Sad news for our 6Y9 family

Dizaster

Dizaster

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Diz
For those of you who have been a huge part of the 6Y9 fly-ins, it saddens me deeply to say that on Monday night, we lost 2 pilots of our 6Y9 family. Dean Honkala and William Brewer were part of the Ishpeming group that would arrive together in a few planes.

The group also lost another one of theirs not too long ago so this last tragedy has cut that flying group in half. They all could use your thoughts and prayers.

You can search “Ishpeming plane crash” for more info.
 
That sucks bigtime! I don't remember those two guys specifically but I definitely remember that group flying in.
 
Ugh that blows... What airplane did they fly up in? I am in the same boat as Tim.
 
So sorry to hear! The GA community is a small group and a loss effects everyone! :(
 
Sad to hear, like others I remember the aircraft more than the pilots. For what ever reason never struck up a conversation with them. Still part of the 6Y9 family and sad to hear they are gone. Thoughts and prayers to their families and those that knew them.
 
vontresc said:
Ugh that blows... What airplane did they fly up in? I am in the same boat as Tim.
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I think it was the Aeronca Chief that they had flown for awhile.
Waiting for the NTSB/FAA report for more info.
Dean Honkala was flight instructor and a great guy with a great sense of humor.
Bill Brewer was a great guy also. Always a smile when he flew in.
Bill's cousin who was a pilot also recently died due to an illness.
Our U.P. flight crew out of Ishpeming Mi. is getting real small.

My heart goes out to Dean's father ,Frank Honkala , who is in his 80's and still flying, and 3 of the 4 younger guys in the group are now gone.
Life is definitely not fair.

Both Dean and Bill had nice families ,keep them in your prayers and thoughts.
Brad
 
timwinters said:
That sucks bigtime! I don't remember those two guys specifically but I definitely remember that group flying in.
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The "group" of planes from Ishpeming were Dean in his Pacer ,Bill in the Chief, Frank in the silver L-4 cub, Bill's cousin in a really nice yellow J-3 and Dan in a T-Craft. Once in awhile Dean's cousin would fly in in a Maule.
 
The evidence to support the NTSB conclusions seems a bit thin.
 
How does a conclusion (carb ice) become "likely" when there is no physical evidence?

Possible? Yes. Likely? Using what definition of evidence?
 
I do take a bit of an issue with the '100-150 foot' pattern reportedly flown? If anything close to that it cuts into options available in the event of a problem.

The carb ice potential seems a bit of a stretch, though maybe they have addition info not publicized.
 
sourdough44 said:
I do take a bit of an issue with the '100-150 foot' pattern reportedly flown? If anything close to that it cuts into options available in the event of a problem.
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It was based entirely off a witness statement which is suspect. The report said the airplane made a 360 degree turn in the spin before it hit. I seriously doubt that occurred at 150' AGL.
 
weilke said:
The evidence to support the NTSB conclusions seems a bit thin.
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This seems to be their new format. Lots of speculation turned into hard facts in the report. :(
I wonder whether the "old timers" who knew how to properly investigate and type a report have been retired and replaced with "young blood", i.e. investigators inexperienced in logic, reasoning and English language.
 
BigBadLou said:
This seems to be their new format. Lots of speculation turned into hard facts in the report. :(
I wonder whether the "old timers" who knew how to properly investigate and type a report have been retired and replaced with "young blood", i.e. investigators inexperienced in logic, reasoning and English language.
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This one looks like it was one done by the FAA on behalf of the NTSB. Those tend to be pretty much a 'I think this is why they crashed' with the facts being draped around the FAA inspectors conclusions. The NTSB just uploads them into their database.
 
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