Wow, very nicely done, Alan! Quite a fascinating story, as I have a special place in my heart for the slide rule bezel. Please let us know when you publish subsequent articles in this series!

 

Thanks and glad you like it, I currently have three others on the go but it takes a while to get all the info, photos and contacts. I will put a shout out when anything gets printed.

 

What an absolute tool. That aircraft could have been used to train many young aspiring pilots but instead was flown into the ground for likes..

 

The Feds are up his ass for this one...I doubt he'll have a certificate much longer if they haven't pulled it already

 

Apparently he even videos himself walking into the post office to surrender his licence.

What a sad sack piece of shit, I hope they charge him with some crime, but it may be difficult as he went to the crash site and cleaned up all the evidence (and recovered his cameras so he could get more likes).

 

From a news article.

On 11 April the Federal Aviation Administration concluded its investigation into the incident and determined that Jacob had crashed his 1940 TaylorcraftBL-65 as a stunt, saying, “On November 24, 2021, you demonstrated a lack of care, judgment, and responsibility by choosing to jump out of an aircraft solely so you could record the footage of the crash.”

The FAA justified its conclusion by pointing out the fact that Jacob had attached multiple cameras to the outside of his plane, including a camera pointed in the direction of the propeller “in order to record video footage of the outside and inside of the plane during the flight.”
Other pieces of evidence the FAA cited included the sport parachute backpack container that Jacob put on before the flight, his opening the left side pilot door before claiming that the engine had failed, his failure to contact air traffic control on the emergency frequency before jumping out the plane and his lack of attempts to restart the engine by increasing airflow over the propeller.
The FAA also said that Jacob did not make any attempts to search for safe areas to land, even though “there were multiple within gliding range” in which he could have made a safe landing, and that he jumped out of the plane while holding a camera attached to a selfie stick and continued to record the plane during his descent.
Additionally, the agency found that Jacob had recovered then disposed of the plane wreckage, as well as recovered the cameras that he had attached to the plane before the flight.
As a result of its findings, the FAA has revoked Jacob’s pilot license and informed him in a six-page letter that if “you fail to surrender your certificates immediately, you will be subject to further legal enforcement action, including a civil penalty of up to $1,644.00, for each day you fail to surrender it”.

In response to the letter, Jacob posted a video on YouTube on Saturday, saying, “I didn’t think that just posting a video of an adventure gone south would ruffle so many feathers.”

“The aviation community has been pretty tough on me, so I’m thinking about quitting altogether and giving up, just because I’m hated,” he added, while filming himself on his way to the post office to mail his pilot’s license.

 

Yeah... we're not keen on people making our industry look bad by doing stupid things. So sorry your feelings were hurt...NOT! Hang it up forever dude, we don't need you in aviation. In fact, we need you to NOT be in aviation.

 

Another tell is that people spotted he had a small fire extinguisher hidden under one of his pant legs. I guess to subdue any wild fires and more likely rescue his cameras. He picked the wrong type of people for a video like this / Aviation nuts even make watch people look less OCD ;0)
Maybe if it is a national park they can take other actions against him - very long odds but he could have caused injury and damage.
Another tell is that the plane was trimmed down / not set for level flight - I guess to minimise the risk of third party injury and let him stop any fires as it would not travel too far.

 

I hope some savvy lawyers pitch up with a claim against him from the Engine or Airframe manufacture (now defunct but someone holds title to something), Avionics and indeed any OEM who provided equipment to this aircraft because he deliberately endangered (fill in the blanks).

In the USA some fella sued his company because he didn't want a surprise birthday party thrown for him and won, they should be able to get this idiot and drain his finances.

 

My Instructor wheeling the little beastie back to the barn after yesterday's training flight out of KBUR. Together we make a good combo: he weighs in at 65 kg (~140 lb) and me at about 80 kg (~165 lb), giving us better than average performance out of our 130-HP rated engine.


Yesterday's training flight was #6 for me, after a three-week hiatus when Mrs.Jones and I went on holiday. I was a bit rusty at first but caught back up to where I had been before, skill-wise, after 20 minutes or so. I'm continuing to try to gain an acceptable level of hovering ability while down on the tarmac, but I'm still a ways off from where I need to be. To put it in car-driving context, after six hours of instruction I am still unable to safely move the car from one parking spot to another, and of course, haven't even left the parking lot yet.

It's not all doom and gloom, however. Because KBUR is such a busy airport we do our tarmac-level hovering and taxiing training at an airport that is about 15 miles away, at El Monte (KEMT). So after my instructor gets us airborne I take over and complete the climb out of the airport, fly straight and level over the town of Pasadena to the air space near KEMT, and fly the approach to the runway. Yesterday's wind conditions were quite challenging, with 40+ knot wind gusts at flight altitude (about 1,500ft AGL) and 10-15 knot wind gusts down on the tarmac. At one point on the transit to and from KEMT my instructor had to take the controls as we passed through an area we dubbed "windy gap".

 

Thanks for sharing again. Keep at it. I look forward to the day when you do your first solo. I imagine 40 knot wind gusts would throw that poor R22 around a bit. What's the cruising speed, if I may ask? I remember the Cessna 150 I used to do my training in could only do 90 knots.

Also, if any forum members can identify the make of the three engined jet in the background of the pic, I'd be most appreciative.

 

Dassault Falcon 900?

or more likely a 7X.

 

I think you're right. It's a 7X rather than the 900 because of the blister on top of the tailfin. Funny that I didn't recognise it because the RAAF also operates this aircraft type. Guess I don't get out to Fairbairn much
https://www.airforce.gov.au/technology/aircraft/air-mobility/dassault-falcon-7x

 

+1

 

Its a 7X as they have one less cabin window than the 8X, its a pretty basic way of working it out but sometimes the simple way is best.

 

I started counting the windows, but gave up after the sixth try.
Maybe if @Jones in LA had used a camera instead of a potato to take the shot it would have been easier for me to count the little black dots.

BTW, why is the instructor pushing the bird?
When I was doing PPL many many years ago my instructor was out of the plane and into the office as soon as the prop had stopped.
I was left to refuel and find a volunteer to help me push the 150 into the hangar, or if it was full, to cover and tie down.

 

Max cruising speed in ideal conditions is about 95 knots. I've had the R22 up to 90 knots, but I feel more comfortable closer to 75 knots as things don't happen too fast for my beginner-brain to process.

 

I don't think they trust me yet -- when it's put away for the night the R22 gets wedged pretty tightly between other, very expensive gadgets.

 

A bit like ironing ….there are some skills it is better to be bad at ;0)