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Author Topic: P-51C crashes, kills pilot  (Read 660 times)

Offline gofaster

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« on: June 03, 2004, 09:15:06 PM »
Got this in my AvWeb.Com newsletter and figured I'd pass it along.

Quote
Mustang Pilot Dies Of Injuries
 During an air show on Saturday, pilot Don Hinz was performing a fly-by in a Commemorative Air Force (CAF) P-51C Mustang when he reported a problem. Unable to return to the field, Hinz managed to avoid nearby houses and power lines, but the aircraft hit the ground hard, and both wings were torn off. Hinz died Sunday of his injuries. The accident took place during the Wings of Freedom Airshow at the Red Wing Regional Airport in Minnesota. Hinz, 60, of Woodbury, Minn., had played a major role in the fundraising, educational, restoration and outreach programs of the P-51C Mustang, and had worked to bring the aircraft and the message of the Tuskegee Airmen to the public, the CAF said in a news release. The P-51C Mustang was based out of Fleming Field in South Saint Paul, Minn., and operated by the Minnesota Wing of the CAF. Hinz was a retired Naval aviator and a former airline pilot for Braniff and Sun Country Airlines. He leaves a wife and four sons. The CAF, based in Midland, Texas, operates a fleet of over 150 World War II aircraft, and has two other P-51 Mustangs in its collection. On Tuesday, CAF spokeswoman Tina Corbett told AVweb it was not clear if the aircraft could be repaired.
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Offline Otto

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2004, 09:18:41 PM »
Damn...!  May he RIP.
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Offline XtrmeJ

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2004, 09:19:13 PM »
Poor guy
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Offline Rafe35

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2004, 09:48:03 PM »
Don Hinz

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Rafe35
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Offline PanzerII

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #4 on: June 03, 2004, 10:20:47 PM »
someone crashed a plane about 2 miles from my house last week. pilot died, no one else hurt.
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Offline gofaster

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #5 on: June 04, 2004, 08:28:16 AM »
Yeah, Don Hinz did quite a bit of vintage aircraft flying for calendars and stuff.  Its a shame he's gone but it sounds like he did the right thing in avoiding hurting anyone on the ground.  I hope they rebuild the aircraft to at least a static display condition.
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Offline Red Tail 444

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Re: P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #6 on: June 04, 2004, 10:01:01 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by gofaster
Got this in my AvWeb.Com newsletter and figured I'd pass it along.


been posted...

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/defaultframe.html

I knew the guy, knew the plane......totally sucks, to put it nicely...

According to the people I know in St. Paul, The aircraft cannot be repaired. At best, it will be pieced together and donated to the D-Day Museum :( , or transported there in its current condition...

I'm proud to say I shook the man's hane, and got a close-up and personal view of the bird many times...hence my Avatar...
« Last Edit: June 04, 2004, 10:04:33 AM by Red Tail 444 »
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Offline TheDudeDVant

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #7 on: June 04, 2004, 10:29:05 AM »
GD bad time to be flying vintage WW2 aircraft it seems.. wow

dude

AoM
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Offline SFRT - Frenchy

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #8 on: June 04, 2004, 12:51:30 PM »
Maybe they should reduce the numbers of non-paid non-qualified volonteers that maintain those planes.
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Dat jugs bro.

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Offline Toad

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #9 on: June 04, 2004, 12:53:03 PM »
Maybe you ought to go down to the local CAF hangar and meet some of those "non-paid non-qualified volonteers that maintain those planes".

Their dedication and qualifications would probably humble you. Might even make you edit that post.
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Offline Red Tail 444

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #10 on: June 04, 2004, 12:54:21 PM »
punt...
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Offline SFRT - Frenchy

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #11 on: June 04, 2004, 01:01:58 PM »
non really, I have been around Chino Air Museum and other WB associations. What I noticed is that a selected few are amazing, but HAVE To delegate to other volonteers. Other volonteers that take their task very seriously but definitly lack experience.
I eard it myself something like: "We don't have time to train them as good as we should, but we need thier labor and dedication".

Goes same with some remanufactered parts they use in the planes, as cost is always a predominant issue.

Get exited all you want behind your keyboard Toad, I based my feeling from what I eard from the persons I met there.
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Dat jugs bro.

Terror flieger since 1941.
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Offline GtoRA2

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #12 on: June 04, 2004, 01:06:16 PM »
Rip....






Is a P-51 C like the B or the D?
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Offline GtoRA2

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #13 on: June 04, 2004, 01:08:01 PM »
Was this the  plane?





Wasn't this the only B/C flying?
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Offline koda76

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P-51C crashes, kills pilot
« Reply #14 on: June 04, 2004, 01:10:01 PM »
I lived down in texas for 7 years then moved north in the mid-80s....I went to quite a few of the airshows and somewhere I still have a brochure the CAF put out for a show in Denton.
Unless they changed their Name I have always know the CAF as the Conferedate Air Force....and I met Don at Round Rock.

<> Don, rip brother
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