Tough topic, especially when you know the person involved and witnessed the accident. Be well Juan. My heart feels heavy for the loss and the pain everyone is going through.

Retired crop duster here. A really good exercise for all pilots is to go up to a safe altitude and stall the aircraft and DON’T recover right away. Keep the stick back in your lap and control all the wing drops with your rudder. Gives you experience that might have saved a life in this case.

Thank you, Juan. Your humanity and professionalism are kept in proper balance. May Tom RIP.

Having flown 1,000's of hours in a C-140, I can tell you they (all planes really) are like rattlesnakes, they do not cause problems as long as you "understand" their nature, and while flying never look away...they always bite when you are least expecting it.

knew tom since I was 15 years old. he was a great friend, mentor, and pilot. he will be missed.

You said that Tom was a fast burner but unfortunately he lacked flying basics. He lacked situational awareness by cutting the pattern short behind an aircraft that he knew had a substantially slower stall speed than the aircraft he was flying. You are exactly right about operating an aircraft in the area of Reverse effect of control. When a wing drops when operating that close to the critical angle of attack it needs to be raised by rudder NOT aileron. If you use aileron then instead of raising the dropped wing you will cause it to stall out! Classic Falling Leaf practice that the 140 does beautifully. This is what happened to Tom. Tom's very first recovery should have been to 1) reduce his angle of attack and 2) use left rudder. If you are going to attempt this level of flying then you need to be acutely aware of that situation and the only way to do that is by extensive practice of stall and recovery and NOT using your ailerons. Unfortunately, with the proper inputs, Tom had the altitude to recover. Hopefully, for those who desire to fly their aircraft in this flight envelope, they will learn by Tom's mistakes and go out and get to know their airplane intimately at that very critical airspeed. When we were young we were taught to be afraid of the Boogeyman. Unfortunately in aviation today the Boogeyman is Stalls. If we were to return to the days of flight training of way back when then the pilot won't be terrified of a stalling the airplane as they are now. If you get a PPL in Canada, Jamaica or South Africa, Spins are in the syllabus. I've been giving Spin Endorsements for over 30 years and I use a Cessna 150. Why a 150? Because that's the type of airplane that the CFI Candidate will be teaching in and it builds confidence in that airplane. The typical thrill ride in an Extra 300 is an injustice the CFI Candidate. At least 50% of the candidates that come to me have never experienced a full power on or power off stall! REALLY? And they're going to be Instructors? This is why during my Endorsements I also do extensive work in power on and off stalls, Falling Leaf, Dutch Rolls and what I call the "Stupid Student" power on stalls where the typical student doesn't use right rudder but uses right aileron and end up in a left hand spin. They then go full right aileron and full up elevator and end up in the "Pilot Fetal Position"! I apologize for my rant but I'm desperately passionate about the lack of emphasis on the simple aviation basics in the training environment of today. We're producing flying Robots that aren't being taught to think and fly...

Juan, when you mention the reaction to use aileron to lift the falling wing, I guess it is instinct. When I learned in a Lucsombe 50 years ago, my CFI believed instinct was not what he was counting on. He said, "this is what to do". And I believed it! Just did what he SAID. Soon after, my first job in Alaska flying low and slow counting salmon, I got the Super Cub too slow and dropped a wing. 75ft. AGL. I immediately unloaded the wings, full throttle and flew it out of the bad maneuver. Changed my underwear later and reflected on early advice. Angle of attack ( which seemed mysterious at the time) was what my CFI harped on. I guess he saved my bacon that day. I won't criticize this deceased pilot, just note that flying is unforgiving. You absolutely DO what works, not what you instinctively feel. RIP sir.

Prayers for Tom and his family. I have flown as a Commercial Pilot since 1968. Retired now but I don’t consider a 500 hour pilot experienced, just has some experience, two different things.

Tough briefing Juan but we appreciate your information it may help avoid another accident in this type of event.

Thank you Juan, A thoughtful synopsis of a terrible accident.

