Martha Lunken, our region's first lady of flying, is grounded. 'It's like being disemboweled

[ZuluZulu]

3 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

Opinions, and nothing more

• Would I do the same thing... maybe. Certainly not today. I have a lot of flying still to do. If I'm 78 and about to lose my medical anyway... the probability goes up a bit.

If you do, then at least own it instead of crying to a reporter that you're a victim of the big bad FAA bogeyman.

[gsxrpilot]

10 minutes ago, ZuluZulu said:

If you do, then at least own it instead of crying to a reporter that you're a victim of the big bad FAA bogeyman.

Agreed.

As I read it, she's owning the bridge stunt, but disputing the "intentional switching off the ADSB".

*I had an ADSB issue myself once that I won't post about publicly 

[thinwing]

15 hours ago, bradp said:

So if this were Jerry Wagner flying under a bridge (which may have had vehicles), we’d be piling on and quite content with the FAA action.  Because it’s Martha and there’s some nostalgia and she writes articles for AOPA, people are coming to her defense. We don’t fly our little planes under bridges.  People generally think pilots are daredevils and GA planes fall out of the sky left and right.  GA Airports are endangered species,  and media is now doing splash articles about lead intoxication in impoverished kids and attributing it and adult repository problems in urban areas to piston single exhaust.  Martha’s not an ambassador for the preservation of GA pulling shit like this. It’s one more thing that continues to put  GA at risk. The faa was correct to perform a certificate action.  

I agree a certificate action was indicated..were I disagree is ,was it the correct certificate action.Her previous incidents were taxing in a constricted area with visabilty problems in a tail dragger resulting in minor wingtip damage that was probably non reportable..but a person on the ground reported her and Faa started an action.The second incident occurred during a tiedown failure during a handpropping resulting in a runaway cub.This also resulted in FAA action.My problem is with how the FAA handled these 2 incidents that IMO revealed a bias.

[bradp]

3 minutes ago, thinwing said:

I agree a certificate action was indicated..were I disagree is ,was it the correct certificate action.Her previous incidents were taxing in a constricted area with visabilty problems in a tail dragger resulting in minor wingtip damage that was probably non reportable..but a person on the ground reported her and Faa started an action.The second incident occurred during a tiedown failure during a handpropping resulting in a runaway cub.This also resulted in FAA action.My problem is with how the FAA handled these 2 incidents that IMO revealed a bias.

Agree 

[ZuluZulu]

44 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

Agreed.

As I read it, she's owning the bridge stunt, but disputing the "intentional switching off the ADSB".

*I had an ADSB issue myself once that I won't post about publicly 

I don't read it that way, since it sure looks like she omitted the ADS-B aspect from the tale she fed that reporter.  She knew the half-truth made her look more sympathetic so she went with that.  I've enjoyed reading her columns and her antics are amusing, but she must also accept the consequences of those antics.

[EricJ]

Often when a punitive action looks harsher than one would expect it's due to the enforcement agency reaching the end of their patience over previous unactioned behavior.    She may have gotten warnings in the past or been observed doing things in the past that were let slide, and this was a final straw of sorts.

I've no idea whether that's really the case in this instance, but often it winds up being the background for stuff like this.   I suspect it may have been in play in her previous enforcements as well.

 

[RJBrown]

Flying like most areas the government gets involved with has way too many rules.

once upon a time someone famously rolled a 707 without ill effect.

We no longer have affordable aircraft BECAUSE there are too many rules.

[DXB]

17 minutes ago, RJBrown said:

We no longer have affordable aircraft BECAUSE there are too many rules.

No argument there, but the rules governing this particular incident aren't the ones making it absurdly expensive. Her hitting the bridge might contribute to those costs; her aircraft being added to the market because she lost her license might have the opposite effect 

 

[aviatoreb]

17 hours ago, RJBrown said:

Flying like most areas the government gets involved with has way too many rules.

once upon a time someone famously rolled a 707 without ill effect.

We no longer have affordable aircraft BECAUSE there are too many rules.

Wow - I was looking for hint of that story - who rolled a 707?  Were there passengers?  Was it a scheduled flight?  I want to read that zinger!

[Andy95W]

“Tex” Johnston, Boeing test pilot.  During a demonstration flight.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/60-years-ago-the-famous-boeing-707-barrel-roll-over-lake-washington/

[MooneyMitch]

Ok, this is good ......................a thread drift finally.  Poor Martha, we've pretty much wrung her out ! 

[Greg Ellis]

1 hour ago, aviatoreb said:

Wow - I was looking for hint of that story - who rolled a 707?  Were there passengers?  Was it a scheduled flight?  I want to read that zinger!

 

[toto]

5 minutes ago, Greg Ellis said:

 

I've never seen a chandelle quite like that.

[Hank]

6 hours ago, toto said:

I've never seen a chandelle quite like that.

"It was fine."      

[Schinderhannes]

On 4/20/2021 at 10:33 PM, carusoam said:

There are three people that have flown under the arc de triomphe...

trying to find their pics is near impossible...

Much tighter than many bridges...

-a-

 

A good friend of mine met Alain after the flight and he told him that he was totally aware of the consequences and expected to loose his license.

