Harrison Ford is a Good (...and, yes, still attractive) Pilot

So, if an unattractive non-movie star with 5,000 hours flew a few dozen feet over a 737 on his way to landing on a taxiway would you consider him a good pilot? Because I wouldn't. That's to say nothing of his other mishaps; he was found as a contributing factor in his helicopter crash and roll, and has departed a runway on landing. Two facts absent from your article.

That's great if he's a good ambassador for GA. That doesn't make him a good, or more importantly safe, pilot.
 
HornetDriver said:
So, if an unattractive non-movie star with 5,000 hours flew a few dozen feet over a 737 on his way to landing on a taxiway would you consider him a good pilot? Because I wouldn't. That's to say nothing of his other mishaps; he was found as a contributing factor in his helicopter crash and roll, and has departed a runway on landing. Two facts absent from your article.
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Celebrities get a pass, those details are insignificant to those who idolize them. Our culture values their opinions, excuses their behavior, and lauds their achievements above and beyond those of the average guy who actually does it better but has no claim to fame.
 
HornetDriver said:
So, if an unattractive non-movie star with 5,000 hours flew a few dozen feet over a 737 on his way to landing on a taxiway would you consider him a good pilot? Because I wouldn't. That's to say nothing of his other mishaps; he was found as a contributing factor in his helicopter crash and roll, and has departed a runway on landing. Two facts absent from your article.

That's great if he's a good ambassador for GA. That doesn't make him a good, or more importantly safe, pilot.
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First off, I see you are new. Welcome to PoA!

On to your points...
- I addressed the taxiway incident and made no excuses for it

- Helicopter... I read the NTSB report and it clearly puts blame on the instructor. While I have no doubts Ford was a contributing factor to the incident - he was a helicopter student learning something for the first time... you should have seen the first half dozen or so times I tried to execute new things when I was a flight student - the blame is on the PIC and one who was supposed to be supervising the situation. I mean, sure, if I had crashed during my first or second landing attempt as a student, I would have been a contributing factor, but the blame would have been on my CFI. And rightfully so.

- First I'm hearing about a runway runoff. I cannot find any NTSB report on it. Found something on a website called airsafe, but no real info... just that it happened 17 years ago and was attributed to a gust of wind. No injuries.

As to Cooter's assertion that celebrities get a pass... that couldn't be farther from the truth. If anything, the exact opposite is true. They get looked at and scrutinized far harder and harsher than the rest of us. The comment sections of every article I read on Ford's taxiway incident were filled almost entirely with criticism of him and statements about how he's too old or incompetent to fly. Nearly every non-pilot person I have heard speak about Ford as a pilot has said nothing but negative things. I honestly can't say I have seen or heard one person who isn't a pilot say anything other than that he is a bad pilot or that he needs to give it up. I mean, the only reason his incidents are even reported on in the media is because of who he is.

Anyway, I clearly stated in my write up that I can't conclusively call him a good a pilot. Additionally, I didn't claim him to be a great or even the best pilot. But every article I've read about him in aviation has been negative, so I decided to offer a counter argument and to highlight all of the great things he has done for our community. I hope he continues to do great things for our community, as we need all the help we can get.
 
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**** happens... It'd suck if your legacy in a community was limited to an unfortunate accident. I wonder if we remember any non-celebrities by one trivial mistake that led to no injuries?

We're better than the tabloids, I hope.
 
I like that Ford was quick to admit his mistake to ATC ("I'm the schmuck who just landed on the taxiway") Sometimes fame and humility don't go hand in hand...
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
First off, I see you are new. Welcome to PoA!

On to your points...
- I addressed the taxiway incident and made no excuses for it

- Helicopter... I read the NTSB report and it clearly puts blame on the instructor. While I have no doubts Ford was a contributing factor to the incident - he was a helicopter student learning something for the first time... you should have seen the first half dozen or so times I tried to execute new things when I was a flight student - the blame is on the PIC and one who was supposed to be supervising the situation. I mean, sure, if I had crashed during my first or second landing attempt as a student, I would have been a contributing factor, but the blame would have been on my CFI. And rightfully so.

- First I'm hearing about a runway runoff. I cannot find any NTSB report on it. Found something on a website called airsafe, but no real info... just that it happened 17 years ago and was attributed to a gust of wind. No injuries.

