VIDEO: Jetting through the Grand Canyon

[Corky]

Jetting Through the Grand Canyon

They wouldn't be allowed to do it today, but back in 1959, experienced military pilots would sometimes buzz the Grand Canyon when flying out of nearby Nellis AFB. At the time, RAF pilot Ron Dick was an exchange officer with the US Air Force, training students in a Lockheed T-33. Fellow instructor Bud Pratt recalls that during these Canyon flights, the pilots would fly low enough that water would spray up from the river.

Ron Dick rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshal and later became a fellow of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and a popular writer and lecturer on military history. He died in 2008. His son Gary Dick, who put together this video from Ron's footage, says, "As a lifelong supporter of the National Parks and a man with a keen interest in bird watching, Ron would definitely endorse the flight restrictions that ensure natural quiet in the parks today."

Movie at Link

For more of a close-up and personal view, see Journey through Canyons.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Oh, man that looks interesting to say the least.

 

[Spitfire]

WooHoooo
As I use to say: The Sky is not the limit - The Ground is!

 

[NelsAnderson]

Wow, that's amazing. Sometimes I think we have too many rules today...

I have done this on my computer flight simulator, though I don't suppose that counts

 

[Smithy]

That's magnificent!

Many thanks for posting the link :eusa_clap

 

[andy richards]

Amazing video. Not sure if the music goes well with the video though...
Andy

 

[Stearmen]

B-25

I looked and looked, but couldn't find it, a video of a B-25 going through the Grand Canyon! It happened in the 80s, when one was going from the US to the UK. It had a big ESSO Tiger with flying helmet and goggles doing the thumbs up painted on the nose. I had it, but through out my low quality VHS tapes. They stopped that in the early 90s, my boss tried to get us an airshow in Arizona so we could fly his PV2 Harpoon through the canyon. 4000 plus horse power, man o man, do I wish that had happened! Maybe in the next life!

 

[Tomasso]

Amazing video. Not sure if the music goes well with the video though...

I concur, on both points.

 

[H.Johnson]

Fantastic!

There is a long tradition of 'crazy flying' in the RAF. There is a similar (but dry) gorge in Saudi Arabia (I think) that RAF Tornado crews used to 'joyride' er... equipment test... through when in the area. Allegedly.

 

[JPH]

Awesome!

That guy was a steely-eyed missile man.

Amazing video. Not sure if the music goes well with the video though...
Andy

Yep, they should have used "Telstar" by The Tornados...

Joseph
... Or even "Misirlou" by Dick Dale and the Deltones, at the very least. Sheesh!

 

[Talbot]

I'd have preferred to hear the hum of the engine and the rattle of the cockpit.

To quote Stan Freberg "My ears man, like, my ears"

Brilliant video though. Thanks for sharing. Imagine being in the canyon seeing this guy come through. I'd like to see that...

T

 

[Vintage lover]

Wow, that's amazing. Sometimes I think we have too many rules today...

I have done this on my computer flight simulator, though I don't suppose that counts

I concur, not to get too political, but I REALLY wish that the government would deregulate and/or abolish the majority of the laws in place now (like the ones dictating automobile and aircraft creation and usage). What I would do to be a jet pilot in the jet age...

 

[StraightEight]

I concur, not to get too political, but I REALLY wish that the government would deregulate and/or abolish the majority of the laws in place now (like the ones dictating automobile and aircraft creation and usage). .

So we can go back to a hundred smog-alert days per year in LA and pull bodies off the hoods of cars after wrecks. No thanks.

The film is fabulous, the music asinine. Thank Top Gun and Jerry Bruckheimer for forever associating jet aircraft with pounding metal guitar riffs. Cliches are set on max.

 

[Vintage lover]

So we can go back to a hundred smog-alert days per year in LA and pull bodies off the hoods of cars after wrecks. No thanks.

The film is fabulous, the music asinine. Thank Top Gun and Jerry Bruckheimer for forever associating jet aircraft with pounding metal guitar riffs. Cliches are set on max.

I don't think it is just any pounding guitar that is stereotypically associated with jets, it is almost always pounding guitar played by Joe Satriani, specifically songs from his "Flying in a Blue Dream" album.