My dad used to own a Morane 880b like the one used for the flight through the Arc de Triomphe. Still have very warm memories of him flying me to glider summer camp. I got stick time on the way to camp and soloed after 2 weeks in a Schleicher Ka-4 Rhönlerche.  The Morane has exceptional slow flying qualities.        

[cctsurf]

Any of Y'all think that it is a total overreach that she had her license revoked, not because she flew under the bridge, but because she couldn't prove that the ADS-b was a failure, not purposefully disabled?  She was assumed guilty until proven innocent.

Count Ads-b compliance off of my to-save-for list.

 

[ilovecornfields]

3 hours ago, cctsurf said:

Any of Y'all think that it is a total overreach that she had her license revoked, not because she flew under the bridge, but because she couldn't prove that the ADS-b was a failure, not purposefully disabled?  She was assumed guilty until proven innocent.

Count Ads-b compliance off of my to-save-for list.

 

Yeah, it’s a tough call. On one hand, accident rates go down with TAA with ADS-B, but on the other hand if you intentionally disable it for the purpose of evading detection then get caught by a camera doing something illegal and stupid you might lose your license. 
 

I think I’m ok with keeping mine. If you’re bored enough to want to track me go right ahead. I intentionally lead a very boring life.

[Hank]

3 hours ago, ilovecornfields said:

If you’re bored enough to want to track me go right ahead. I intentionally lead a very boring life.

I don't try to make my life boring, but I do try to not have exciting flights!! They are sooooooo over-rated . . . .

[ilovecornfields]

5 hours ago, Hank said:

I don't try to make my life boring, but I do try to not have exciting flights!! They are sooooooo over-rated . . . .

I actually go out of my way to make my life boring and predictable. I get to meet lots of people with “exciting” lives in the ER and see the drama and collateral damage that goes along with it. It’s amusing to me that ER doctors are often stereotyped as “adrenaline junkies” when the opposite is often true. If my flights or workday are “exciting” then something really bad is probably happening. I’d much rather have a “boring” day.

[aviatoreb]

7 minutes ago, ilovecornfields said:

I actually go out of my way to make my life boring and predictable. I get to meet lots of people with “exciting” lives in the ER and see the drama and collateral damage that goes along with it. It’s amusing to me that ER doctors are often stereotyped as “adrenaline junkies” when the opposite is often true. If my flights or workday are “exciting” then something really bad is probably happening. I’d much rather have a “boring” day.

And yet you fly - which a lot of people wouldn't touch.

Separately, I bet your job is pretty exciting and would make a lot of people pass out from the excitement.  I bet you get lots of fight or flight reaction when difficult patience situations present in front of you.  

[Hank]

49 minutes ago, aviatoreb said:

And yet you fly - which a lot of people wouldn't touch.

Separately, I bet your job is pretty exciting and would make a lot of people pass out from the excitement.  I bet you get lots of fight or flight reaction when difficult patience situations present in front of you.  

"Stressful" does not always mean "exciting." If you doubt this, come hang with me a little bit a work! Lots and lots of stress, not much excitement . . . .

[aviatoreb]

1 hour ago, Hank said:

"Stressful" does not always mean "exciting." If you doubt this, come hang with me a little bit a work! Lots and lots of stress, not much excitement . . . .

Yes indeed - I am confounding those two words.

[jaylw314]

On 4/26/2021 at 10:43 AM, thinwing said:

I agree a certificate action was indicated..were I disagree is ,was it the correct certificate action.Her previous incidents were taxing in a constricted area with visabilty problems in a tail dragger resulting in minor wingtip damage that was probably non reportable..but a person on the ground reported her and Faa started an action.The second incident occurred during a tiedown failure during a handpropping resulting in a runaway cub.This also resulted in FAA action.My problem is with how the FAA handled these 2 incidents that IMO revealed a bias.

IIRC, the first incident did cause reportable damage (it wasn't just minor), and the second incident involved handpropping a plane without another pilot at the controls.  I recall she described just tying it down at the tail, which obviously failed.

[carusoam]

1 hour ago, jaylw314 said:

IIRC, the first incident did cause reportable damage (it wasn't just minor), and the second incident involved handpropping a plane without another pilot at the controls.  I recall she described just tying it down at the tail, which obviously failed.

Now...

In light of the recent concocted story...

Do you really still trust her, when she says she tied it down?

 

Kind of a study on risk taking...

Simple risks can be incredibly costly when everything goes south...

Best regards,

-a-

[ilovecornfields]

4 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

 I bet you get lots of fight or flight reaction when difficult patience situations present in front of you.  

Don’t get me started. They’re called “patients” but they are so impatient sometimes! If you see 30 other people in the waiting room and you showed up to the ER for the abdominal pain you’ve been having for 2 years because you don’t want to wait until tomorrow for the CT scan your doctor ordered today but you get upset that there’s a wait...

@aviatoreb, I know it was a typo but I thought I’d play along.
 

I’m not saying my job is never exciting, it’s just that when it’s exciting something really bad is probably happening. Just like with flying, I put a lot of effort into preventing exciting situations from developing.

With ForeFlight, ADS-B and XM I found that my flights are way less exciting than they used to be. I do miss going off frequency to talk to flightwatch, though.