As to Cooter's assertion that celebrities get a pass... that couldn't be farther from the truth. If anything, the exact opposite is true. They get looked at and scrutinized far harder and harsher than the rest of us. The comment sections of every article I read on Ford's taxiway incident were filled almost entirely with criticism of him and statements about how he's too old or incompetent to fly. Nearly every non-pilot person I have heard speak about Ford as a pilot has said nothing but negative things. I honestly can't say I have seen or heard one person who isn't a pilot say anything other than that he is a bad pilot or that he needs to give it up. I mean, the only reason his incidents are even reported on in the media is because of who he is.

Anyway, I clearly stated in my write up that I can't conclusively call him a good a pilot. Additionally, I didn't claim him to be a great or even the best pilot. But every article I've read about him in aviation has been negative, so I decided to offer a counter argument and to highlight all of the great things he has done for our community. I hope he continues to do great things for our community, as we need all the help we can get.
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Thanks.

"The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
  • The pilot's delay in adding power during a power-on recovery from an autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing and rollover. The flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight was also causal."

He may blame his poor landing on a gust of wind, but that doesn't change the fact that he was PIC and ran off the runway.

I apologize for the confusion, but both the title of your article and this thread, apart from allusions to his appearance, are "Harrison Ford is a good pilot." I think Cooter hit the nail on the head.

mkosmo said:
**** happens... It'd suck if your legacy in a community was limited to an unfortunate accident. I wonder if we remember any non-celebrities by one trivial mistake that led to no injuries?

We're better than the tabloids, I hope.
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In what world is putting a perfectly good airplane on the ground somewhere other than the runway you're cleared to land on a "trivial mistake"? He directly overflew a 737 and then asked if it was supposed to be there... In Ford's case his legacy is limited to an airplane crash, a helicopter crash, a runway excursion, and one "unfortunate accident."

Pilots do make mistakes, but we need to be hard on ourselves rather than make excuses. I don't think it's unreasonable, given his history and how close he came to an airliner full of innocent people, for people to be hard on him.
 
Ford's impact on GA has been nil. Other forums I'm on his newsworthy incidents dominate discussion on the topic. Sad to say you need a Beyonce or somebody like that to take an interest. Don't hold your breath. Famous old rich white guys flying wont inspire and if it does they get hit with the costs when someone goes to take a lesson.
 
Funny, but yesterday I ran across a King-produced training video about runway incursions. HF did the intro.
 
HornetDriver said:
In what world is putting a perfectly good airplane on the ground somewhere other than the runway you're cleared to land on a "trivial mistake"? He directly overflew a 737 and then asked if it was supposed to be there... In Ford's case his legacy is limited to an airplane crash, a helicopter crash, a runway excursion, and one "unfortunate accident."

Pilots do make mistakes, but we need to be hard on ourselves rather than make excuses. I don't think it's unreasonable, given his history and how close he came to an airliner full of innocent people, for people to be hard on him.
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It was trivial because nobody was in serious danger nor was anybody injured. That airport is a mess and something like this has been bound to happen. It just took a high-profile pilot to be the one to make the mistake. If it had been Joe Blow from somewhere else, you wouldn't be so critical.
 
PPC1052 said:
Sort of like if gulfstream girl was an old man.

And could do the Kessel run in 14 parsecs.
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Harrison did it in less than 12.


Great write up Cajun. I won't lie, I love the guy too. Not in an sloppy sexual way like you, but I love the dude's flicks, love that he's a pilot, love that he's an advocate for GA and Young Eagles, and love his choice of aircraft. Congrats on getting to actually meet him in person.

I think you tie with EvilEagle for best Monkey pic. The F-15 was badass, but Monkey with Han Solo is right up there. I'm only disappointed that you were obviously to verklempt and weak in the knees to ask him to pose with the monkey.



P.S. As I read your article, I kept thinking of this. Just replace Mike Douglas with Harrison Ford.
 
Why ruin Cajun_Flyer's perfectly nice thread so quickly with all the GG trash?
 
NoHeat said:
Why ruin Cajun_Flyer's perfectly nice thread so quickly with all the GG trash?
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Same reason why some others tried to turn this into a debate... it's PoA! ;) It's all good though.


OkieFlyer said:
P.S. As I read your article, I kept thinking of this. Just replace Mike Douglas with Harrison Ford.
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Ok, what's really freakin' weird is that the night before the event, I had a dream that instead of Ford showing up it was Michael Douglas. In my dream I was massively disappointed. I mean, I thought, sure, it was kinda cool to hang with Douglas I guess, but he's not as pretty and certainly nowhere near as badass as Ford.

@EvilEagle 's F-15 pic is by far the coolest Monkey one so far.
 
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