vic (x/post) (Vic Steelhammer / aka Trombair)

Very sad, indeed. God rest his soul.

Greg
182RG
 
DeeG said:
...Vic Steelhammer...aka Trombair.
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I remember his posts. Very sad indeed, my prayers go out to his family and friends.
 
Times like these drag our hearts down, but we must remember that while death lingers over us, we cannot be afraid. Fear degrades our lives, weakens our experiences. We must also remember that Victor is in a better place now, one where refueling isn't necessary and the weather is always CAVU. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this difficult time.
 
wbarnhill said:
Times like these drag our hearts down, but we must remember that while death lingers over us, we cannot be afraid. Fear degrades our lives, weakens our experiences. We must also remember that Victor is in a better place now, one where refueling isn't necessary and the weather is always CAVU.
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So very true. My thoughts and prayers are with trombair's family. :(:(
 
I am not a pilot but have been interested in flying since I went up in a friend's plane several years ago. Vic was a friend of mine that I met here at a Brass Chamber Music Workshop a few years ago. He was on his way here to the workshop when he crashed. This week has been very hard for everyone here, but we remember that Vic was doing what he loved to do most: fly his plane and was on his way to playing his trombone. He was an incredible man who will be dearly missed. I hope you all stay safe and I will pass on the well-wishes to the other 90 members of Vic's extended musical family that is here at the workshop right now.
 
blowhorn said:
I am not a pilot but have been interested in flying since I went up in a friend's plane several years ago. Vic was a friend of mine that I met here at a Brass Chamber Music Workshop a few years ago. He was on his way here to the workshop when he crashed. This week has been very hard for everyone here, but we remember that Vic was doing what he loved to do most: fly his plane and was on his way to playing his trombone. He was an incredible man who will be dearly missed. I hope you all stay safe and I will pass on the well-wishes to the other 90 members of Vic's extended musical family that is here at the workshop right now.
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My condolances to you and his close and extended family. He was here and on the AOPA site from time to time. Even though most of us probably never met him, he was part of our extended aviation family and will be missed. We are a pretty safe lot on the whole and while I can't speak for everyone, it knocks the wind out of me when we lose one.

RIP Vic.
 
fgcason said:
My condolances to you and his close and extended family. He was here and on the AOPA site from time to time. Even though most of us probably never met him, he was part of our extended aviation family and will be missed. We are a pretty safe lot on the whole and while I can't speak for everyone, it knocks the wind out of me when we lose one.

RIP Vic.
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My thoughts exactly. I never met Vic, but we pilots are a pretty tight bunch. My condolances to his family and friends.
 
Very Sad! I beleive this is the first board member that we have lost. My prayers for comfort go out to his family.
 
blowhorn said:
I am not a pilot but have been interested in flying since I went up in a friend's plane several years ago.
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Condolences, Blowhorn. I hope your flying interests survive the hit.

Petra
 
Ug. Poor guy.
This one freaks me out more than a lot of other plane crashes for a couple of reasons
1. the photo of the wreckage is just awful
2. a fellow pilot who was also a fellow musician just trying to get to a gig in less than ideal WX----I always sweat those scenarios. Flying to a gig---lots of pressure to be there on time for the show (or seminar or workshop) and IMC conditions prevail. Do I risk the flight, or do I suck it up and drive the 6 hours instead? These are the tough decisions.

Everyone be careful out there.
 
deafsound said:
2. a fellow pilot who was also a fellow musician just trying to get to a gig in less than ideal WX----I always sweat those scenarios. Flying to a gig---lots of pressure to be there on time for the show (or seminar or workshop) and IMC conditions prevail. Do I risk the flight, or do I suck it up and drive the 6 hours instead? These are the tough decisions.
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My plan to avoid get-there-itis: If I *have* to be somewhere (real or percieved "have to"), then I make sure to be wheels up by the time I would have to leave if I was driving. If the flight goes well, I'm there way early and have some time to kill doing whatever I please. If not, I can set down anywhere between point A and point B, rent a car, and still make it in time. Takes the pressure off pretty well.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
My plan to avoid get-there-itis: If I *have* to be somewhere (real or percieved "have to"), then I make sure to be wheels up by the time I would have to leave if I was driving. If the flight goes well, I'm there way early and have some time to kill doing whatever I please. If not, I can set down anywhere between point A and point B, rent a car, and still make it in time. Takes the pressure off pretty well.
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Yeah, I do the same thing.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Oh man. Looking at the plate:

http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0808/00519I32.PDF

What do you do when your GS goes tango uniform? (Not what SHOULD you do, but what might you do if you're used to flying other ILS's). Something that can be done on most ILS approaches, can't be done on this one. :hairraise:
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Something really weird about this report too - The summary says the wreckage was 11 miles from the runway. The full narrative says 6-8 miles from the airport, and also that the weather observation station at the airport was 5 miles from the wreckage. Huh? That makes no sense.

They also include very little radar data. :dunno: It doesn't say whether the controller got a low altitude warning on him, what the response was, etc. It also took an unusually long time for the report to come out.

I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but something seems a bit funky here. :dunno:
 
Yikes... I like localizer approaches if the GS goes out.

This really makes me wonder what actually happened. For someone with over 1000 hours, I would doubt it's just inexperience.

This is very sad. I hate reading reports like this. It's probably good to do, though. Sobering realities of our passion. :(
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Something really weird about this report too - The summary says the wreckage was 11 miles from the runway. The full narrative says 6-8 miles from the airport, and also that the weather observation station at the airport was 5 miles from the wreckage. Huh? That makes no sense.
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They really screwed up the location in the final report.

It says:

The wreckage location was at 40 degrees 58.25 minutes north latitude by 124 degrees 6.19 minutes west longitude.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT

The FAA accident coordinator examined the wreckage on scene. The wreckage was in two main sections; one on each side of a mountain ridge. A logging road ran down the ridgeline. The tail section was on the east side and the forward fuselage with pilot was on the west side. He stated that the first identified point of contact (FIPC) was about 15 feet up on a large fir tree, and the airplane hit engine first at the top of Fickle Hill heading southwest. The airplane broke apart behind the pilot seat. The airplane's tail section fell around the tree; the forward section (firewall, instrument panel and pilot seat) continued over the logging road. From the tree to the fuselage impact area was about 200 feet on a steep slope of about 50 to 60 degrees down angle. Airplane parts were scattered in a V-shape from the tree out to about 100 feet.
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That lat/long for where the wreckage was located doesn't match the description later given. That lat/long is the location of the Arcata Airport:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...reckage+location)&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr

Fickle Hill is south south east of Arcata airport, and is reported as Vic's location.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...249&spn=0.130998,0.344353&t=p&z=12&iwloc=addr

That certainly matches a runway 32 approach path. This quote, however, doesn't match with "heading towards the airport"... what got him heading southwest?

the airplane hit engine first at the top of Fickle Hill heading southwest
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flyingcheesehead said:
Oh man. Looking at the plate:

http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0808/00519I32.PDF

What do you do when your GS goes tango uniform? (Not what SHOULD you do, but what might you do if you're used to flying other ILS's). Something that can be done on most ILS approaches, can't be done on this one. :hairraise:
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More importantly, what happens if the GS goes TU and doesn't flag. You think you're riding the rails, but....

More reason for cross-checks. It's also a place where spatial awareness is key - if you get to the LOM, you're at less risk.
 
Another interesting thing about that report... no probably cause listed at all??
 
Notice the final MSL height of the wreckage and then look for the same number on the approach plate--(hint..exact same as the FAF).

This is all speculation but I could see someone having the glideslope go INOP and then misinterpreting the approach plate by trying to turn it into a LOC approach. I'd be really interested to know if there is room to fly at 1753 MSL after KNEES for at least a little bit before going smack.
 
rpadula said:
Wow. Does not convert to a LOC approach -- NA!
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Bingo.

jesse said:
Notice the final MSL height of the wreckage and then look for the same number on the approach plate--(hint..exact same as the FAF).

This is all speculation but I could see someone having the glideslope go INOP and then misinterpreting the approach plate by trying to turn it into a LOC approach. I'd be really interested to know if there is room to fly at 1753 MSL after KNEES for at least a little bit before going smack.
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And that too. It's enough to REALLY make you wonder, isn't it? I'll certainly be paying a bit closer attention to the presence or absence of LOC minimums.

And that brings up a question... I've noticed that approaches that used to just be called "ILS" now say "ILS or LOC" in the title. Is that a change to help us distinguish this very thing, or are there still "ILS" approaches that have LOC minimums too?
 
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