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Posted
17 minutes ago, Scheiss Meister said:

No, it was an ultralight, like a hang glider with an engine and prop hung from it.  They look fun until you think about the prop catching up to you.

They are fun. My only trip up in one was in an Eagle 2-seater that was later recalled because too many of them collapsed up in the air. The pilot was a nice guy who later got sideways with the cops over some Smuggler's Blues, so I heard.

If you ever wondered what it'd be like to get lifted up by a box kite while a lawnmower runs right behind you, ultralights are the thing.

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Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Of the initial murder? No. Of the execution? Yes.

Lasting effects? I don't know. Always had the ability to detach from a situation that you'd think would make somebody go berserk (though I would occasionally let myself go and engage in mayhem, as a sort of gift to myself,) post-execution and maybe just getting older, found myself with a super=power level of calm when I needed it. (I probably just described a personality disorder.)

Definitely was given the gift of not being scared of death. Not in a crazy reckless way, I do want to live, but I actually enjoy it more because obviously nothing's forever. My brother showed me a way through fear.

Lost the ability to worry about piddly shit. Not sure I ever did, but I don't even have the ability to fake it anymore.

Still hate phones ringing, but I only hear real ones.

Damn, man.  You might actually be the most interesting guy in the world.  A lot of that "interestingness" come by hard, but still.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Posted
12 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Damn, man.  You might actually be the most interesting guy in the world.  A lot of that "interestingness" come by hard, but still.

I am just one member of our League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Assholes.

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Posted
32 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

They are fun. My only trip up in one was in an Eagle 2-seater that was later recalled because too many of them collapsed up in the air. The pilot was a nice guy who later got sideways with the cops over some Smuggler's Blues, so I heard.

If you ever wondered what it'd be like to get lifted up by a box kite while a lawnmower runs right behind you, ultralights are the thing.

when I first moved down to Louisiana to work at the nuclear power plant, one of my colleagues was a hippie engineer who decided he needed to have an ultralight plane.   We had a crawfish boil out in a field and he flew that thing and landed about 50 yards from us.   The wind started picking up after an hour or two, and you know he was drinking a lot of Abita beer while eating mud bugs that were, as my Cajun friends said, “well seasoned”.   

We told him that he needed to leave the plane here, or one of us would get a trailer and move it to his house. But he insisted on flying at home.  He apparently made it about 500 yards until a downdraft pushed a wing too close to a beautiful oak tree, which led to an instant gravity attack. 

He always smoked a lot of dope, but I guarantee you he smoked more after his double lumbar fusion and repaired tibia.   There is no force of nature that will get me on one of those things.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Underdog said:

My sister witnessed her youngest blow his brains out, completely amazed how she functions as normally possible as she does on a daily basis. 

That is horrifying. 

Friend in high school called a bunch of people out to a common meeting spot for our small town high schoolers. Charismatic guy. Said he had something cool to show everyone or something like that. Gun to the head. Never will understand 

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Posted
3 hours ago, Sgt Hulk said:

First death I saw.  Colleague shot through leg. Then stomach.   It’s strange you don’t really process during the fog and chaos. You just react.  It would be weeks later and still now I see it in my dreams and I see it happen to me   This thread jogged that memory.   
 

he didn’t make it.  It was 2006

What’s the story there?

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Scheiss Meister said:

No, it was an ultralight, like a hang glider with an engine and prop hung from it.  They look fun until you think about the prop catching up to you.

One of these.  Video has some "hell no" views in flight. 

 

I remember there used to be an Ultralight park off of I-10 in between Houston and Sealy in the 80s.

 

 

Edited by dcbc
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Posted

I had an undergrad coop working for me at a UT lab.  Her dad had died in an ultralight accident.  His buddy had built the plane from a kit but didn't trust his own meager flying skills for the test flight.  He asked his best friend to do the honors.  Engine crapped out several hundred yards in the air, and that was it.  

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Posted
8 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I had an undergrad coop working for me at a UT lab.  Her dad had died in an ultralight accident.  His buddy had built the plane from a kit but didn't trust his own meager flying skills for the test flight.  He asked his best friend to do the honors.  Engine crapped out several hundred yards in the air, and that was it.  

My wife's cousin bought one.  Fortunately, he only taxied it around the neighborhood.  After that, it fell into disrepair thankfully.

Posted
20 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I had an undergrad coop working for me at a UT lab.  Her dad had died in an ultralight accident.  His buddy had built the plane from a kit but didn't trust his own meager flying skills for the test flight.  He asked his best friend to do the honors.  Engine crapped out several hundred yards in the air, and that was it.  

you could hear his best friend as he lost altitude…

IMG_2932.gif.5f4c01a41fd9696b95eced46accf58c9.gif

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Posted
28 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I had an undergrad coop working for me at a UT lab.  Her dad had died in an ultralight accident.  His buddy had built the plane from a kit but didn't trust his own meager flying skills for the test flight.  He asked his best friend to do the honors.  Engine crapped out several hundred yards in the air, and that was it.  

