GASTON'S = CERTAIN DEATH!!!!!!

So I assume in light of this information, gastons is cancelled this year. I can't subject my family to the horror of witnessing all of that carnage.
 
Its funny how he preaches that a pilot needs to do all their homework before taking off or landing at the dangerous Gaston's, however he seems very surprised at the takeoff roll distance and was not sure if he could clear an obstacle.

Seems like he would have known that if he ran the numbers?

And like @AggieMike88 said, what the hell is he doing that far left on the runway?
 
Never been there but looking at the sectionals and the aerial maps...3000' is a long runway and then there is another 4000 feet of fields and low stuff so really more like a 7000' runway. It can't be too warm that day the girl has a sweater on and there are only 3 in the airplane (not sure what an RG Cardinals useful load is or their fuel situation.

Based on only gut feel and watching the video I think I would have gone left but then again I have never been there. I assume those power line towers are only a few hundred feet at most looking at the topo the tops of the hills in the area are 500-800. My guess is he cleared them by a couple hundred feet.

I think I would have left it on the runway longer and built more speed rather than force it off particularly in light of the low country in front of him he had plenty of room to climb up the valley to the left.

Could be just some false reality TV type drama but in the guys defense sometimes things just feel worse than they are.
 
neilw2 said:
Its funny how he preaches that a pilot needs to do all their homework before taking off or landing at the dangerous Gaston's, however he seems very surprised at the takeoff roll distance and was not sure if he could clear an obstacle.

Seems like he would have known that if he ran the numbers?

And like @AggieMike88 said, what the hell is he doing that far left on the runway?
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Apparantly he doesn't even know how long the runway is...

René Koch1 year ago
How long is the runway? Special greetings from Leipzig, Germany! :)



The Cardinal Pilot1 year ago
2500 ft I think? Maybe 3000.
 
I think we're being pretty hard on the guy - it's how you learn.

Along the lines of "There but for the Grace of God..."

I remember a night takeoff from Chalet Suzanne in Central FL, heavy in a C210. Imagine the takeoff linked here, with unseen obstructions.

I'm still here, but no longer so quick to judge.
 
I assume this is all grand standing. I didn't see ANYTHING inherently wrong or dangerous about the video. Climb didn't seem anemic, 177 rg is perfectly suited for that field, cleared everything with what appears to be plenty of margin but he delivering the drama both in the flight and his commentary.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I assume this is all grand standing. I didn't see ANYTHING inherently wrong or dangerous about the video. Climb didn't seem anemic, 177 rg is perfectly suited for that field, cleared everything with what appears to be plenty of margin but he delivering the drama both in the flight and his commentary.
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Remember that the wide angle of a GoPro makes everything look farther away. The perception is the reality and I'm certain his perception was disaster was much closer than the video suggests.
 
deonb said:
Watch the turbulence video when they were on the way. Scared them sufficiently that he probably got some later.
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Still not seeing it. Women are attracted to confidence and men who make them feel safe, this guy goes from sounding like a wuss to sounding like a douche. Not attractive. She definitely wasn't amused by his comment regarding wings coming off in turbulence, and, honestly, that was a **** thing to say to an obvious nervous passenger.

korben88 said:
Maybe not by an experienced yoke jockey like yourself. But did you see that breakdown video? He basically saved those girls lives and even the douchiest of douche bags can turn that into some gratitude nookie.
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Well, I'll give it to you that he is definitely in the douchiest of douchy category! ;)
 
FastEddieB said:
I think we're being pretty hard on the guy - it's how you learn.
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I'd give you that one if he was a fresh PPL but the kid holds a CMEL!

Either he's an idiot or it was satire. I watched it a second time, though I didn't watch the "follow-up video," and I'm leaning towards satire. At least I hope he's not really that stoopid.
 
Haven't we discussed this tool's video before? Old news.

That, and Mooneys can't land on grass.
 
Hey he makes some pretty good points, "don't freeze up when stressed" Wow... I never thought of that? Maybe this has been my problem all along?
I think next time I fly I am going to try it and not freeze up.
 
This guy needs to read his damn POH. Climbing at 90 KIAS in a Cardinal RG? That's a cruise climb.

He wasn't THAT close to terrain, but that's really fast. The POH procedure says 65-75.
 
timwinters said:
I watched it a second time, though I didn't watch the "follow-up video," and I'm leaning towards satire. At least I hope he's not really that stoopid.
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A second time! Wow, I stopped about after about a minute in as it looked typical look-at-me I'm flying crap.
 
Watch til the end so u get my "fly into the tree" reference and so u get the full effect of how much of a tool this guy is.
 
One of the best parts of the follow up video: "Watch my next week's video as I go in the clouds for the first time by myself!"

What a daredevil!
 
Ok... only for you @eman1200 .

You can kind of tell the girl up front was getting annoyed by him being so dramatic. I especially like the part where she said, "Honestly, I had no idea we were in any danger." Note that he muted out the word "danger," but you can see that's what she was saying. He then cuts her off at the end with another bird freakout... to which, again, he seems to be the only one freaking out. She then later says, "I felt safe the entire time... You were stressing, I had no idea why." lol I love it... she actually emasculated him and he was too dense/full of himself too even notice! :D I really don't think the tool-ness of the guy eludes those girls.... at least not the blonde one.
 
Seems easy enough to come up with a Cardinal for a 6PC production. (But mine doesn't have the "Speed Brake" option. Just a nose gear door)
 
rolivi said:
Seems easy enough to come up with a Cardinal for a 6PC production. (But mine doesn't have the "Speed Brake" option. Just a nose gear door)
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The Cirrus has an even better speed brake. This one is rocket activated ;-)
 
After this, I won't even attempt flying my Cub in and out of there. I may even have to move airports as 2700' with trees on the end is obviously too dangerous.
 
midcap said:
can someone give a noob a synopsis of what happened?

It looks like he got a little dramatic.
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That's basically the synopsis.

He flew a Cardinal RG well short of maximum performance, and freaked out about everything around him.

As for the folks thinking overloading, Cardinal RGs have better useful load than almost anything else comparable, often over 1000 lb plus full fuel (50 or 60 gal, depending on model). They cruise like fixed gear 182s, but need some finesse to climb.
 
@MAKG1 With full fuel, 2 in the front one in the back and nothing in baggage you can get a bit forward on the CG, depending on weights, perhaps that was it. Interestingly for his post-game analysis he didn't seem particularly interested in examining why an apparently functional plane was suddenly way off book performance.

Another thought. It might just have been the camera angle but it looks like he was quite close to that line of trees on the left. I've been trying to think through what could have affected the ability to climb. Could the proximity of the trees on the left have affected lift performance?
 
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