Hi BJ;

Sorry to hear about your eyesight problems. I hope this is correctable for
you.

"Big John" wrote in message
...
Dudley

As they would say in OZ, Blood shame.

Is it normal to have pilots move up from an admin position on team to
one of the flight positions?

Yes. Some of the admin positions are filled by qualified pilots; some are
not. It depends really. Usually the narrator flies #7 and can be moved into
the team. Steve Mish did this with the Thunderbirds I know.

They said that the name of pilot would not be announced for 24 hours
to permit family to receive notification.

6 hours after crash cable TV here in Houston gave his name and rank
(Lt Cmdr) and photo. Just the drive by media showing respect (

Normal for them. I'm sure they figured out fairly fast that in the Delta
formation the two solos form on the Diamond to make the Delta, and it was
obvious that it was one of the solos. Spoting who was left as they taxied in
would finish the ID.
Putting it out just stunk, although the family already knew. They were in
the crowd watching the show.
What a shame to have it like that. I was standing right next to Dick Schram
Jr (Blue Angels Narrator) as his father Dick Sr. was killed right in front
of us at Reading. Real bad day!
I was on the road going to Lakehurst to have lunch with the team when Skip
Umstead and Mike Murphy of the Blues collided and were killed. Another bad
day!
You can't count on the press to do the right thing in these crashes. The
story is always the same with them. The public's "right to know" is more
important than the feelings of the families involved. Personally, I
absolutely hate the press and never once in my entire career did I speak to
a reporter after an accident.

Did the Navy retrofit the Angel birds with black boxes or do you know?

I'm not sure John. I've been away from things for a long time now. I
wouldn't think their airplanes were equipped in this manner though and would
be surprised to learn that they were.

I would assume there were many photo's taken of the show and am sure
Navy is trying to get copies to help in investigation.

Yes, that is standard procedure. I'm sure someone got it on film. From what
I gleaned from one eye witness, there was black smoke from the tailpipe and
an almost instant crash.
I'm guessing he might have swallowed a compressor or turbine bucket and the
subsequent disintegration as the assembly came loose possibly made the
aircraft instantly aerodynamically unstable. He went in extremely fast and
didn't eject as far as I know so far.

How is your health?

I'm hanging in there. My back will never be the same as it was, but at least
I can function normally....sort of anyway.....without too much pain.

I'm some better. Cataract surgery did not go good and am having
problems seeing things. Has put off my looking at getting into glider
flying.

I'm sorry to hear that. I wish you well and hope your vision hangs in there
for you.
Best as always,
Dudley Henriques