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1959 Air Jordan "Low Flyers Club" Card
Going through old boxes, I found this card that apparently certifies that my dad flew 1000 ft below sea level, signed by the captain of his Air Jordan flight. Pretty cool. (www.dropbox.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
My, how times change. How many people read the headline and 'sneaker' and 'Nike' popped up first?
Some people have tried to fly that low in the US.
That is a cool piece.
That is a cool piece.
I too experinced the thrill of flying below sea level over the Dead Sea. It was back in the 80's...in a Cessna172...with an EL AL pilot friend of mine. I recall the altimeter looking very strange dipping below zero feet MSL. I was never issued a card!
Cool.
I like how you earn the right to ask, "how low can you get...and still fly?"
Really neat. Unfortunately, airlines have taken the fun out of flying nowadays.
Really neat. Unfortunately, airlines have taken the fun out of flying nowadays.
Actually, you can't place all the blame on the airlines. The regulatory atmosphere worldwide has forced airlines to spend untold billions of dollars filling out incomprehensibly huge amounts of paperwork to show "compliance" with with the myriad of always complex, often vague, and frequently contradictory regulations that have been generated in the last several decades, all in the name of safety. No wonder airlines no longer feel they can afford to do things to help their passengers enjoy their flight!
Doesn't it seem as if you do *anything* at all, you are in violation of some law, regulation, or rule- and if you do nothing, you are in violation of others?
There were a number of factors that got us started on the road to heavy regulation. Back in the day (1956) there was a collision over the Grand Canyon that caused 128 deaths. The air traffic control system was not continuous as it is today. There were large parts of the country that had no radar coverage. Both aircraft were "off airways" and were IFR, but operating on "see and avoid" with no assistance from ATC. Both aircraft captains were talking only to their respective company headquarters when they collided, and had taken off from LAX only three minutes apart. More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_Grand_Canyon_mid-air_collision. That collision was the first civilian collision that caused more than one hundred deaths.
Second was the fact that the FAA was created as a result of this collision. The first head of the FAA was a retired Army Air Force general appointed as the Administrator. He was Elwood R. Quesada, a three star general. Given his background you can imagine that he designed the ATC system that followed the creation of the FAA to be as tightly controlled as the one that the AAF used in Europe to fly 1000 plane bombing raids into Germany during the 1944 - 1945 effort. The resulting regs were modeled on the AAF's IMHO. Given the present tightness of the medical and other regs (personal experience speaking here) this collision and the aftermath are at least part of the reason that the regulatory climate is so restrictive.
Second was the fact that the FAA was created as a result of this collision. The first head of the FAA was a retired Army Air Force general appointed as the Administrator. He was Elwood R. Quesada, a three star general. Given his background you can imagine that he designed the ATC system that followed the creation of the FAA to be as tightly controlled as the one that the AAF used in Europe to fly 1000 plane bombing raids into Germany during the 1944 - 1945 effort. The resulting regs were modeled on the AAF's IMHO. Given the present tightness of the medical and other regs (personal experience speaking here) this collision and the aftermath are at least part of the reason that the regulatory climate is so restrictive.
Thanks George. You'd think he was serious about safety. My comment on 'violation' was more general and not specifically aimee at FAA. G'day.