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John T Walton

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2022 4:16 pm
by TwinOtterFan
This randomly popped up on my feed this morning while I sit here waiting for a disaster to happen, thought it was pretty cool.



Here is a link to his Wiki.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_T._Walton

Re: John T Walton

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:19 pm
by Colonel
while I sit here waiting for a disaster to happen
Is there a volcano rumbling somewhere that I haven't heard of, or is this now a common fatalistic sentiment amongst Canadian taxpayers?
Walton died on June 27, 2005, when the CGS Hawk Arrow home-built ultralight aircraft that he was piloting
Ultralights are junk. Don't fly them. No one listens, their feelings just get hurt when I tell them, and then they do it anyways.

Re: John T Walton

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 4:50 pm
by TwinOtterFan
Colonel wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:19 pm
while I sit here waiting for a disaster to happen
Is there a volcano rumbling somewhere that I haven't heard of, or is this now a common fatalistic sentiment amongst Canadian taxpayers?
Haha no, the fine college of paramedics here in Alberta decided to award me a paramedic license based off of my many years of military service as a medic. So now if I’m not flying I am sitting in an ambulance awaiting Darwin’s next adventure.

Re: John T Walton

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 8:39 pm
by Slick Goodlin
Colonel wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:19 pm
Ultralights are junk. Don't fly them. No one listens, their feelings just get hurt when I tell them, and then they do it anyways.
Ultralights don’t kill people, people who suck at maintaining their trash ultralight because they think there are no laws therefore no responsibilities kill people.

Re: John T Walton

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 10:48 pm
by Colonel
I dunno. Sure, the lack of maintenance causes all the engine failures, but you can’t ignore the complete lack of engineering, poor materials and crappy training.

Aluminum lawn chair tubing is not a structural material. I remember landing one on the Big Rideau and the floats all danced around.

Re: John T Walton

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 2:13 am
by TwinOtterFan
I think to blanket all ultralights as junk is a bit to broad of a stroke. A model 3 kidfox can be classed as an ultralight or a LSA it has a chromoly frame and is skinned no different than a Champ.

I agree with the issue falling on the owners who either lack knowledge or just don't care.

Re: John T Walton

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 3:00 am
by Slick Goodlin
UL pilots are like the Libertarians of aviation.

Re: John T Walton

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 12:12 pm
by Colonel
I blame the parents. You need good role models. Without them you think that a chainsaw engine, bedsheets and aluminum tubing can be used to build an airplane. No. That’s a prop for Mad Max.

Re: John T Walton

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 2:25 pm
by Nark
Look no further than Red Bull’s flugtag.

Great entertainment watching castrophic failure of almost aerial machines.

Re: John T Walton

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 3:55 pm
by Squaretail
TwinOtterFan wrote:
Mon Sep 19, 2022 2:13 am
I think to blanket all ultralights as junk is a bit to broad of a stroke.
It may be broad, but its pretty accurate.
I agree with the issue falling on the owners who either lack knowledge or just don't care.
The main driving factor of ultralights is cost. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is lying to you. There's this odd idea that its a worthwhile endeavor to get into the air at the lowest possible price point ignoring all other considerations. Hilariously, sometimes ultralights end up being more expensive, but the owner will rarely view it that way instead pointing to how much time they saved on training, since time is money, this perception will probably always be a favorable ratio in their mind. Oddly enough, most of the biggest ultralight guys I know still alive, have more than enough money to just fly airplanes, but have a strange notion that they are somehow winning the game saving money on this front.

Personally I've never seen an ultralight that wasn't junk. I have theorized that there may be ones out there that aren't, but I think I'm more likely to spot Bigfoot and the Ogopogo together.

I haven't kept track for a while, but it was that someone died in an ultralight around here every year. Sometimes more than one per year.

Here was this year's.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ ... -1.6520546