eddie's rcaf story

[Philip Campbell]

Eddie Thanks for that. There's a lot of ways to get hurt and it sounds like your experience combined several lessons in one. Your story also reminded me of my single Snowbirds encounter. In the summer of 2003 a buddy and I were riding from Toronto to Vancouver (solo to Calgary where we met our wives for the fun part of the trip). We rode Sudbury-- Thunder Bay--Winnipeg--Moose Jaw. We landed in a cheap motel and divy bar in Moose Jaw and started talking to a group of guys. Turns out they were Snowbirds, out celebrating the 40th birthday of one of their guys. We stayed up most of the night playing darts, drinking and telling stories. The place closed really late and we all walked together down the empty streets of Moose Jaw for a nightcap at our motel. It was a great night but that should have been the end of it. Next day we had to get up early and on the Trans Canada to be in Calgary for our wives' arrival. No one in their right mind would have got up when we did, after the night we had, unless they had to. But as we were wearily loading up our bikes one of the Snowbirds pulled up on a bike with a set of maps for the Rockies and detailed descriptions of the times, distances and upsides and downsides of different routes through them. If you're a Canadian you'll know what spending an evening with the Snowbirds meant in the first place. But when one of them came by with detailed navigational advice for our road trip, it made for one of the best experiences I've had on the road. The Snowbirds have suffered a few losses in recent years and every time I hear about one I think back to that evening, and their good company and generosity, and hope the guys we were with are okay. Phil ________________________________ From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of fasteddiecopeman Sent: Friday, June 27, 2008 6:08 PM To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Subject: [BULK] [DSN_KLR650] Re: NKLR: Idiot! ... and THIS one's LONG! Importance: Low OK, guys - you want IDIOT? I'll give you IDIOT! STUPID IDIOT! I was a pilot candidate in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) training on the Tutor jet (same ones the "Snowbirds" demonstration team fly, if you've ever seen them), way-y-y-y back in 1968. The first 5 or 6 solo flights are restricted to the 'circuit' where you practice touch and go's, while you do training with your instructor out in the aerobatic area to prepare you for solos out of the 'circuit'. Well, I'd just been cleared to go solo out of the 'circuit' by demonstrating capability to safely fly stalls, spins, barrel-rolls and loops, and my instructor had demonstrated what we'd cover in the next dual session - the "half roll and pull through". Basically this is the last half of a loop started at the top. One of our Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) was that students carried a card with the airplane's emergency procedures with them at ALL times, and on it we would write various procedures that we had been 'cleared' to fly solo. ANY instructor could ask for this card, and if you had any non-authorized procedure written down you were in REALLY BIG doo-doo! Another SOP was that IF a student was in a non-recoverable attitude by 10,000 feet above ground (AGL), he was to eject, and THAT altitude was 12,000 feet indicated (I was in Moose Jaw which is 2,000 feet above Mean Sea Level [MSL)]). My instructor had told me that if you did your aerobatics at 15,000 MSL you'd be safe, BUT if you did them at 25,000 MSL, it would take a much more precise control input, resulting in a much finer aircraft control, so you'd do better on the check ride. Well, I LOVED doing spins and discovered I could spin left, recover, spin right, recover, and STILL be above the 12,000 minimum altitude. So, my instructor had demonstrated a 'half roll and pull through' but I was NOT authorized to perform this solo, yet, and I was on my FIRST solo out of the 'circuit', at 25,000 feet, practicing stalls, spins, rolls and loops, and, as I was a pretty good pilot, doing just fine. Now, on my 'card', was written various 'entry' procedures, for instance, a roll was done at anywhere from 150K to 400K with power at 94% to Maximum Continuous, while NOT written on my card was the procedure for the 'half roll and pull through' - power at IDLE and airspeed LESS than 150K BECAUSE YOU WERE GOING TO DO THE LAST HALF OF A LOOP in this manoeuvre! A little aside - it was REALLY emphasized that we could "pull the wings off" if we exceeded 7G, so we were not given G-suits so as to make it harder to exceed 7G. Well, I was an "ACE", I was happy with what I was practicing, so I thought I'd do the little extra my instructor had shown me. Well my 'card' didn't have entry speeds or power for the 'half roll and pull through', but it DID have for the roll (after all, wasn't it a half ROLL ... etc?), so I looked - 240k airspeed (...ONLY 90K too high), and I had 94% power on (instead of IDLE),so I rolled inverted and started to pull. Right away I knew something was wrong - my airspeed was increasing, my altitude was decreasing, and I was TOO STUPID to reduce power, "pop" my speedbrakes to scrub off speed, or roll out to the nearest horizon. WHAT I DID DO THOUGH, WAS LOOK AT MY G-METER AND PEG IT AT 6.5G. I started 'graying-out' from the G, but I concentrated on not exceeding 7, knowing full well that, if there was a prize for STUPIDITY, I would get it!!! I pulled out of the 'bottom' at 10,000 feet (remember the 'eject' altitude?) at 450K, and realized that, had I done this at 15,000 feet, I would have hit the ground at about 450 Knots in a nose-low attitude and become a "smoking hole"! I've not shared this with many people, but I wanted you all to know that there's 'idiot' and then there's "IDIOT"! Ed [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Luc Legrain]

I have been away for a while,came back,did everything on my "honeydo" list,finally free, I glanced thru my 1500+ posts. One thing stuck out: people are dropping out,moving on,switching to new more "powerful,exciting rides" more power to them. Who cares if my top speed is 85 ? Who cares if I go from 0 to 60 ( well.. 80..) in 5 to 10 minutes ? Who cares if I don't keep up with the "pack" ? I ( me,myself, and a few other ones) really do not give a darn. I went, a couple of week ago, to a "bike night"(free brews..long legged ladies..) every kind of bikes you can think of showed up. Guess who had to explain what kind of bike I had ?? The excitement,adventure,the O.M.G., the "Holy Shit" ( sorry Rev.)is a couple of miles away from your barn,649cc's are plenty for me to enjoy whatever "He,She,It" meant or did not mean for me to enjoy. Damn..out of beer........again.....

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Luc Legrain wrote:

>

SNIP

> The excitement,adventure,the O.M.G., the "Holy Shit" ( sorry Rev.)is

a couple of miles away from your barn,649cc's are plenty for me to enjoy whatever "He,She,It" meant or did not mean for me to enjoy.

> Damn..out of beer........again..... >

Ah, those moments. Do I see a hand? Yes! I know those moments! And they were not in the church loo. revmaaatin.

[Gary Hooker]

I have been away for a while,came back,did everything on my "honeydo" list,finally free, I glanced thru my 1500+ posts. One thing stuck out: people are dropping out,moving on,switching to new more "powerful,exciting rides" more power to them. Who cares if my top speed is 85 ? Who cares if I go from 0 to 60 ( well.. 80..) in 5 to 10 minutes ? Who cares if I don't keep up with the "pack" ? I ( me,myself, and a few other ones) really do not give a darn. SNIP What I find interesting, is not the number of KLRista's that "jump ship" for a more powerful engine, updated electrics, brakes, FI , etc. It is the number that return to the KLR after the seduction of same wears off-usually in the wallet. I liken it to Las Vegas-the lure of easy money; the KTM the lure of easy power. Both are VERY GOOD at extracting your $$. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]