# The Great Ongoing Aviation Thread (general and other) (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499 "2011-10-23T02:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 451
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9003 "2025-12-11T16:43:03Z")
Wow! 9000 posts in this thread. In just 6 short days (Dec 17th) it’ll be the 90th anniversary of the first DC-3 flight! The DC-3 Society has a [screening of a film for members](https://www.dc3society.org/events) (those who join by the 16th). I was lucky enough to get a private tour of Placid Lassie this summer; very cool! ---
**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:** [December 11, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9004 "2025-12-11T16:46:13Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > In just 6 short days (Dec 17th) it’ll be the 90th anniversary of the first DC-3 flight! It will be the 122nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ flight. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9005 "2025-12-11T17:12:34Z")
We were at a hot air balloon festival at a small GA airport. The airport had shirts for sale like this [one](https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcQAbLqlK07Dk_IPTYBZ22SlqxgF6FYBuEsgWi6aPdW69SnsTv9ZXB6TIOriLKHFKUiJlMtxB1snSkd9zWPGL2uCL8knDMGnACoW3yWc_aY); we were wondering why they were selling shirts like that where the date was off by 120 **years** ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9006 "2025-12-11T17:13:36Z")
Link not accessible. Can you describe it? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9007 "2025-12-11T17:16:50Z")
Pilots - looking down on people since 1903 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9008 "2025-12-11T17:29:39Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Wow! 9000 posts in this thread. We broke 8000 on Jun 22 ~= 6 months ago. Suggesting the automatic rollover to Part 2 of this thread should come up around Jun 2026. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9009 "2025-12-11T19:27:48Z")
ATSB report on skydiver who’s reserve chute accidentally deploys & hangs him up on the tail, almost crashing the plane - make sure to watch the [video](https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/news-items/2025/skydiver-suspended-below-jump-aircrafts-tailplane-after-snagged-handle-deploys-reserve-chute) footage (from another skydiver’s helmet cam) ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9010 "2025-12-11T21:50:31Z")
Code brown for sure. Without the knife probably 2 fatalities. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9011 "2025-12-13T00:58:55Z")
The pilot could have banked to the left and knife edged down. It would have sorted itself out. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9012 "2025-12-13T01:44:30Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > And those spindly little feet give no propulsion on water. Hey, leave me out of this, will ya! ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9013 "2025-12-13T02:11:30Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It would have sorted itself out. There was stabilizer damage from the diver hitting it before the chute snagged, so pitch authority was probably sketchy and uncertain. I don’t think anyone was going to be performing any aerobatics at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9014 "2025-12-13T02:35:37Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > There was stabilizer damage from the diver hitting it before the chute snagged, so pitch authority was probably sketchy and uncertain. I don’t think anyone was going to be performing any aerobatics at that point. Landing would have been interesting if the jumper was still attached. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9015 "2025-12-13T11:13:06Z")
Had the jumper had no knife it would have been a very bad situation with few or no happy paths forward. As it was after the jumper was detached and there was just parachute debris tied to the stabilizer the pilot was not far from jumping out themselves. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9016 "2025-12-13T11:26:05Z")
In other not exactly news I got a text a while ago from a pilot I worked with for 30+ years. He’ll retire in less than a year. His “news” was that day was the 40-something-th anniversary of the day he dead-sticked a light plane into a vacant lot in the middle of a city on a gray snow-covered day. Went through some small treetops at the perimeter and stopped in the clearing. He had some great pix of the newspaper article and the mostly intact but still totalled airplane. Only minor injuries to all 4 aboard. A lot would have been different about his life had he been more injured or killed that day at age 20-ish. Or just been violated for something; that would have aborted his airline career before it began. Shit happens out there. I’m avoiding details to avoid doxxing him. You get the idea though. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9017 "2025-12-14T19:05:08Z")
50 minutes of a Swiss RC jet show. These are ‘big’ RC aircraft. Mostly fighters, a DC-10/11?, two acrobatic designs, fly by and aerobatics 6 feet off the runway at speed. A good time sink. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5uGzqhD1QWs/maxresdefault.jpg "SWITZERLAND'S CRAZIEST RC JET AIRSHOW! – TOP GUN MOLLIS 2025") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uGzqhD1QWs) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9018 "2025-12-14T20:10:50Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > a DC-10/11? Easy way to tell: No winglets = old fashioned = DC-10. Yes winglets = new fangled = MD-11. The Swissair model has winglets and is an MD-11. Other than that, and the fact the early DC-10 was made in some shorter variants that weren’t ported over to the MD-11 lineup, there’s very little from the outside to distinguish the two aircraft. Overall that was a great vid. I’m still working through it. Thank you. For those who want to watch it in a separate tab/window, it’s here: `https://youtu.be/5uGzqhD1QWs` Given our earlier discussion of the BD-5 I liked watching that one particularly. Other like all the others, that one is about 1/2 real scale, not 1/10 or 1/20. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9019 "2025-12-15T00:26:52Z")
Incredible! I had no idea. Dumb question: Those are real (mini) jet engines, right? (Maybe just one – in the tail, obviously – in the DC-10)? Also, it seems that a mishap could lead to serious injury or worse…is there a special license for these folks? Also, they don’t seem too concerned or careful about the jet blast – is it pretty minor? Love the cows and their bells. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9020 "2025-12-15T00:29:51Z")
I’ve seen a few of those videos. All I can think is, ‘Man, if I could spend that much money on an aircraft, I would buy one I could actually fly in!’ ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9021 "2025-12-15T00:33:16Z")
Image of the day. People who can’t get a reserved court to play tennis. [![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hqvwCEeLkZI/YDrmmPC6ieI/AAAAAAAAcmI/hSmRBzODg5kx9iMHbgQ1OaEUA3Sz_ktNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/wing-walkers-photos%2B%25281%2529.jpg) ](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hqvwCEeLkZI/YDrmmPC6ieI/AAAAAAAAcmI/hSmRBzODg5kx9iMHbgQ1OaEUA3Sz_ktNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/wing-walkers-photos%2B%25281%2529.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/9022 "2025-12-15T00:42:46Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Dumb question: Those are real (mini) jet engines, right? (Maybe just one – in the tail, obviously – in the DC-10)? There are electric engines for smaller RC’s but yes, they’re are jet engines. And these jet RC’s can travel 200 mph so there is some certification involved. It’s an expensive hobby. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499.md?page=450) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499.md?page=452)