I hope you consoled her.

funeral GIF

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Posted
4 hours ago, Underdog said:

My sister witnessed her youngest blow his brains out, completely amazed how she functions as normally possible as she does on a daily basis. 

Holy shit. 

Posted (edited)

I was the second or third car that came upon a dead body in the highway, but my the time I registered what happened I was 40 yards passed, so exited and turned around and by the time I had circled back the entire highway was shut down and fire trucks, cops, ambulances galore.

There was no wreckage or debris from what I could tell, just a dead body. 
 

I had to drive 5 more hours with my anxiety at a 10 after that. My own mortality was all I could think about and was gripped with fear. Not a fun road trip.

Edited by Vegas64
Posted
17 minutes ago, Da Fino said:

Holy shit. 

I keep repping all the posts of this sentiment.  But somehow, it's not enough.  So, holy shit!

Posted

Didn’t see but heard a murder suicide in my apartment complex when I lived in San Antonio. Her screaming woke me. It was so loud and panicked that it didn’t even sound like English. Just incomprehensible. Until the unmistakable “pop… pop pop pop pop pop” followed by the eeriest, complete silence. SAPD was on the scene shortly after, flashing lights reflecting around in the courtyard, and you could hear them knocking on the guy’s door. Not long after was one last “pop” and you knew how the story ended. That was almost exactly 7 years ago.

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Posted
5 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

I've witnessed much death. There are situations where it appears necessary, but it's the accidents that stick with you.

I read that in your avatar's voice.

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Posted
5 hours ago, Underdog said:

My sister witnessed her youngest blow his brains out, completely amazed how she functions as normally possible as she does on a daily basis. 

Have you ever asked her about it? 

Posted
27 minutes ago, Da Fino said:

I’m honestly surprised at how few deaths so many here have seen.  

We all saw the Charlie Strong years.

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Posted
14 minutes ago, Herbie Hancock said:


If I had to guess I’m somewhere in the ballpark of 300-ish.

Luckily for you I heard it gets really lighthearted after 301-ish. 

Posted
6 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I imagine that most of us are slackers compered to people even 100 years ago.

I tried to die several times before I was 24.  Not intentionally.  Something kicked in about age 25 that I stopped doing the most egregiously stupid and potentially fatal stuff.    I absolutely buy into that theory that a teenager’s brain does not have adult reasoning power until much later in life.

 

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Posted

I was a pretty well-behaved kid for the most part, but did the typical stupid stuff in college. I am not looking forward to when my boys are that age. It's amazing most of us make it.

Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, Gatorubet said:

I tried to die several times before I was 24.  Not intentionally.  Something kicked in about age 25 that I stopped doing the most egregiously stupid and potentially fatal stuff.    I absolutely buy into that theory that a teenager’s brain does not have adult reasoning power until much later in life.

 

There’s a reason auto insurance for males drops at 25. 

Edited by Pato del Muerto
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Posted
On 3/19/2025 at 9:08 AM, Herbie Hancock said:


I have visitors from the past all the time. Best way I can explain it is it’s like the ghosts that Tommy Gavin sees in Rescue Me. The one that comes to see me more than the others is the 12 year old girl that hung herself in the garage with an extension cord because mom and mommy’s boyfriend chose her older sister to participate in the 3 way porno they made.

I tell people that those memories are in a box, stored in a part of my brain that I choose not to open. I probably guarded that box more when I was still working. Now that I’m retired, I don’t stand guard over it or try to shove more inside. Because of that, those memories tend to creep out on their own more and more these days.

What’s tough is that people who haven’t seen it or dealt with it really don’t understand. Hell, I don’t even understand it myself. I was applying for a job the other day, and the questionnaire asked if I had ever investigated cases of CSAM (child sexual abuse material). I get why they asked—it’s relevant to the job—but you want to talk about "visitors" forcing their way out of the box? The questionnaire also asked how many cases of child exploitation or child abuse I had investigated. I have no fucking clue, but let me do some math—somewhere between 800 and 1,200. I guess I should be thankful they didn’t ask how many images I’ve seen.

During my career, I never really looked into PTSD or fully understood it, but I have a much better grasp of it now. I’m not saying I suffer from PTSD, but I can see how it could take hold of someone. I’m grateful that I didn’t live and breathe my career. I have more friends outside of the job than inside, and I think that has made a difference.

