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Pastimes : JFK Jr., Is this an assasination? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: truedog who wrote (73)	7/19/1999 9:47:00 PM
From: chaz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542

Kennedy's crash....an inexperienced pilot in over his straining in a complex aircraft with which he wasn't quite at home. It was an avoidable accident. I used to own a PA32RT...a turbocharged Saratoga. Six seats, tuckaway gear, constant speed propeller, and a turbocharged engine putting out 300 hp. The man was trained on a Cessna 180...much lighter, less powerful, fixed gear. Likely, as part of his trainign, he made the mandatory 3 night takeoffs and landings, probably no more. Most new pilots don't. What might have gone wrong? Bunch of things. He might have mistaken stars for ground lights. He might have starved the engine, forgot to switch tanks. The plane holds 120 gallons, 60 each side, but if you improperly lean a 300hp engine, you can use 60 real quick...and he hadn't much experience with that plane...10 weeks of ownership, no idea of how many hours in it. When you fly VFR at night into murky air, you can't see anything. With no ground reference, and no training on instruments, it's a nasty cocktail. Years ago, I had my family members aboard returning to Chicago after a weekend in Wisconsin when the weather over the big city was turning nasty and heading north. I landed in Milwaukee, sent the adults home on the bus so they could get to work on Monday. Another time we were stuck in Lawrence Kansas one morning due to a very localized patch of fog that probably wasn't 200 feet deep, but was right over the airport. I refused to go, my boss was with me...and didn't understand. We watched as another VFR pilot crashed and burned on the field just beyond the airport fence. We left safely, an hour later. One evening leaving Lost Nation (south shore of Lake Erie) low clouds and rain coming up from Columbus came faster than forecast. I landed in Port Huron because I didn't dare penetrate a 50 mile wide IFR stretch. Next day I hired an IFR pilot to take me and the plane back to Chicago. I trained in Pipers, first a little Warrior (140 hp), then an Archer (180 hp), transitioned to a Dakota (235 hp). Next was an Arrow (200 HP and RG plus the constant speed prop) which I flew about 60 hours before I even considered the Saratoga. Kennedy took big bites, and he just wasn't ready. The really sad thing is that his misplaced overconfidence cost two more lives than he had a right to compromise. Pilots are not going to go easy on him.