sherpa

I think the marriage prohibition had a lot more to do with passing on assets to heirs rather than an ex spouse. No marriage, in theory, no heirs. Of course a number of dead popes had "nephews," but that is a different story.

These are still available.

But he lives in the "NFL MECCA" of Charlottesville.

We always knew who the whistle blower in that one was.

As this investigation proceeds, watch for two things. First, nobody operates these type helos under FAA Part 135, (charters), with only one pilot. Second, watch for NTSB comments about the number of passengers. In addition, there is a disparity between what Kobe paid for this helicopter and the market value of similar make/model helos. That disparity usually means something.

I appreciate your comments, and mean no disdain. It is just very obvious that in reading your posts, you don't, or didn't, do this for a living. Your posts contain a lot of conjecture, if not guesses. Most are reasonable, but some are not. Regarding experience, which you bought up, I will not argue. I have flown small singles, have a double II, flown fighters from an aircraft carrier, a tour as a TopGun adversary, and airliners for over three decades. I don't want any more experience.

I have read your posts with curiosity. There is no "we." here. There is no "us pilots," to use your term. Frankly, and I'll get killed for this, your posts read like a small airplane pilot or new instructor who has never done this for a living, and is enamored of that, and I don't understand why this thing is pinned.

Use stellarrium.org, and do it from home. I do.

This is what happens when people not familiar with the way these things work start judging them. Not you, but whoever posted what you referred to. Helicopters are a special sub set of aviation, and they frequently use ground reference for navigation. Special VFR is an alternative for them that allows them to fly as long as they stay clear of clouds and have a very low visibility requirement. They are so low that they rarely get into the regular system. I fact they rarely fly using IFR rules and clearances. Some never do for their entire helo career. Areas that have a high degree of helo traffic, for whatever reason, come up with their own procedures and agreements for these types of things, and helo corridors are built to facilitate it. New York and LA are two of the most obvious. These types of things involve police, sight-seeing, personal transport, power line inspection and a host of other things. Having this guy, who is under special VFR, and that never changes, navigate by using highways or other ground based points is not unusual for this area. What he should have done is land at Van Nuys and let them Uber it to the practice site.

This is one of the misconceptions that comes up all the time in media reports and other discussions of this type. There is nothing that "radioing for help" is going to do, anymore than getting into a control situation in a vehicle and thinking it would be a good idea to get on you cell phone and tell people about it. The old axiom is "aviate, navigate, communicate. What the media always calls "issuing a mayday," is actually declaring an emergency, which is a legal declaration, not an indication of distress, which the media often suggests. Declaring an emergency opens up the entire tool box of options, and allows the individual in command to do whatever is necessary to lead to a successful conclusion regardless of of ATC issues. You will be held responsible for the actions, but you do what you need to do and handle that issue later. From a pilot's perspective, folks are hesitant to do it for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that you are probably very busy and ATC is going to start asking a lot of questions that you really don't have time to answer, and are not related to the issue, so you do so when you need to use your emergency authority. In any event, if there is a mechanical or a control problem, you solve the problem first. The last thing done is tell ATC about with some thought that they are going to provide a solution. If the "problem" results in being degraded to the point where you need to inform them so they may consider it in their traffic picture, you tell them, but in the case of a control issue, you do what you do to regain control before anything else. They are capable of helping out a little guy who is lost, gets into a little weather without weather radar, or a host of other things, but with most problems, they have no more knowledge than anyone else.

I understand there is fascination with this kind of thing, and offering views on it on this forum is a harmless exercise. Still, having been in this industry for 45 years, it has always been my experience that waiting until accurate data is available is always far wiser than guessing based on sketchy, incomplete information. As an example, there are quite a few likely errors in this thread. Not important, not intentional, but errors. In addition, the "data" that is being put out by media outlets quite often is not qualified by stating that it is ADSB data, which could be wrong. As well, the sound bites they keep playing from LA law enforcement people about their 800'/2 mile vis requirement that they use has nothing to do with what this guy was doing, or any other aviation operation for that matter. This time of year, the LA basin weather conditions can vary tremendously in a very short geographic area based on temp, dew point, the position of the marine layer, etc. Many times LAX will be require Category 2 or 3 landings, which permit extremely low visibility, (down to 300' visibility and 0' ceiling), and 15 miles east of there will be beautiful. NTSB will do their thing and everyone will know.

I would be very wary of that data, and it is a insane rate of decent.

