Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Guppy35 on April 06, 2009, 12:44:23 AM
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Saw this on another board.
The guy's son who has a P51 was spotting for him on the beach. Apparently they've flown lots of airshows together.
April 5, 2009
MASTIC BEACH, N.Y (WPIX) -- Rescue agencies are trying to figure out what caused a single-engine vintage World War II-era plane to crash off the waters of Mastic Beach, killing the pilot aboard the aircraft.
Robert Baranaskas, 61, of Northport, took off from Brookhaven Airport at about 1:09 p.m, and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean sixteen minutes later, just east of the TWA Flight 800 Memorial site at Smith Point park, according to officials.
Coast Guard officials say the pilot was the only person aboard the aircraft when it went down. So far, his body has not been recovered.
During the time of the crash, Baranaskas was practicing aerial maneuvers for an upcoming show he would be performing in.
According to Suffolk County police, the victim's son, Chris Baranaskas 28, who reportedly often performed in his own vintage fighter plane, witnessed the entire incident. On the beach, he was serving as his father's spottter-a person on the ground who communicates with the pilot in order to warn of any other aircraft nearby.
"He climbed up, then came down like a corkscrew," a witness told Newday.
People close to the beach reportedly saw a plume of black smoke and a 20-foot splash of water when the plane went down.
The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to begin an investigation into the crash Monday morning, according to rescue agencies.
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sigh. that sucks.
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Sorry to hear that.
Condolences
wrongway
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Condolences to his family.
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That late at night? :salute to his family.
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That late at night?
1:09 PM is early afternoon.
My god I can't imagine being the kid and seeing that happen to my dad.
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my condolonces to the family :salute
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A terrible loss, both the pilot and his aircraft
<S>
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As much as I love to see them flying, the cost of doing so seems to get higher and higher. What a terrible time for the son, too... jesus.
Condolences to the family.
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I just saw them perform in WV last year....what a shame and a terrible loss. :salute
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Loss of father loss of aircraft and a ton of pain for his son, but they each know the risks of flight, and i gotta figure,whats the best way to go as a pilot?
heart attack at 80 on a deathbed, or 250+mph into the ground?
Honestly id rather die siting in the cockpit, no matter what.
a Big <S> to the lost, we will all fly again in the end. :salute
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A terrible loss for the son and family, and lost a great old warbird to boot. A sad day indeed.
:salute
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Honestly id rather die siting in the cockpit, no matter what.
You'd rather die in a twisting crunching heap of burning metal, than peacefully in your sleep in your old age?
I hate it when people say 'he died doing what he loved'. I guarantee that guy didn't love crashing. He didn't love what he was doing the few seconds or minutes before his life ended.
Its a damn shame his last experiences on earth were probably fighting and cursing his airplane.
Personally, I'll take the peaceful death in my old age.
<S> to his family.
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:salute
Condolences
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He (in the background) and his son at the WV airshow this past fall.
(http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n212/DevilDogTwin/Airshow/100_0483.jpg)
:salute
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Condolences to the family.
Sad to see another P-40 disappear as well. :salute
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You'd rather die in a twisting crunching heap of burning metal, than peacefully in your sleep in your old age?
I hate it when people say 'he died doing what he loved'. I guarantee that guy didn't love crashing. He didn't love what he was doing the few seconds or minutes before his life ended.
Its a damn shame his last experiences on earth were probably fighting and cursing his airplane.
Personally, I'll take the peaceful death in my old age.
<S> to his family.
No kidding. Being a race car driver, I hear this stupid crap all of the time. No, he did not die doing what he loved. He loved flying, he did not love crashing. I have yet to meet a race car driver or a pilot who would love to die in a crash, and destroy something he loves in the process. And I've met hundreds, maybe thousands of race car drivers, and maybe a hundred pilots. I even heard it last year, when one of my best friends was killed in a motorcycle wreck. At the visitation, the night before the funeral, some moron said, "well, at least he died doing what he loved, riding his motorcycle." And I turned around, looked at the idiot, and said, "you know, I knew Bubba for 30 years, and not once did I ever hear him say, 'I sure do love crashing my Harley into a car load of idiots." Few things in this world that people say piss me off more than "he died doing what he loved". Nothing could be further from the truth. Having been in two or three crashes that appeared at the time to be likely to kill me, I can't remember thinking, "I sure do love doing this, and if I die, well, I couldn't think of anything I'd love to do more". :rolleyes:
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Man that sucks - sad to lost to machine but more importantly, the pilot :salute
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I knew Bob and his son Chris, having had conversations with both at local air shows. I've shot many photos of their aircraft. Very sad....
See this post: http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,262252.0.html
I mentioned the accident in my blog, along with Erik Shilling's comments of the dangers associated with spinning a P-40.
My regards,
Widewing
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1:09 PM is early afternoon.
My god I can't imagine being the kid and seeing that happen to my dad.
thanks. You're a pal.
Found some more pics. :salute
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/military/read.main/105482/
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:salute
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:salute
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That same P40 crash landed in a cornfield in Calverton NY a few years ago. It was pretty common to see either the P51 or the P40 flying around the area for the last few years. It's a shame.
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:salute
Godspeed, man.
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I thought I recall seeing that P51 (Glamorous Girl) at the EAA in '08 and I went through my pics, but I confused it with Cloud Dancer.
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Pretty sure this was the Duo at Reading PA this year too. Sad loss :(
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Pretty sure this was the Duo at Reading PA this year too. Sad loss :(
Yes it was, shook hands & talked with both of those Gents at Reading last year. :salute