True to form, "there are old pilots and bold pilots...". Thanks to you Juan, Dan and the other old hawks who try to keep those young less experienced chicks alive for free. God bless you guys

To all those saying that STOL is asking for this kind of incident: You clearly didn't watch to the end. As Juan says, the proper way to do these STOL maneuvers is to fly at approach speed until you are in (or nearly in) ground effect, then bring the speed back to execute your short landing roll. Similar with takeoff: you rotate and lift off as slow as possible, then lower the nose, accelerate, and climb away at Vx or Vy. If flown that way, the risks are no more extreme than many others we accept in everyday life. The issue here was that planes with different approach speed were operating with limited spacing in the same pattern, so the C140 was well below its approach speed trying to maintain spacing, and _then_ tried to maneuver. Nothing fundamentally unsafe about the event. Just poor sequence and unfortunate decision making once the spacing got too short.

I got really familiar with the notion of "Decreasing Headwind Shear" from back in 1991. I was flying out of Atlantic City from Bader Field and strong winds were coming off the ocean from the East. We lined up for runway 11 with a couple tall casinos in our path to the ocean. We saw the departing Cessna climb a few hundred feet and then he inexplicitly descended quite rapidly. He then banked hard to the South, and then hard to the East over Atlantic Ave I believe, where he made his way out over the boardwalk and beyond. We tried to reach them on Unicom but got no answer. We eventually finished the runup and departed the same runway. Then at 350ft or thereabouts the stall warning horn blared, our airspeed dropped by almost 30kts, so we pushed the nose over, turned to the South, and then to the East and over the boardwalk. We happened to have entered the Dead-Zone where the wind from the Ocean side was essentially blocked by the casinos as we got closer and closer to them and the boardwalk. Nothing left to do but push the nose over, get some speed, and navigate around the buildings to the South. There were Notams about wind shear, but I was a new pilot and didn't really have a deep understanding of how big a factor that change in direction of wind, or in our case, the complete disappearance of wind could be. Lesson learned!

My deepest condolences to Tom's family and friends. But thank you Juan for stepping up and explaining things in such a great way. If it can help prevent this kind of thing from happening again I'm sure Tom and his family would want others to learn from this.

Operating behind the power curve is kind of a scary place to be having “fun” on a gusty day. I didn’t realize the pilot didn’t make it until I read the comments. 😱 OMG! The last video you did everyone was having fun. So sad. My sincere condolences. Thanks for the video Juan! This information might just help somebody in the future. 👍

I lost a friend in a similar accident. Thanks for sharing so that others might avoid the same type of accident. Hang in there Juan! It really hits home when the FAA asks for a statement.

Thanks Juan, I appreciate you and your reporting on this tragic turn of events. My youngest son is a USAF fighter pilot and also the proud owner of a 1946 Cessna C140. I'll send him this report and let him digest it and add to his knowledge base. Keep up the good work and time you put into keeping everyone up to speed on these untimely and tragic events.

Looks like a classic pilot error accident. Back when I was instructing I "knew" 500 hours of flight time to be the very most dangerous. Enough experience to think you're good, but not enough to have great judgment. He made 2 critical failures. 1. Not maintaining proper airspeed, and apparently, 2. not knowing that aircraft control in a stall is a rudder problem until airspeed is restored.

Thanks for the update , basics can never be emphasized enough . Condolences to the family.

Having owned C120 with a C-85 engine I wouldn't dream of doing STOL in that thing. Good, basic aircraft.

Good analysis. The use of rudder at low speed stalls situations and the adverse effects of aileron use is not often taught in GA training. ... in my opinion.

Juan, this had to be one of the toughest videos you have done. Hopefully explaining as you have done with stall spins you will as you have done in the past continue to save many lives. I know you have made me a better pilot. Thank you.

Induced drag is not specifically from wingtip vortices but from throwing less air downwards faster as you slow down. To stay aloft the momentum of the air thrown downwards has to stay constant, but as the amount of air you hit gets reduced by reduced speed, you have to throw that air downwards faster. Energy of the thrown air goes like the square of its velocity, so increases with lower speed, and that energy shows up via the Navier Stokes equations as increased drag on the airplane, growing like the (the reciprocal of) the cube of the velocity, so in short very fast as you slow down. Wingtip vortices are just one spectacular way that the lost energy persists to be seen, but most of it is just air thrown downwards, which produces no particular visible effects. If you want to capture a bird in a room, just keep him flying by prodding with a stick wherever he lands, and he'll fall to the floor exhausted in short order. It takes huge amounts of energy to fly slowly. The same bird flies continental distances at higher speed.

