How Low Is Too Low??

[Jack Cook]

Capt Bob Mahoney 38th FS 55th FG after taking out a Nazi telephone pole
P-51D "Squirt" CG-Z

[retroaviation]

I see they already have the aileron off. Just replace the wing extension, and he's good to go. One telephone pole at a time.

Gary

[Lynn Allen]

Almost as good as a Texas low pass. Nothing like flying down the coast offshore and go by a telephone post looking up at it

Lynn

[Jack Cook]

I thought they did it like this in Texas

[b29flteng]

I remember seeing a photo of a 51 in Roger Freeman's great book "The Mighty Eighth" that had the coolant scoop crunched, and the prop blades bent a bit from a straffing pass, then flying back to England. I also recall seeing gun camera film from an aircraft making a straffing run and what appears to be sod flying through the view of the camera. Geez!

[Second Air Force]

Was Captain Mahoney a friend of Lefty G?

Scott

[Mgawa]

For me is most interesting story's of the A-12 Shrike pilots who has always flew under the telephone lines!!

[51fixer]

Was Captain Mahoney a friend of Lefty G?

Scott

Your confusing fence post with telephone pole.
Thats a whole different altitude, you get nosebleeds at the telephone pole height. Ask George Roberts. No, then you get the no socks vs socks argument going.
Rich

[MX304]

We saw a T-6 pull a similar stunt at Reno a few years back and get away with. Talk about a pylon cut......

Last edited by MX304 on Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[mustanglover]

We saw a T-6 pull a similar stunt at Reno a few years back and get away with. Talk about a pylon cut......

There was a T-6 pull a similar stunt back in the late 80s or early 90s. The T-6 did not get away with it, but the pilot did.

[tom d. friedman]

that piece of metal looks like a bow tie!!! give it to the tin man from oz!!

[MX304]

We saw a T-6 pull a similar stunt at Reno a few years back and get away with. Talk about a pylon cut......

There was a T-6 pull a similar stunt back in the late 80s or early 90s. The T-6 did not get away with it, but the pilot did.

Also one in the late 70s that neither the pilot nor the T6 got away with. That one may not have been at Reno though....Mojave maybe? I'll have to look it up.

[Jack Cook]

It was at Reno.
I'm thinking it was Dr. Dimitri Piran.

[MX304]

I think that's right Jack, sounds really familiar. I think it was on the start and he flew right into the first pylon after having been warned about low flying once before.

[Jack Cook]

Has I recall he'd been coming to the races for a number of years and was the flight surgeon for a number of the racers.
This was 71-2 or so and he decided to race in the T-6 class and was killed in his first race when he hit a pylon.