Scudrunners

I can't believe nobody here has mentioned the passing of Darryl Greenamyer a week ago.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darryl_Greenamyer


He test flew SR-71s, claimed the FAI piston engine speed record which had stood since before the second world war, [i]built an airworthy F-104 mostly from parts out of scrap yards[/i] then flew it to a record speed that still stands, and made an abandoned B-29 airworthy in the middle of nowhere in Greenland only to have it burn to the ground before being ferried off that frozen lake.


Sounds like he was quite the guy.

That B-29 story is so heartbreaking. So damn close and then to lose it all...

[quote author=Chris link=topic=9161.msg25128#msg25128 date=1539102466]
That B-29 story is so heartbreaking. So damn close and then to lose it all...
[/quote]
...all because of a fuel pump diaphragm in the APU.  From what I've read the whole Kee Bird saga was going to be a tragedy no matter what happened.  Had it flown out it sounds like I was going to be at least grounded or at worst confiscated by the USAF on landing at Thule.  As I understand it, there was also a second group looking to fly the B-29 out and had Greenamyer's team left it for the next season I wonder how salvage laws would have worked if the other folks got there first.

Also, to come off this project:
[img width=500 height=371]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2632/3876 ... 2213_b.jpg[/img]


...and onto this one next:
[img width=500 height=248]http://www.i-f-s.nl/wp-content/uploads/ ... 2051_4.jpg[/img]


...the guy would have had to have been like Ricky Bobby with wings.

What a guy!

Good pilots can fly [i]anything[/i].

[quote][font=Verdana]What a guy![/font][font=Verdana]Good pilots can fly anything.[/font][/quote][font=Verdana]


It is something that just comes naturally to some pilots.


A natural pilot can fly anything with wings fixed or rotary.[/font]

There is some hard work involved getting there, though.

Regardless of what some people say, there is no substitute
for systems knowledge and closed loop control.

[quote author=Chuck Ellsworth link=topic=9161.msg25135#msg25135 date=1539112265]
[font=verdana]It is something that just comes naturally to some pilots.[/font]
[/quote]
[quote author=Colonel Sanders link=topic=9161.msg25142#msg25142 date=1539174331]
There is some hard work involved getting there, though.[/quote]
The old nature versus nurture.

The very best have [i]both[/i] aptitude and motivation.  The combination
of the two is nearly unstoppable.

If you want to be world-class at something, good genetics and 10 years
of very hard work is a good start.  30 years is better.

The idea, however, in the 21st century, of people working hard at [i]anything[/i]
for 10 years - let alone 30 - is somewhat anachronistic, to say the least.

Everybody wants instant gratification.  Everybody [i]expects[/i] to be that
one-in-a-billion phenomenon (that doesn't really exist) that is superb
at something difficult and worthwhile, [u]with no practice[/u].  [b]Never happens[/b],
but it doesn't stop people from dreaming about winning the lottery,
which incidentally will destroy you (irony not perceived, as usual).

I am so happy these days when I meet a young person with a work
ethic.  So rare, and so important.

A pilot I flew with was there when the B-29 burned. The captain said that the jury rigged APU was dangerous and they ignored him. The aircraft burned. Wouldn't take advice.