Man.. what a tragedy. I know his family is going through the ringer right now. Hopefully they are getting support. I can’t imagine.

I’m going to hug my kid especially tight tonight. Tom’s 5 kids missing their dad and after another elementary school shooting this afternoon in TX, a dozen or so parents will be missing their kids.

This was difficult to watch and I know it was terrible to experience Juan. I'm glad you took a couple days before posting this video, and I'm glad you did your best to turn it into a teachable moment.

As always, thanks Juan. Stunning how quickly the stall-spin developed and how futile recovery efforts prove to be at low altitude. Little margin for error when you’re flying on the edge. Angel’s Wings Tom, RIP.

My thoughts go out to his family, and his friends in the aviation community who witnessed this tragic event.

Thanks Juan. Condolences to all for such a tragic loss.

Hang glider pilot here. Basically every landing I do is a STOL. I don't have wheels! The description Juan gave is perfect for how I approach a landing. Come in with speed, get into ground effect, allow the aircraft to bleed off speed, gradually increasing aoa until a final flare at the end coming to a dead stop, where I extend the gear. Wind gradients and gusts are much more of an issue for an aircraft that stalls at maybe 12 knots. If it's blowing 25 knts at 100ft, and 5 knts on the ground, which is not uncommon, you need to have some airspeed on hand to cope with that, despite the very gentle stall characteristics of a swept wing with large washout.

Great report Juan! My heart goes out to the Pilot's Family, you, and all others who witnessed this tragic event! Let's hope this will be a tragedy that others will learn from and prevent future accidents in STOL competitions and flying in general! There is a wife without a husband and 5 children without a Father, such a sad ending.

I was fortunate enough to have instructors driving the point home that rudder is your best friend in this circumstance, not aileron. One exercise we did was establishing a dead-stick descent with no hands on the column and using the rudder to do the work - all the way to landing. Point made! Condolences at the loss of your friend, to his family, and the flying community.

Devastating for the Dagon family. Our thoughts and prayers with you all. Juan, our thoughts are with you too, having witnessed the accident. We all know and love your passion for aviation and flying so know it’s tough on you too. Some effective learnings to come from this tragedy for sure that will make future events safer for all.

Thank you for the visual explanation (graphic) for this non-flyer. I hate to hear about the tragic events, but I appreciate how you use it as a teaching moment.

What is significant to point out is, when flying on the backside of the power curve, is speed instability. When the speed drops off slightly, more power must be added immediately to keep that speed (as power required is higher for the lower speed for level flight). Reversely; if the speed increases the aircraft will accelerate further as less power required for increased speed. Typically, at the backside of the power curve, part of the wing has separated airflow already. This means that you have to be on top of the game with power, in order to keep a certain speed. One moment of distraction and you’re falling out of the sky. This event looks like that’s what happened (traffic in front of him). The slope of the backside of the power curve is strongly related to wing aspect ratio’s. A high performance glider has a short steep backside in which it is virtually impossible to fly without breaking a stall and delta wings have long, manageable backsides in which manual flight can be conducted with relative ease. I flew for years seat of the pants without knowing this until I found out during my aeronautics college flight performance classes

That little Cessna has flown for safely for 76 years and they went down. Not its falt, just as no gun jumps up and shoots people.

Oh, dude. Kudos for bringing us this story and analysis. It couldn't have been easy.

This must have been hard for you to produce having been there in person. Having witnessed a few near misses and one near-fatal/serious injury collision I know how absolutely heart-stopping it is to watch and not be able to help.

Someone on another analysis of this by a STOL knowledgeable commentator said he didn't see an s-turn. I thought the analysis was spot on, aligning with yours. And you saw it happen.

Juan, This must have been an especially difficult video for you to make, given the circumstances. Thanks for the education and for helping others understand what happened from an eyewitness point of view.

