[PEN-L:9294] RE: Re: JFK Jr and the Hubris of the Rich

["Craven, Jim" <jcraven@xxxxxxxxx>]

Response: Sorry about that; it was unintentional. VFR means Visual Flight
Rules which means must have 1000 ft ceiling, 3 miles visibility, stay away
from clouds. IFR means instrument flight rules which means you must be
instrument rated and on an instrument flight plan; even then, to shoot an
instrument approach (which is what I had to do to get into Martha's Vinyard)
there are ceiling and visibility minimums to continue an approach.

CG refers to Center of Gravity which pilots calculate with weight and
balance calculations before any flight where the aircraft is loaded or any
flight planned distance trip.

JFK Jr. could have requested flight following from Air Traffic control and
would have been given a special transponder code (electronic device that
sends out position and altitude continuously) that would have sent out an
alarms in the ATC if JFK Jrs aircraft had descended too rapidly or gone
below a minimum altitude.

The bottom line is that the hubris of the rich strikes again. What if he had
gone into an apartment block or a row of houses? This punk thought he knew
it all (now a cover story is being constructed that he had reservations
about taking his sister-in-law to Martha's Vinyard and about his abilities
as a pilot) but all in all, it is a terrible waste of search and rescue
resources in my opinion. I have seen it over and over: If I am so rich and
can afford this top-of-the-line aircraft, of course I must be smart and
skilled enough to fly what I can afford to buy.

Jim Craven

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Pollak [mailto:mpollak@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, July 19, 1999 7:47 AM
To: 'pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
>Subject: [PEN-L:9280] Re: JFK Jr and the Hubris of the Rich



That was interesting.  But for us earthbound readers, what do VFR, IFR and
CG mean?

Michael

__________________________________________________________________________
Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak@xxxxxxxxx