Acquaintance of mine crashes his plane into Mall Parking lot. (From the FT. Myers News-Press)

A HERETIC I AM

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:03 AM
Original message

Acquaintance of mine crashes his plane into Mall Parking lot. (From the FT. Myers News-Press)

Edited on Wed Oct-24-07 11:03 AM by A HERETIC I AM

I know this gentleman. This happened yesterday. Luckily, he and his passenger walked away and no one on the ground was injured.

The aircraft is a 1943 Taylorcraft L-2, a single engine plane that was used for observation purposes during WW II.

This happened about 1.5 miles from my workplace and just north of Page Field Airport where he took off. Glad he is ok, but kinda scary. A tribute to his piloting skills that he was able to put it down in the way he did.

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071024/NEWS0110/710240422/1075

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=A4&Date=20071023&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=710230802&Ref=PH&Profile=1075

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valerief

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:06 AM
Response to Original message

1. I don't understand why so many people need to fly private planes.

It's a danger to people below. If they want kicks, take drugs.

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Fridays Child

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:10 AM
Response to Reply #1

4. Did you forget the sarcasm tag or are you serious?

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uppityperson

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:12 AM
Response to Reply #1

5. I don't understand why so many people need to drive private cars

It's a danger to everyone and a huge waste of resources.

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kestrel91316

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:38 AM
Response to Reply #1

13. Hm. I am glad my dad got his kicks by flying (he had private, commercial,

AND instructors' licenses) rather than drugs. It brought him a great deal of pleasure and he never hurt anybody.

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LibertyLover

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:08 AM
Response to Original message

2. I know the Edison Mall well

from visits to a friend of mine who lived in Ft. Myers and now lives in Cape Coral. Glad to hear your acquaintance is ok. Any landing you walk away from is a good one, as the saying goes.

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cuke

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:09 AM
Response to Original message

3. For once, I hope you're one of those people who say

"None of my friends are voting for Hillary"

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A HERETIC I AM

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:13 AM
Response to Reply #3

7. I'm sorry, but i don't follow you....

I realize that this story is not of any earth shattering import, nor is it relevant to the lives of most on DU, i just posted it because i know the guy and i am happy he is OK and no one else was hurt.

How this has anything to do with the campaign for President or who will vote for a particular candidate is beyond me.

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cuke

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:19 AM
Response to Reply #7

10. Just a little joke. So little, it's almost undetectable

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A HERETIC I AM

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:31 AM
Response to Reply #10

12. Fair enough. No worries. Sorry for the snark. n/t

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OzarkDem

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:13 AM
Response to Original message

6. Glad everyone is ok

What a shame, but he must have been a good pilot to have things turn out well.

Beautiful plane, hope they can repair it.

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A HERETIC I AM

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:16 AM
Response to Reply #6

8. Yeah, me too.

And yes, i agree. He definitely knows his stuff.

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Stinky The Clown

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:18 AM
Response to Original message

9. I saw this story on the news yesterday

I love that these old planes are still kept flying. I hope your friend can repair it.

We have an old saying ...... Drivers can heal. Classic cars are expensive.

The same general thought applies to old airplanes. :)

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shenmue

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Wed Oct-24-07 11:21 AM
Response to Original message

11. Yipes

Hope he gets better soon.

:(

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flamin lib

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Wed Oct-24-07 12:01 PM
Response to Original message

14. Nice airplane. I'm sure he can repair it, it's made of birch, fir and

Edited on Wed Oct-24-07 12:07 PM by flamin lib

linen. I personally rebuilt a crop duster after a mid air collusion--nobody injured but sure pissed the boss off.

Didn't they use this plane in 'Nam too? I know they used a Cessna of similar appearance.

on edit:

My elder brother re-builds small planes. Unlike cars you can buy all the parts for less than the cost of a new complete airplane. He would buy wrecks so bad that he brought them home in the back of his Chevy Suburban. All he needed was the serial number plate on the engine mount.

Planes like this are pretty safe. Landing speed is about 40 mph. I had an Aeronica Chief that on a windy day could fly backward. I could even tether it to a fence post and fly it like a kite!

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A HERETIC I AM

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Wed Oct-24-07 12:11 PM
Response to Reply #14

15. Primary forward observation aircraft in Viet Nam was the O-2

Edited on Wed Oct-24-07 12:15 PM by A HERETIC I AM

here is an O-2

I know 2 guys that have this airplane too. The O-2A was the military version of the Cessna Skymaster.

I could not find any reference to the L-2 being used much after WW II.

Here is a link to a page with info on the L-2;

http://www.warbirdalley.com/l2.htm

On edit to LOL re: your plane and flying backward! Ive seen that done. Pretty cool.

I know you're right about repairing his L-2. Thing is, his insurance rates just went through the roof.

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kskiska

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Wed Oct-24-07 12:50 PM
Response to Original message

16. My dad built this plane in his basement

It's a 3/4-scale Fokker. He flew it in Oshkosh at the Experimental Aircraft show maybe 20 years ago. He also flew a B-17 there. He later scrapped it because it cost too much to fly, and if he sold it he could have gotten sued if someone got killed in it.

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A HERETIC I AM

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Wed Oct-24-07 01:02 PM
Response to Reply #16

18. That is very cool!

Edited on Wed Oct-24-07 01:04 PM by A HERETIC I AM

Too bad he scrapped it. I wonder though if it was registered as an "Experimental" (Which i imagine it was, if he home-built it) that he would have had any liability at all. Any new owner would have known its history and it still would have had an Airworthiness certificate, wouldnt it?

Anyway...looks really cool. Looks like a P-51 sitting next to it. My dream plane!

edited for atrocious sentence structure!

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kskiska

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Wed Oct-24-07 01:19 PM
Response to Reply #18

19. I guess he just didn't want to take any chances.

He's still got pieces of it - the tail, and he made a table out of the side pieces with the iron crosses.

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Debbi801

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Wed Oct-24-07 12:56 PM
Response to Original message

17. Highly impressive piloting skills, especially with a tail dragger....

I'm glad he's ok. It's a beautiful plane.

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