1977 Airplane Crash in Yosemite

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Messages 541 - 560 of total 2675 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Toker Villain

Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
May 16, 2009 - 01:09pm PT
Its the chinese water troll.
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - May 16, 2009 - 11:11pm PT
drip......drip......drip
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - May 24, 2009 - 03:26am PT
Ok...here's an excerpt from the DEA's reports.

File Number R2-73-0322
The Mooney 21, N 6946U, arrived at Montgomery Field, San Diego, California, on September 12, 1972, piloted by GLISKY. He purchased 28.8 gallons of fuel on September 16, 1972. The aircraft departed sometime prior to 6:00am., and arrived later that day (September 16, 1972), with wing damage, showing dirt, and brush marks. The aircraft was repaired at Coast Air Corporation, Mongomery Field. GLISKY paid over $900 cash for the repairs and on September 28, 1972, departed.

So that is verbatim from the DEA's files. Obviously the DEA was on to them long before the crash in Yosemite, but it appears that for over four years they couldn't catch him. The plane that crashed into Lower Merced Pass Lake was only one of many that were used.
fourmiletrail

climber
May 24, 2009 - 05:44am PT
Was that weed from like Michoacan (e.g. central Mexico) and basically from the Mexican cartel that we know more about in present day ?
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - May 26, 2009 - 11:43am PT
I'm going to have to guess about the cartel. I think this was during the precartelian era.
Ihateplastic

Trad climber
Lake Oswego, Oregon
May 26, 2009 - 11:49am PT
What happened to your trip to the Seattle/Portland area?
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - May 27, 2009 - 02:18am PT
Simon, it worked out just fine, thanks for asking
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - May 27, 2009 - 02:58am PT
They didn't buy the Howard 500 until late 1976. This was in 1972 and the plane was a Mooney Mark 21. Looks like the fuel capacity was
around 51 or 52 gallons. So the pilot must have been just under
half when he refueled.
Majid_S

Mountain climber
Bay Area
May 27, 2009 - 03:04am PT
Ok, Mooney make sense cause their engine is smaller so 28 gal goes much longer.

By the way, I worked on mooney and radial engines similar to H 500 and I know the Howard 500 are gas sucker.
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - May 27, 2009 - 03:05am PT
This was also prior to them purchasing the Queenair

I spoke with the mechanic for the plane when it was owned by the
Republic Steel Company in Ohio. He said it would go through about
125 gallons of fuel and 2 gallons of oil each hour of flight time.
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 3, 2009 - 06:09pm PT
Just found out that one of the many planes they used was a Beech E18S. Nice plane!
sidmo

Sport climber
general delivery
Jun 4, 2009 - 03:10pm PT
yawn-ola!!
not many pilots in the world, even less airplane mechanics and afficianadoes
i still think that the sociological ramifications of "the plane" are way more interesting to readers, and the history of the weed and the unique community in the valley is what folks will seize on - again, read moby dick - if you can spin sentences like melville, then devote chapters to minutae - but since no writer has approached that level in over a century tell the damn story - slip details in a paragraph at a time, and we'll learn something despite our desire to read a narrative - again, read the new yorker and get a handle on how there writers spin tales of subjects that the avarage reader has no knowlege of nor interest in yet produce pageturners week after week
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 4, 2009 - 07:58pm PT
Uhh....good idea
rectorsquid

climber
Lake Tahoe
Jun 4, 2009 - 08:17pm PT
This started on May 21, 2005, 07:35pm PT. This thread recently passed the 4 year mark. I wish I could dedicate a mere month to a project before getting bored with it. This is almost amazing that Licky even remembers to look here from time to time.

Dave
Reilly

Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
Jun 4, 2009 - 08:17pm PT
Can't believe they used a Mooney for going into dirt strips. They are really low-riders. The Mooney is also a 'floater' on landing, not a good characteristic for a 'bush plane'. A nice Cessna 210 would carry twice as much without having to worry about dragging a wing.

As I said upthread the Beech 18 is the way to go. Most bang (payload/gal/mile) for the buck.

I hope you explain why they used this route. If they were flying up from Baja it would make a lot more sense to go up the east side of the Sierras, unless you like living dangerously.
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 5, 2009 - 01:59am PT
rector...if the information was becoming stagnat or unreliable then
I'd probably have quit by now. I'd have to say that almost daily
I am contacted by someone with more information. Whether its about
the plane, the stories around the drug running, or those in and
around Yosemite with their particular twist on the event, it still
keeps flowing in.

Since this site as well as many of the posters have helped me
with so many stories and tid bits of info, I find it only proper
to keep posting here with more on the subject. Sorry to those that
feel that the entire story is about a rock, a plane, and some dope.
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 6, 2009 - 02:37am PT
As I said, the information flow is daily. Today I recieved 22
pages from the US Customs Department. Of course its been sanitized,
but very readable stuff. Dates all the way back to 1972

This was before his "Badness" was participating
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 12, 2009 - 04:04pm PT
Just had an interesting conversation with a guy that had dinner with the two pilots the evening prior to their last flight. I'd been looking for him for quite a few years and he just popped up this morning with a phone call. He has some great stories about their early days as well as flying with Glisky when they were stationed in Viet Nam.
Jim Wilcox

Boulder climber
Santa Barbara
Jul 12, 2009 - 05:14pm PT
The guy who worked for San Joaquin Helicopters?
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 12, 2009 - 07:27pm PT
Jim, check your email
Messages 541 - 560 of total 2675 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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