Tragic loss I live in Wayne and love to see this event every year, prayers to the family and all of you in the flying community

You assessment is 100% correct in my opinion. In 1975 I received my license in El Paso, TX after flying 40 hours in a 1964 Cessna 150. Recognizing the landing gear configuration difference between the 150 and the 140, virtually all other aspects of the planes are the same, with handling being predictably the similar. I went on during the next year to fly another 110 hours in that plane. During the 1st 40 hour period, my CFI wanted me to demonstrate certain things the plane just wouldn't do if the relative wind were 20mph or higher. One of them was a power on stall. You can disagree all you want, but that particular plane simply wouldn't stall with a no flap, full power departure configuration flying into the wind. We were almost vertical and she just hung on the prop. Instead of reducing power, which would have been the better way to demonstrate the stall, he asked to drop a wing (I had practiced this many times before and learned the hard way "not" to do this). I gave him my opinion, but he insisted. I left full power in and slightly lowered the left wing. She still wouldn't stall. He asked me to lower the wing even more (I hate to say I told you so). I lowered the wing more, then suddenly the top wing stalled. When it stalled, the plane flipped instantly on its back as the starboard wing rolled over the top. This makes me sound like the self-proclaimed "big guy" which I'm not. Because it happened so fast, I just let the plane flip over, went wings level, lowered the nose (we had plenty of altitude), then applied power and slowly pulled out of the stall. After that, we abandoned power-on stalls and instead reduced power and practiced "what you should do" if you're going to hold a stall in this plane. As the buffet occurs and you feel the onset of the stall, you use "only opposite rudder" which pushes the tail in the direction of the stalling wing and eliminates (usually) the stall from occurring. Then you proceed with conventional recovery. One of my better experiences with this plane was another Cessna 150 pilot with hundreds of hours in his plane. He asked if I had ever "backed" the plane across a road while in flight. I just looked at him. He took the controls (average West Texas day, clear with a 15-20 knot breeze) slowed the plane into the wind, added flaps to match the air speed, and got the speed to a point I had not witnessed before. While recognizing we were crazy slow, my question was, how can you prove you are backing up. He said "look at our shadow on the ground". Sure enough, the shadow on the ground traveled backwards very slowly across a road. Next time I'll tell you about flying into the massive crater just West of El Paso. Also about flying natural gas pipeline inspection in West Texas.

Like Dan Gryder said, it’s not how slow can you go, it’s how slow should you go? Sad story.

God Bless Tom's family and friends on this terrible accident. Thank You Juan for this Heart felt video.

Juan, I respect what you and your colleagues do with the aviation community. You may wish to amend your recommendation of practicing stalls at slow speed to indicate that these practice stalls should be done at sufficient altitudes to allow safe and practical recovery. I pay my respects to all involved with this tragic incident.

I've been waiting to hear your report Juan. Thanks, this had to be tough. A sad day.

I remember you remarking on the stol pilots getting into these habits. it saddens me you perfectly predicted this happening. it shows your extensive body of knowledge.

I just learned the STOL takeoff and landings when crash occurred were not part of the STOL DRAG COMPETITION event that had been cancelled. Apparently The crash occurred when pilots had nothing to do so the pilots decided they wanted to go flying in a STOL demonstration. That means the STOL Demonstration was just a bunch of pilots flying at an uncontrolled field with no one in Charge therefore no one was responsible for crash except each pilot being responsible for their own safety

As always, excellent great video on a terrible tragedy. I wasn't there, but would have if I could have... those pilots are my brothers and friends. Thank you!

Thank you for you clear and concise reporting of the C140 crash, and also for your heartfelt stumble on the previous video about them and probable density altitude cause of the crash .

Condolences to all involved. I live not far from Wayne and saw this on the news and wondered if you were still there when it happened. Thanks for sharing this difficult report.

I know this was a tuff video to produce. Your all in with STOL events like Valdez, AK, Oshkosh and the Reno Air Races. This is a sad situation because it happened in the traffic pattern. Tom probably misjudged the speed of the Zenith on final. I'm guessing pulled power back, brought the nose up and tried to hold altitude. The classic textbook entry. You need to ADD power to keep your airspeed. Banking will increase stall speed. If you enter a stall, unload the wings. Add full power and level the wings. In Aerobatics we teach P. A. R. E for spin recovery. P - Power Idle A - Ailerons neutral R - Rudder FULL opposite spin direction E - Elevator Neutral

As a former C-120 driver and maybe because I knew the crash was coming his take-off made me cringe. Showboating??? Anyway, the video of his final approach (new meaning given) will be studied for years to come. I wonder if he had a couple notches of flaps and then dumped them? RIP and condolences to family and friends.

