Aviation/Aerospace Thread

Ready for lift off. Ill start the thread with a repat post of a great documentary on Netflix.

I’m not sure if he’s an instructor or in management, but former Ute WR Micah Pittman is involved in a flight school here in Utah:

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He’s the owner (with his brother Michael [the one that caught a billion “500” throws from the backup at USC against Utah in 2019]) and also an instructor

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That’s impressive. Flight training has come a loooong way since I learned how to fly in HS.

“Hey, go gas up the kite and let’s go”

Instructing is impressive, and not the easiest.

Instructing, owning and running a flight school? - Wow

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just landed in Sydney and opened up Utefans and saw this nrw thread.Pretty cool. I remember seeing a piece on Micah a couple of years ago when he was just getting started. Very impressive! he seems to have a quality that I think is one of the most important, he has a love of aviation. Too many times people get into it for the wrong reasons and it reflects on their proffesionalism and dedication. Congratulations young man ! BTW, his flight school has nothing but rave reviews.

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I’m an aerospace wanna be nerd. Deep respect for any licensed pilot or alternative flight cowboys.
I haven’t even seen this documentary yet, but I think it melds the aviation industry with the aerospace industries; perhaps even more than modern private endeavors, because we’re talking “commercial” luxury flight and “2 X super-fricken-fracken- SONIC” flight. In the 70’s!!?
What do y’all think?

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Good stuff. Thanks for posting this!

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I get a kick out of these seasoned and proper British blokes flying the Concorde:

One insane ride. Concorde came to SLC once in the early 80s - crazy loud, lots and lots of gas.

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Concorde’s were a fun era of flight, but totally unsustainable for commercial aviation. Who knows if the newer prototype SST’s will be viable, but it is entertaining to follow the news on their development.

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Right. Jolly good.

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If the Boom Overture makes it and is close to the numbers they claim, it will be hugely successful.

60-80 PAX, Mach 1.7, slightly longer range than Concorde, no afterburners, not insane on the gas burn.

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Thanks for posting this. I’ve never seen that, I too got a kick out of their very prim and proper demeanor. Maybe I’ll conduct myself that way on my next trip and see how long it takes to get laughed out of the cockpit. :grin::grin:

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We get paid by the minute, so while flying Mach 1.7 sounds fun, it does not bode well for the pocketbook :rofl::rofl:

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Haha - that would be awesome. You’ll have to work a little on the upper-class British accent, the nasal, the vocabulary (which should be easy), but there can be zero laziness in pronunciation. Like the checklist readout in Pink Floyd’s Learning the Fly… “Flaps… Set!”

It would fun to try the Spinal Tap working class rocker schtick, too. "You’re saying we’re going to fly this aeroplane across the Atlantic? Like an aerial version of Captain Cook, only much fasta?"

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“Were closer than brothers, really”

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Here’s a real beast of a plane. Helio Courier, with a turboprop conversion.

Helios are not common airplanes, they have very large leading edge flaps (“slats”) that dramatically increase lift. There was an engineering crazyman at Skypark in Bountiful who heavily modified a Helio Courier with a big Garrett turboprop engine and tricycle landing gear, with really big tires.

It was freaky to watch him start a takeoff run a midfield and be at 1000’ by the end of the runway!

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Very cool !

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I flew this actual airplane numerous times. For those old enough to remember, this plane was part of the Jonestown massacre. We referred to it as The Kool-aid Express

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I know it’s hard to tell by video, but it looks like he was doing about 25 mph on that flyover of the landing strip.

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