Not an issue here. The issue is the airbags in the business class seats on this 787.

I don't want to quibble or appear pedantic, but be very careful when you are talking about an accident that isn't even close to being truly started before offering opinions. First, he is special VFR, which for a helo doesn't even require a mile and clear of clouds, so the altitude stuff is not relevant. That's why he is being held up at the beginning. Without the actual radio transmissions, because they are not on the freqs he is, it is obvious they are clearing IFR traffic in front of him, which takes priority over SVFR, and he is waiting his turn. They eventually build a hole and send him on his way. Further, he was not talking to center, ever. They don't work traffic that low. He is talking to various towers and eventually gets handed off to SoCal approach, who never really handles his request for following as he is too low. Maybe wait a while.

There's clouds and there's fog, and they can exist in the same area, because they are the same thing, codensed water vapor, except one is very close to the ground. LA basin has predictable coastal fog at predictable times every year, and it burns off mid morning. A low ceiling can turn to fog with a half degree temperature, and "burn off with just the same temperature change. Nothing strange about it. I would never engage in impromptu accident investigation, but its a really bad idea to hunt around for a cloud base when you don't know it it extends to the surface.

The actual term is "autorotation." Its what helo folks do to minimize crashes by attempting to minimize the sink rate during an engine failure. During normal flight, air is pulled down from above. If the main rotor system is not being powered, an autorotation is done and the air goes up through the rotor. Not a helicopter fan. Way too many moving parts.

The "schedule" of a Super Bowl is quite simple and predictable, and it's as much about the NFL courting corporations as anything football related. Corporate jets arrive Friday, hotel rooms and suites rented and "conferences" and other events held Saturday to entertain corporate clients. Tons of money for hotels, restaurants, FBO at the airport, taxis, and a host of other related businesses which all pay tax to the host city, and all tax deductible as corporate expense. Corporations spend millions and millions on Saturday, all benefiting the host city. Play the game on Saturday and that really isn't possible to anywhere near the extent it occurs with a Sunday Super Bowl.

It's always about money. Doing it on Saturday would massively impact the host cities revenue. Saturday is the day everyone is in place and spending, because there is no game. I believe the lost revenue number is so significant that it will not be changed..

A priest, a rabbi and a Protestant minister are at a multi-faith conference in a rural wooded area. On Monday, after a meeting they are conversing about which faith is the best. Priest says Catholicism is, Pastor says Protestant faith is, Rabbi says Judaism is. They decide to compete by seeing who can be the most successful and converting to their faith throughout the week and meeint Friday night to decide. Friday comes and Priest spots Pastor and they start talking. Priest says: "I was quite successful. I met a bear in the woods and have him a Catholic Catechism, told him a bout Mary and the Pope and all that, and he had his first communion today." Pastor says: "I had great fortune too. I also met a bear in the woods and told him about salvation by grace through faith, and I baptized him this morning." Neither can find the Rabbi, but after about ten minutes he comes in being carried on a stretcher with bandages all over him and claw marks on his face. Pastor and Priest both say in unison: "What happened to you?" Rabbi says: " I ran into a bear in the woods. I knew I shouldn't have started with circumcision."

A hydrogen atom walks into a police station and says: "Somebody stole my electron." Policeman says: "Are you sure?" Hydrogen atom says: "I'm positive." A neutron orders a beer at a bar. Finishing it, he asks the bartender: "How much?" Bartender says: "For you, no charge." A photon checks in at the ticket counter for his flight. "Agent says: "Any bags to check?" Photon says: "No, I'm travelling light."

Any time Jackie Chiles can be integrated, tis a good thing, and combining it with Loyd Bentsen's famous quote was an opportunity. Just don't use the balm.

I served with Jackie Chiles. I knew Jackie Chiles. Jackie Chiles was a freind of mine, and you Mr. Chef Jim are no Jackie Chiles.

Ridiculous. Absurd.

Uh-oh. The Islamic Republic is fixing up its toy another round. Given recent events, maybe they should convert it to a cruise liner. "Iran is repairing its imitation aircraft carrier, likely preparing it for a new round of exercises during which it will probably get blown up. The “carrier,” a mockup built up from a floating barge, was first built in the early 2010s and then used for target practice. The barge is being rebuilt, presumably for more punishment, in an exercise with decidedly more sinister undertones than the first time around." Islamic Nimitz

Given the tension level, I would be absolutely shocked if the US wasn't listening using any of many options.