BILL ANDERS DIED LAST THURSDAY

Bill Anders was the astronaut who took this photograph on Christmas Eve 1968 when he, Frank Borman and Jim Lovell became the first humans to ever experience this moment, “Earthrise,” as the living Earth rose into sight above the dead Moon. The photograph has literally changed our view of ourselves. As he put it later, “I went to study the Moon, and what I discovered was the Earth.”

After his service as an astronaut, Anders and his wife retired to Washington state in the 1990s, where he became involved in general aviation with an emphasis on flying vintage military airplanes.

Last Thursday, June 7, he died, age 90, flying a Beechcraft T-34B Mentor (a military trainer version of the Beechcraft Bonanza) around noon, over the water north of  Harbor Airport approximately 20 miles southwest of Bellingham, Washington. 

Touristswho saw him took photos as he flew the 70-year old airplane in a manner one described as "something you would see in an airshow." The video shows the aircraft diving toward the water as if in a loop, but it did not pull up before hitting the water. The witness who captured the video said it appeared that the aircraft's wing struck the surface, then it broke apart and caught fire. Anders was alone.

James Fallows, also a pilot, wrote that Anders was attempting an aerobatic maneuver that most “regular” pilots of any age would consider beyond their skills.

The Heritage Flight Museum began when Anders purchased a P-51D Mustang named Val-Halla. The collection grew with more warbirds, and soon included an F8F-2 Bearcat that had competed in the 1964 Reno Air Races. He named it Wampus Cat and raced both airplanes at Reno in the late ’90s.

P-51D Mustang “Val-Halla”

F8F Bearcat “Wampus Cat” at Chino Airshow in 2011

I had occasion to meet Bill Anders out at the Planes of Fame airshow, maybe 20 years ago. He'd brought “Val-Halla” to the show. I've never flown a Mustang myself, but I have flown in several as the passenger over the years and I've been around Mustangs and the people who fly them for over 50 years now. And back then, with 30 years' experience, I had a pretty good idea of what constituted a good P-51 pilot. A good P-51 pilot respects that airplane enough to be prepared for anything to happen in it; every P-51 crash I know of has been due to some sort of pilot error, and that comes from not being prepared; what seems to be the exception is Jimmy Leeward’s fatal crash into the crowd at Reno in 2012, due to the failure of a minor part that was 70 years old - but I’m sure the fact Jimmy, who was well-known at Reno back in the 70s, and was 84 when he crashed and killed 22 people in the stands, was his pilot error.

The P-51 may have a reputation for "easy handling" but that's compared with a class of airplanes that mostly aren't "easy handling," and it is still a handful, as I have witnessed sitting behind P-51 pilots on landing and takeoff, the two most stressful times in that airplane - on takeoff the pilot is fighting torque with the Merlin engine at maximum power, and at landing, he is setting himself up to make as few moves as possible because the controls are at the lower end of their effectiveness and it is difficult to do any radical maneuvering if things aren’t set up right.

When I talked to Anders back then, I did not get the feeling he had that essential respect for the Mustang. He flew it well at the show, and I'm sure he did have such respect when he was a new 2nd Looey, but this was at the other end of his career, when he'd flown everything including space ships and the prototype F-16s.

Guys with a record of "flying everything" are either going to be "old pilots" because what they've learned is there's always something new to learn, or something old you’d better pay strict attention to. There are those who become "bold pilots" as a result of that experience and get unconsciously lackadaisacal about things, since they have always done them well. For a "bold pilot" the only question is when the day is going to come when the boldness kills them.

“Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.” Probably every pilot has read these words on a famous poster found hanging on the walls of every hangar. The ones who maintain that awareness get to die in their beds of old age.

There's a reason why the saying is, "There are old pilots, and bold pilots; but there are no old, bold pilots."

I realy hate hearing news like this.

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