Letter from passengers son (MUST READ)
Condolences to all
Subject: [ChickashaWings] A great man
I'm sure you all have heard about it, but might not know how close to home
it hit for me. I feel like I need to tell someone about it, but can't
quite muster the strength to call....
Early on the morning of December 2nd, 2006. My father awoke in his home
which he built with his own blood sweat and tears for his loving wife
Peggy. He turned to her after dressing for the day ahead and told her he
was going, as he did almost every Saturday morning, to fly to Ponca City
with the friends and neighbors which he had grown quite fond of in the
last few years of his life. He arrived at Twin Lakes Airport, 2OK2 as you
all might know it, and drank a cup of coffee while waiting to hear that
the weather in Ponca might clear up, I'm sure excited about the trip
ahead. After hearing that the weather in Ponca was still not VFR at about
8:00 o'clock my father Paul Black, and Bob Noble, his relatively new but
very good friend, pulled N216RV out of the hangar and behind Mitchell
Alexander in his RV-9A and Marshall Alexander in his Cessna 172, taxied
the RV-7A to the end of the runway at Twin Lakes to head for Westheimer
for breakfast at Ozzies Diner. I'm sure there wa
s a smile on both of their faces, the good ole "RV Grin" as it is known,
as the throttle was advanced and the airplane left the earth for the last
time. The flight of three had been cleared to land at Westheimer around
8:40am and as the first two aircraft touched down and taxied in they knew
something was wrong when the third airplane was not close behind.
The details of the accident are still not very clear to me. Some eye
witness reports claim that the airplane seemed to "wag it's tail from side
to side" before "falling". Yet another says the engine sputtered as the
plane descended and the pilot must have been trying to avoid the
interstate and close by buildings and houses. What I do know is that the
airplane, it's pilot, and it's only passenger, my father, all came to rest
at 8:45am in an open field near interstate 35 and Main street in Norman,
Oklahoma on December 2nd, 2006.
From news photographs and video it is apparent that the airplane struck
the ground nose down collapsing all three landing gear below it. The
propeller departed the airplane, the blades bent to the rear, which I have
recently learned at my new job with McCauley usually means the engine was
not at a high RPM. The flaps were extended to what looked like full
deployment. This puzzles me, because it seems awfully early to extend
flaps when on almost a mile final, especially knowing Bob. And if
attempting to glide to a field, flaps would only be desired if trying to
gain a little extra float to make a field. This may very well be the case
since it appears that the airplane crossed the interstate at about tree
height and as if to avoid hitting houses on the other side of the field
came to an abrupt stop in the field, killing both men instantly.
My only comfort comes in knowing that my father spent the last few years
of his life with a loving family, a tolerable job that although it didn't
pay what he once made for a salary it was not near as stressful, and that
he came to rediscover a hobby which he dearly loved. I am glad he was able
to leave this earth doing something which he loved so much and got so much
satisfaction from. I'm sure if he could tell us his only regrets would be
not being able to be with his family a little longer and tell them all
that he loved them so much.
I know you all will be thinking of us, and I appreciate it dearly. Our
family is very busy with arrangements and I do not know when the service
will be, but I will try to let everyone know. I am confident that both men
did whatever they could to avoid this tradgedy and as we all know, there
is a risk in everything we do. As I'm sure Paul and Bob would want, we
must all keep flying, keeping them in mind as a reminder of how dangerous
this hobby of ours can be.
Be safe, and be grateful for the time we all still have,
Michael Black
THAT HURTS..RIP GUYS