I feel for people who never chose a career like law enforcement, fire, nursing, medicine, the military, or any other profession where you expect to see death, war, destruction, and the worst parts of humanity—yet they are suddenly forced to witness something truly horrific. Those are awful images to carry and heavy emotions to navigate.

It’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to seek help.

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Posted
On 3/18/2025 at 9:39 PM, Ghost of LL said:

And that’s a first. Which for a man my age, is kind of extraordinary.  Those of you who served in combat have undoubtedly seen it many times.  I haven’t.

Driving home along 360.  Some guy decided it would be a good idea to cross the highway. It wasn’t. Car ahead of me hits him.

Anytime a shoe flies off, it’s bad. This was no different. I suggest someone check his pulse. He doesn’t have one.  Someone has the presence of mind to start chest compressions.  That actually works, from the standpoint that it started the blood flowing as evidenced by the growing pool of blood from the back of his head.

I didn’t do shit to help. You think you’d be a superhero in that situation. I certainly wasn’t. I stood there fairly slack-jawed. 
 

Then I went to Maudie’s and had a couple margaritas.

I’m not feeling particularly great right now.

So did the shoes fit?

 

But seriously that is horrible for the person and for you and everyone who had to witness or be involved.  Regardless of what you did or did not do, it would have had no impact on saving him.

Posted
On 3/19/2025 at 8:34 AM, Herbie Hancock said:

 

 


He’s not unfazed, he’s just good at hiding it….for now.

 

 

One of my best friends and a fellow PJ went into HSI for almost 20 years after getting out. I went a different more sedentary route (sort of) after getting out. Some of the shit he told me he has had to see and do would break a lot of people. Thankfully he's retired now. He is a huge advocate and volunteer with the VA helping veterans in all sorts of situations from homelessness  to PTSD treatment. He's a fucking saint for the work he has done helping vets start to get their lives back together.

BUT along the way he also seen A LOT OF DEATHS among the ranks of those he has committed himself to help and helped families deal with those losses.

Me personally, I will post some of the tragic deaths I will never erase from my mind in another post.

But my friend has seen a lot more than I believe I could have dealt with. You just never know.

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Posted
On 3/19/2025 at 12:53 PM, Goredho said:

Witnessing violent/traumatic death is no joke.  I was driving next to a small airfield in a suburb of Salt Lake City with my then infant son in his car seat in the back.  I noticed a small plane that had just taken off kind of rising and falling erratically before stalling out and plunging into the ground.  No explosion, but it caught fire quick and by the time I was pulled over, the whole plane was on fire.  This was about 30 yards away from me on the other side of a security fence.  I pulled over, got over to the fence, and I could see the pilot burning inside.  The first vehicle to arrive on the inside of the fence was just a civilian car, and a young woman got out and got within maybe 5-10 yards of the cockpit and just started wailing in a way I had never heard before.  Emergency vehicles arrived pretty quickly, but they couldn't do much.  Plane burned down super quick, and the pilot certainly was dead by the time they got there.  I read in the paper the next day that he was just a local pilot who flew advertising banners over sporting events.  He was taking off to go fly something over a minor league baseball game when he had some sort of engine trouble and boom he was gone.  That event fucked with me for quite awhile, and recalling it now, I can still see the dude in the cockpit.  I hope it does not stick with you like it did me, @Ghost of LL.  Here's a photo of the aftermath and the news article:

4TUTI55CMRKU3PIGUDAJKMN7NE.jpg?auth=4799

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WEST JORDAN — A Cottonwood Heights man flying the airplane that pulls the Salt Lake Bees' banner died in a plane crash Saturday. 

Quinn Michael Falk, 34, of Cottonwood Heights, was killed while he was taking off around 5 p.m. from the South Valley Regional Airport off of Airport Road in West Jordan, West Jordan Police Capt. Dan Gallagher said. He was flying a single-seat airplane of unknown model.

Witnesses at the scene watched Falk take off and fly between two flag bearers who hooked the banner onto the aircraft. Witnesses said the plane appeared to lose power, prompting Falk to release the banner in an attempt to stay in the air. But the plane fell from the sky, nosediving and bursting into flames.

From what witnesses told investigators, it appears a mechanical issue was the cause of the crash, and Gallagher indicated that the man died on impact.

 

Gallagher said he was told Falk was an experienced pilot with as many as 2,000 flying hours under his belt. 

The man's mother, father, brother and girlfriend came to the scene after the man's body was removed, Gallagher said. As of Saturday, the sparse remnants of the plane were all that remained at the scene, and Gallagher said they planned on leaving the plane for a few days for further investigation.

Gallagher said investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are already working to determine the cause of the accident. The airport was closed for the bulk of the evening but would be reopened Sunday, Gallagher said.

 

 

Obviously did not have the SURLY flying banner budget behind him. You get what you pay for...

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