Sad news for GA

[bonal]

News last night of a mid air collision a Cessna 210 and a Sea Fury that were both attending an air show / car show that took place at Half Moon Bay CA.  Both aircraft were from the same airport and were returning home. The Sea Fury made it back but the cessna went down into San Pablo Bay East of San francisco.  My prayers are with the families and friends.

My wife and I were going to attend but the weather at home was crappy but not a factor in th incident.

God speed.

[Bennett]

I was at the Dream Machine show yesterday. There was a Sea Fury there, and since they are so rare, I assume that this was the aircraft involved in the mid-air. The weather in the morning was not good for flying. Low clouds and fog (and a few brief showers). Many of the aircraft on display had been flown in the previous day, and there was a P-38, several P 51s. Yaks in abundance, and a great looking B-25.  I suspect that many of the cars that are usually on display chose not to attend because of the lousy weather in the early morning. I drove, rather than fly, for that reason.  By the early afternoon, the weather improved, and if the Sea Fury left then, the weather would certainly been VFR to get back to their home base in northern California (Ione).  Apparently, according to (conflicting) news reports, a Cessna, also based at Ione, was involved in a mid-air with the Sea Fury. The Sea Fury made it back to their home base. So far there have not been any photos in the news of damage to that aircraft. Some of the news reports indicate that there were two aboard the (usually single seat) Sea Fury.  The news reports suggest that there was only one person aboard the Cessna 210. As of this morning the pilot's body has not been found.  One news source stated that the two aircraft were part of a "photo shoot".  The mid air was witnessed by members of a local yacht club, so in time we should have more facts. If it was a photo shoot, we all know how dangerous that can be. Be careful out there. 

[Piloto]

News detail at http://sfappeal.com/2014/04/mid-air-collision-near-richmond-sends-plane-into-bay/

 

Wonder if they were in formation flight since both came from the same flight origin.

 

I had a close call at TJMZ even after listening the other guy saying he was on final when I was on final also. The Traffic Watch was indicating traffic 2nm ahead at same altitude  but I could not see it and I was about 1nm from the runway. I step to the downwind instead of landing ahead. Sure enough the other guy was on final but on the opposite runway end. Be careful with this scenario. This was the second time it happened to me. Always report the runway you are landing on.

 

José  

[bonal]

Half moon bay suffers again. Super Stearman went in during a performance at the Travis Air force base in Fairfield CA the pilot and aircraft were based at Half moon bay. Watching the video it looks like the pilot may have had a medical problem because the inverted plane just slowly dropped to the runway. Sadly we lose another member of our ranks.

[Bennett]

That Half Moon Bay pilot was truly amazing in his air show work in his Stearman, Yak, and P-51. He had been flying air shows for over 25 years. Real friendly guy, who would talk to the kids, and adults, who wanted to chat with him. A great loss to aviation.