Liberty Ship said:
I actually could circle each one of the build ups to plan a run for different sun angles. Of course I went through a few clouds, but only after clearing the area and always knowing what was on the other side. All of the airspace was cleared and I was squawking a VFR code. I am lucky to have access to an area that is not encumbered by victor airways or IFR traffic.
Pat: My background is very similar to yours -- military fighter/attack pilot; 28 years of flying taildraggers and warbirds; current jet instructor pilot; current airline pilot; homebuilts; gliders, etc.
A couple of points:
1. I had no problem with the "aggressiveness" of the flying -- it was actually pretty tame.
2. Nobody can fault you for sticking to your own comfort level when doing acro and such. Your stick-and-rudder competence is evident in the video. Nice flying.
3. Nobody should find fault with having a video camera running while flying. Why would they? It's completely legal. (Yep, I know all about that old Air Force restriction on cameras in the cockpit -- caused, by the way, by a guy doing a rejoin in a single-seat A-7 while filming it all though the little viewfinder, and ramming his flight lead in the process... that's another story.)
However, when someone with your level of experience claims that he "cleared the area" first, and you "always knew what was on the other side," and "all the airspace was cleared," and the fact that your airspace is "unencumbered by IFR traffic," I have to raise my big, expensive pilot's watch over my cranium, because the BS is getting deep in here...
You may fool a few 200-hour Private Pilots with that particular explanation, but you will not fool me and the other folks who know better.
The cloud-clearance regs are written in blood, my aviation brother. Some days, it sucks to comply with those regs, but temptation has led more than one great pilot to bad times. Don?t forget that there ARE ways to chase the clouds legally, as has been pointed out previously in this forum thread and elsewhere.
I think my biggest concern is the effect such videos have on the less-skilled pilot out there who might think he can get away with low altitude rolls and such, just so he can claim the latest "Cool Post of the Day" on YouTube. I think we ALL have to be concerned about that.
I LOVE the video -- I really do. I just don't like what it encourages.
Fly safe out there.