SMAC053 – Aviation Accidents, How We Cope, What Keeps Us Flying

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Today’s show is on the more serious and sober side as we discuss aviation accidents and how they’ve affected us on a personal level. Recently, co-host Victoria Zajko came to learn that 2 of the aircraft she flew during her flight training had been involved in fatal crashes where the pilot and occupants did not survive. Not long after that Victoria also lost her friend and wing walker Jane Wicker in a tragic air show accident in Dayton, OH.

These events spurred a back stage conversation amongst the co-hosts and today we share with you our own experiences losing friends and family in fatal aviation related accidents including how we’ve dealt with each situation and what keeps us in the saddle, behind the yoke, still flying.

Have you ever lost someone close to you in an aviation related accident? How did that experience affect you or change your views on flying? Please share your story with us in the comment section below.

So settle in for Episode 53 sponsored by ForPilotsOnly.com.

Don’t forget to share this episode by clicking that Like, Share, Tweet button to spread the love!

Pre-Flight

Announcements

  • Favorite $100 Hamburger Joints – Continuing our online discussion about favorite $100 hamburger joints, we’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your favorite spot be it the food, location, type of approach, etc. If you’ve got menu recommendations you can include those, too. Use #benburger to track the conversation on Twitter.

Cruise Flight

Show Notes

After Landing Checklist

~ Picks of The Week ~

Victoria – Aviation Forecast Discussion

Rick – iPro Aviator iPad Kneeboard

Len – AviationUniverse.us – check out Len’s interview with the owners: Episode 51a

Carl – Aviation Week

This Episode Is Sponsored By

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What’s In A Callsign?

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You’re out flying, you hear, “Satan Zero Three leaving three thousand, climbing to one zero thousand.” If you’re anything like us you’re thinking, “Who the heck is Satan Zero Three? In fact, you probably even wrote down the call sign on your kneeboard so you could search the interwebs when you got home.

Well look no further! As it turns out, Ron at MonitoringTimes.com has compiled a list of all MILITARY call signs as of 2011 (link to download text file).

Some of our personal favorites? Air Force 1, Ambush, Bandit, Demon, Devil (yea, we like the really odd, dark names), Doughboy, Hotdog, Jeckyl, Jedi, Nightstalker, Reaper, Savage, Scandal, Snoopy, Taco, Top Gun (dang right it’s real!), Voodoo, and Zombie – to name a few.

Pretty cool, we know. You can thank us later.

Clear Skies and Calm Winds,

SMAC