Gary Stearman of Stearman Aviation: The Story I've Never Told

reply to post by The GUT


The OP did say

The following is a true story.

but he has now changed it. Its all good

Originally posted by wrathofall
I'm jealous!

Your a brave one

I think I might be able to handle it, as long as no Aliens presented themselves.

reply to post by PhoenixOD



clam down and breathe, everyone makes mistakes, I think it 'might' have meant to say .. "it's a true story according to Stearman"..........sound better .. ??

now the thing to ask yourself is.. the report from the shop foreman for the FAA, true or not true? and how much do you know about FAA investigations and FAA rules on such incidents?

~If you say, not true, then the FAA report is a fallacy and all such incidents of all aircraft do not get investigated when reported and the shop foreman is not credible and should be fired for stating such rubbish.

~If you say True, then the FAA report is accurate and the shop foreman is credible and the incident truly did take place.. and the report written and incidents are logged in a FAA report.

a couple of things you might want to look into or at least think about when your complete focus is on roping in someone to poke fun at their honest mistakes ..

It seemed that we had covered what should have been an hour’s flight in about ten minutes!

A time slip, interesting to note, this subject seems to be being woven in our earth's history over the course of 40 years or so.. even to ATS members as of last week or a couple of weeks ago.

what say you

reply to post by Komodo


Very astute observations, thank you.

The FAA report;

The Aircraft repairs, as would have to be noted in all maintenance records;

The pilots log,

All very good points.

And yes, a time slip. Very interesting.

left Dallas just after noon on a trip that should have taken less than two hours. Now, it was after six o’clock … perhaps closer to seven. This man had waited on me all afternoon … on a Sunday! But he was sympathetic after he heard about my emergency.

Another thing didn’t register with me until years later: I had refueled in Dallas, giving me enough fuel for four or five hours of flying time at the very most. I had landed over six hours later, and still had half my fuel left! But I just didn’t think about it; it didn’t cross my mind that there was anything strange about this.

source

No idea if this story is true or not, however, the part about the belt coming off actually lends more credibility to it. I mean, if you're going to invent a fantastical UFO story, why would you add a seemingly mundane mechanical failure like a belt slipping off?

I would have claimed that there were magnetic anomalies or structural damage associated with the energy waves coming off the UFO.

reply to post by Enlightenme1111


Yes, mundane aspect...

I did find it very interesting that the belt showed no signs of damage.

Interesting story, however, I would have thought that when confronted with something as baffling as the v- belt coming off the alternator in the way it has been described, that one of the engineers may have taken a photo of it?

Maybe there's one out there?

S+F.

There are too many stories like this for ALL of them to be fabricated. His story struct an honest resonance with me.

On most small, single engine aircraft of that era, the drive belt for the charging system would have been driven by the crankshaft of the engine. In such a typical system, the alternator belt would be mounted on a pulley BEHIND the prop and could not possibly have been removed without the prop being removed first (and part of the cowling).

Was this the reason for the great excitement when they discovered the belt somehow had gotten off? That would have been a miracle. I can't understand such excitement otherwise, belts do come off and need not show signs of why they did.

Can someone clarify this point?

Pictures or
it didn't happen.

The battery would have had enough voltage to work for awhile without the belt.

There were no "charging system" lights back them. Just a voltmeter.

After WWII they started using synthetic rubber for V-belts along with Nylon.....but due to problems such as the belts flying off they quit using Nylon. Probably why the belt flew off.


As for what he saw....maybe fumes from the synthetic rubber on that belt made him coo coo. Or since it was a new plane maybe some adhesive fumes or fresh paint fumes were effecting his brain.

reply to post by Aliensun


Thats a valid question, thanks for your comments.
Checking with someone familiar, and will report back when I have that answer!

Interesting story thanks for sharing.

The idea that Pilots are reputable people across the board and to think they must be good upstanding honest rational folks just because they are pilots is Absurd with a capitol A.

I've known many pilots who work for small and large companies. These people have been flying commercial routes for decades. Most of them are full of crap just as you and I are. They drink, smoke, cheat on their wives, do illegal drugs, lie and cuss like salors etc.. being a pilot is only a job just like any other job and these people are human just like every common man. To place them in such high esteem simply because they are a pilot shows at what lengths people will go to lie to themselves.

Not saying this guy is lying or his story isn't true, just making a point about pilots because it seems all too often people are quick to judge them blameless.

reply to post by burntheships


yep.. it's all about Logic my man.. all about logic .. personally, I think I'm 1/100th Vulcan, to include my ears, yes.. they are somewhat pointy LOL.. (seriously) .. LOL
.

reply to post by Aliensun


Mmmm... Makes me think the alternator belt had never actually been fitted.. an oversight, maybe ? The planes electrical systems would run for so long 'til the battery was discharged, and it became apparent something was'nt right ?
Just my opinion...