Print Story A nasty shock
Death
By riceowlguy (Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 07:34:38 AM EST) (all tags)
as I flipped through the latest Air & Space magazine...


Remember me blogging almost a year ago about Shaun Lunt, the guy who was living my fantasy life, flying his Super Cub around Alaska and taking amazing photographs?

He died in a plane crash back in June.

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A nasty shock | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
I would guess by debacle (2.00 / 0) #1 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 07:47:16 AM EST
That hitting Mother Earth at terminal velocity would be a nasty shock.

"I'm very responsive to certain stimuli, and pain is pretty much at the top of that list." - BadDoggie



Cue wah-wah trombone by riceowlguy (2.00 / 0) #2 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 07:57:55 AM EST
I'll be really interested in reading the NTSB report on this accident, actually.  First off, the landing area looks pretty darn safe compared to some of the places I've seen him and his trainer land their Cubs in.  Cubs also fly relatively slowly, and a straight-up crash ought to have been survivable.  It looks like he flipped over and burned, either from a stray wind gust or a particularly bad rock he couldn't see, or maybe both.

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Yikes. by blixco (4.00 / 2) #3 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 09:09:38 AM EST
Goddamn.

That guy had some great photos.  But his death is another stark reminder of something that I've long suspected and only recently have made a Rule:

Do Not Fuck With Alaska. Don't live there, work there, visit there, play there, cruise there, hitch-hike there, hike there, fly there, sail there, swim there, surf there, or hunt there.  Don't think about it, talk about it or write about it.

Just, Don't Fuck with Alaska.  Alaska Eats People.
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"You bring the weasel, I'll bring the whiskey." - kellnerin


My Dad spent a summer there mapping glaciers by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #4 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 09:25:45 AM EST
in the 50's. He's gonna be 80 this year.

Earth First!
(We can strip mine the rest later.)

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Is he missing any limbs? by blixco (2.00 / 0) #5 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 09:37:31 AM EST
I'm not saying that it will kill 100 percent of the people who encounter it.

That would be too easy, and it'd scare off the potential victims. No, Alaska is a wily motherfucker. It only kills every fourth person.
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"You bring the weasel, I'll bring the whiskey." - kellnerin
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He's in better shape than I am. by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #9 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 10:40:52 AM EST


Earth First!
(We can strip mine the rest later.)

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There was a Dirty Jobs by jayhawk88 (4.00 / 1) #6 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 09:51:26 AM EST
...the other day that Rowe and crew must have filmed while they were up there for Deadliest Catch stuff. They had a job where a gas tank or maybe fuel oil tank had leaked into the snow surrounding the tank. So they had to go in, scoop up all this snow around the tank that was contaminated, then transfer the snow to another area where they then loaded it into some kind of filter tank that that leeched off the gas/fuel from the water by evaporation or something like that. It was kind of amazing how much more crap they had to go through just because of the snow.

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True dat. by gzt (3.00 / 2) #7 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 10:07:41 AM EST
Alaska separates the men from the beasts, and it'll even kill a few of those for kicks on a slow day.

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Yeah, but you by sasquatchan (4.00 / 1) #11 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 11:32:25 AM EST
see those pictures of RAW UNTAMED WILDERNESS.. and damn, it's enchanting. Beautiful mountains, rugged prairie, wildflowers in bloom..

I'd love to take a rafting trip, eat fresh salmon over a campfire, etc. But I'd need a .30-08 and a .44mag for safety from the wildlife, 100% DEET for the skeeters, and who knows what else. But damn, it'd be beautiful.

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Didn't see by anonimouse (2.00 / 0) #8 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 10:25:19 AM EST
the first time round, but I have to say it looks like one of the most awesome blogs I've seen.

I'm still trying to work out how it crashed so severely though. There looks a lot of beach to make a landing on and the water wasn't far away


Girls come and go but a mortgage is for 25 years -- JtL


bummer by cam (2.00 / 0) #10 Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 10:43:03 AM EST
I remember going through that site after you linked to it. Amazing photos and lifestyle.

cam
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic


A nasty shock | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback