s on floats (so itā€™s expensive) and I donā€™t have a seaplane rating anyway. [/QUOTE] The Navy Seawolves flew B model Hueys for most of the VN war. They got a few later models in the 70ā€™s. The B models were Army hand-me-downs and were sorely underpowered. The Seawolves operated primarily in the Delta area south of Saigon. On my final tour I flew w/ the fairly often, as a passenger. They usually werenā€™t happy about that because the payload was very limited. I saw some pretty damn good flying and I never heard any comments about them being difficult to fly, other than the weight/power restrictions. [http://www.seawolf.us/index.asp](http://www.seawolf.us/index.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/26 "2007-08-27T22:19:27Z")
A friend tells me of the time he and his father heard odd jet noises, saw the whole sky light up orange for a few seconds, and heard a loud boom. They went driving off in the direction it came from, and into a farmerā€™s field on a dirt roadā€¦ ā€¦and came to a full passenger jet that had crashed and burned, killing hundreds. Thick black smoke and the smell of burnt meat. Nightmarish scenes. They were almost immediately blocked in at this scene by hoards of emergency vehicles, and spent hours there, wishing they were anyplace else. A couple of years later, he found what looks like a single turbine blade, in another farmerā€™s field a couple of miles away. Could it beā€¦? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/27 "2007-08-28T00:02:24Z")
[QUOTE=A.R. Cane] The Navy Seawolves flew B model Hueys for most of the VN war. They got a few later models in the 70ā€™s. The B models were Army hand-me-downs and were sorely underpowered. The Seawolves operated primarily in the Delta area south of Saigon. On my final tour I flew w/ the fairly often, as a passenger. They usually werenā€™t happy about that because the payload was very limited. I saw some pretty damn good flying and I never heard any comments about them being difficult to fly, other than the weight/power restrictions. [http://www.seawolf.us/index.asp](http://www.seawolf.us/index.asp) [/QUOTE] These were Marines aboard my ship, but I canā€™t remember the insignia on the helicopters. I seem to remember USMC, but maybe not. Iā€™ve seen too many movies. I find the Hueys very appealing for some reason. Maybe because I got to ride a few times. I do remember the M60 hanging in the door. No armor in those days I believe. Them guys, the crew, had balls, I gotta say. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/28 "2007-09-01T16:31:24Z")
> [@](#): > > August 26: After landing at the Blaine airport, a small bi-plane was taxiing when a wheel left the runway, causing the plane to flip over. The pilot and his passenger were not harmed. The airport was closed to traffic while police officers and firefighters responded and contained a small fuel spill, which resulted. A broken fuel line was secured so that the plane could be safely moved. A tow company removed the aircraft from the taxiway. All appropriate federal agencies were notified and the airport was reopened. Iā€™ve never been on the airport, but from what Iā€™ve seen from the road the runway is rather narrow. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/29 "2007-09-01T16:52:23Z")
Mystery solved! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/30 "2007-09-01T16:56:43Z")
I just looked at the airport information for 4W6. The runway is only 40 feet wide. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/31 "2007-09-01T17:47:37Z")
ā€œSmall biplaneā€ fits well with ā€œStearmanā€, so it seems Johnnyā€™s initial observation was most likely correct. We used to love to race those guys on the roads around Bakersfield as they were trying to do their job. Sometimes theyā€™d play, sometimes not. šŸ™‚ Once, when I was older, I pretended to shoot one down (with my invisible .50 cal mg). The duster pilot rolled over on his back, went into a dive, then pulled out about 5 inches (okay, 50 feet) above the ground. That job can get boring. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/32 "2007-09-01T18:06:37Z")
Iā€™d always considered a Stearman to be fairly large. (Not An-2 large, but big.) Itā€™s actually shorter and has a shorter wingspan than a Cessna 172. Itā€™s only three inches taller than a Skyhawk; but while the Cessnaā€™s height is in its tail, the Stearmanā€™s is all up front. The extra set of wings, the 220 hp radial, and the barrel body gives it the impression of mass. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022/33 "2007-09-01T18:26:55Z")
I once worked at a remote gold mine in northern British Columbia. Access was by air only. One day, a DC-3 that had been transporting ore took off, flew down the valley, swung around and then flipped upside down and crashed into a sandbar in the river at the end of the runway. The plane was a flaming wreck that burned for hours. Transport Canada flew up in a couple helicopters to investigate and then re-opened the runway about six hours after the crash. We then flew out, taking off right over the still-burning wreckage and flying through the smoke. Pretty solemn flight, I can say. We lost some nice guys that day, pretty sad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-by-a-plane-crash/417022.md?page=1)