We lost an instructor and student at my flight school in a stall/spin incident, I knew the instructor and still think of her. I gave up flying for a year following that and when I did get back switched flight schools, it’s always tough when this happens to someone you know

Thanks for your perspective and education. I saw the Air Safety Institute video of the crash earlier today. What a shame for his friends and family.

This is a tough one because you not only witnessed it but you knew the pilot. You’re commentary makes everyone better and saves lives. I hope you never forget that Juan. Take care of yourself.

Thanks JB. God Speed Tom. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends, and our aviation community. God Bless --gary

One very important aerodynamic effect which Juan didn't mention in this video is the importance of taking into account wind gradient when descending the last few dozen feet to the runway when on final. Because of ground friction, the speed of the wind is slower near the surface than it is just a couple wingspans up in the air. This means that the airplane is descending through a wind that is continuously decreasing on short final. This decrease acts in the same way as the loss of wind velocity/airspeed when a gust dies or reverts to a slower nominal windspeed after the gust passes. Energy in the form of a particular windspeed is lowered (as far as the wing of the descending airplane is concerned) when the gradient is entered, which could definitely have been the cause of the stall which led to the beginning of the stall/spin. Condolences to everyone involved.

Thank you Juan, these videos never get easier to watch. Your assessment was well said. My heart will always be with those who lose their pilot. It’s hard to tell the ones you love not to do what they love.

Thanks Juan!..very difficult time for friends, thoughts and prayers for the family. The one issue I keep coming back to is training for an event the day before. Realizing that Tom had already received training for STOL Drag,it still seems to me that entrants should already be qualified prior to the event. Not particularly relevant in this accident, but I'm sure there will be a review of regulations and requirements for participants in any future events. Your analysis of this event is ( as always ) professional and concise, Thank you! Blue skies Tom!

Thanks for the explanation Juan. After watching a video of the accident I had questions which you answered. It seems a big takeaway here is not having slower aircraft in front of faster aircraft during STOL events. That seems obvious to me but maybe it wasn’t, until now. This is so tragic but hopefully others will not lose their lives as a result of necessary changes that will be made after this horrible event.

This part about not using the aileron to pick a stalled wing was never mentioned by my instructor. I think new pilots may be learning more from watching this channel than they ever have before.

Great explanation. And yes…. Jerry and the Clemens crew rock

My dad was a veteran light aircraft instructor, learned to fly in 1935 and then instructed in the RAF during WW2 and became an examiner and conducted many instructor courses and was still flying when he was 81. He always said to me that when you're near the ground you were at your most vulnerable in an aircraft. Two ingredients needed to spin i.e stall and yaw. RIP

My thoughts go out to his family. It's also a reminder that the couple in the Williams Arizona accident last year were also flying a Cessna 140 and died in a stall/spin. Maybe just a coincidence. I'm a former Flight Instructor but I haven't flown in 10 years. I had a close call once at the Yosemite /Mariposa? airport on a hot day in an underpowered Piper. Be careful out there.

Juan, Thank you for the straight up analysis of this. I'm afraid we will see more of this, since STOL is so popular. I love it, but, when flying there's certain parameters that can't be challenged. You, make flyers remember that. Just like my teacher. Thank you.

Oh calamity, to hear about the Cessna 140. Serendipitous that the incident is described in front of the Cessna 140's Bigger brother...the Mighty Luscombe..! Wonderful to see the Mighty Luscombe is influencing a younger generation.

My heart goes out to Tom's family. I went to Aviation Maintenance College with him. He was a super nice guy 🥺

It's so hard to hear this stuff. Tom was a friend of mine, and my supervisor for almost 9 years. The last time I saw him, he came by to visit our service center for the last time before he took a new job. I didn't know this is what he was up to, and it looks like he was quite busy at it. My thoughts and prayers are with the family. He was a good man, and we'll miss him.

Thanks Juan. Love and sympathy to the family.

Failure to aviate. And I pay attention to this stuff. Helps my driving.

My Heart is broken for Tom and the family. I recently purchase my dads 1946 C-140, that he soloed in 1958, I don't think I have ever flown with dad and he didn't tell me Rudder, Rudder, