I Love Planes » Pilot

One Year Anniversary Of Joseph Stack's Attack

Rafael — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 06:11:51 +0000

Today, was the one year anniversary of the date when Josephs Stack flew his plane into the IRS building in Northwest Austin. One person died, and 13 other people were injured, just because Stack didn’t believe in paying taxes.

In case you’re wondering, he flew a Piper PA-28 Cherokee into the building.

Piper PA-28 Cherokee

Picture by Andy_Mitchell_UK on Flickr

Here’s some more information about the attack, in case you’re interested:

Pilot Crashes Into Texas Building in Apparent Anti-IRS Suicide

Plane Crashes Into Austin Texas Office Building

Joe Stack Plane Crash: Why Did He Hate IRS Enough to Kill?

CF-18 Pilot Stayin Alive

Rafael — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:55:49 +0000

This is an interview with the pilot of that CF-18 that crashed while practicing maneuvers for an air show in Canada a few weeks ago.

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Video: Plane Crash St. Barts

Rafael — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:20:13 +0000

St Barts plane crash video

This is one of those cases where the pilot should’ve gone around for another go at landing. Right after they go over the second white marks, the pilot should’ve gone to full throttle and around. I’m sure there was something going on that prevented the pilot from taking that decision.

Thankfully, it appears that the passengers are not badly hurt, and the plane looks like it fared fairly well too.

Fighter Friday: F-15 Eagle

Rafael — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:45:56 +0000

I was trying to setup an interview with an F-15 pilot, alas it wasn’t meant to be. Anyway, this week’s fighter is the F-15 Eagle.

From the Wikipedia page:

The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter designed to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. It is considered among the most successful modern fighters with over 100 aerial combat victories. Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas’ design in 1967 to meet the service’s need for a dedicated air superiority fighter. The Eagle first flew in July 1972, and entered service in 1976. The F-15 is expected to be in service with the U.S. Air Force until 2025.

F-15 Eagle

Photo by: Steve Snodgrass

F-15 Eagle releasing flares

Photo by: Cryogenic666

F-15 Fighter Jet Going Vertical

Photo by: eschipul

Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 Eagle refueling in flight

Photo by: MashleyMorgan

Fighter Friday: F-18 Hornet and Super Hornet

Rafael — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:36:04 +0000

The F-18 came from the competition for a new attack fighter that the US Air Force held back in the 70s. From that competition, were born the F-16 and the F-18. Both platforms were too good to pass up, so the US Air Force took the F-16, while the US Navy and the US Marines, took the design that would eventually be christened as F-18.

Today’s F-18 is of the Super Hornet variety, which is bigger than the original F-18A, but it’s still a bad to the bone plane.

Blue Angels fly their F-18s in the diamond formation

Photo Courtesy: John Madden

Close up of a Blue Angels pilot taken by Airshowfan:

Blue Angel's F-18

F-18 Hornet braking the sound barrier. That mist around the plane is called a “sonic tutu.” This picture was also taken by Airshowfan:

F-18 Hornet breaking the sound barrier

Shiny Hornet with the after burners glowing taken by Airshowfan:

Hornet with the after burners glowing