Maoraigh wrote:
I don’t have sympathy with the experienced RAF pilot who failed to notice Prince Charles was approaching for the reciprocal 13/31 runway, with no other traffic.
I recall the report a few years back but can’t find it back now. What was said there is that they flew with a normal crew and that HRH was only in the RH seat for take off and landing. They were in approach when he arrived on the FD and the change over was done in a rush, with the PIC flying the airplane. He then handed over control to Prince Charles in a relatively late stage. The decision which runway to approach and the tailwind factors had been taken beforehand.
Any crew acting in such a manner would get in trouble if it goes wrong. The fact that HRH was involved just made this accident more noteworthy. IMHO it is to his credit that he decided to stop flying, a decision not taken lightly by any pilot. That the commander got the heat for the accident is understandable given that the decisions leading up to the accident were his.
Dwight D Eisenhower got a private licence 1935-1939 in the Philippines on a Stearman. He stopped after the war, but would sometimes fly from the right hand seat while officially a passenger.
George H W Bush was a navy pilot in the pacific 1944-45 on TBM Avengers, with 1228 hours and 128 carrier landings.
George W Bush flew an F-102 for the Air National Guard in Texas during the Vietnam era, with 336 hours. There was a controversy in his re-election campaign over why he stopped flying.
1956
Not a pilot but a paratrooper, Jimi Hendrix served with distinction in the 101st Airborne ‘screamin’ eagles’
RobertL18C wrote:
Jimi Hendrix served with distinction in the 101st Airborne ‘screamin’ eagle
He certainly served, but contemporary sources would probably dispute the ‘with distinction’.
David Gilmour from Pink Floyd was a keen aviator and has his own collection operating under the Intrepid Aviation banner.
Harrison Ford
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Tom Stites – Nike’s Chief Club Designer
https://www.golfwrx.com/author/tomstites/
He owned a Cessna or similar.
Famous to me at least :
I will give you a famous duo of the last two singing together :
A bit obscure: Robert Buron, 1950s French government minister, had a D.140 Mousquetaire which he used to attend official engagements.
