Ouch! I just pulled an entire muscle group from laughing. Web
Me too. That's enough info.
Willy
Willy, when SJ asked me to organize the STOL exhibition many years ago I thought it might be a good thing to let the fella’s and gal’s know how much we appreciated them flying and participating in the event, so a salute was in order. I had a bunch of folks here send me links to Navy aircraft carriers videos and I studied them carefully. Julie and I went to San Diego several years ago and we visited the USS Midway and there was a statue of a “Shooter” and I thought what the heck…I could do this. He was using one finger pointing forward and, as Steve Eaton pointed out, I decided to apply some of what I learned from medicine to the shooter…and there you have it!
Why the salute? These folks get a huge charge out of that, and for crying out loud they deserve a salute for being willing to fly for us. The event has changed (not in a good direction, imho) from just us friends doing the event to having a number of pilots bringing over their highly modified aircraft to show how much we can modify our aircraft to perform STOL.
For me, I still wish for the following: 1. Everyone flies the same airplane. We get a nice, stock PA18 with VG’s, insure it out the wazoo. 2. Each pilot gets 30 minutes to fly that beast on the day before the event. 3. Each aviator gets a salute and 3 launches and 3 landings. 4. The aviator with the shortest takeoff and landing distances are proclaimed the winner. This would level the aviation field. I had lunch with Mike and Patty Sisemore a couple of days ago and I told him that having been the Shooter at NH for several years I know that there are a handful of aviators who consistently fly their aircraft at the event with distinction each and every time. There are others who choose not to participate who would do well if they chose to: You Know Who You Are who I would definitely put my grandkids into the back seat of an aircraft in an emergency to get them into or out of a backcountry airstrip. Those are the ones I would salute!
A few years ago a photographer from AOPA (who passed away recently) was standing behind me taking photos of the launches and landings. He remarked that he thought the Shooter pointed forward with one finger. I pointed out why I use two fingers and he had a major laughing attack.
I must admit that being the Shooter is one of my most enjoyable things in life.
Aviation is fun, enjoyable and I hope it stays that way!
Randy the Shooter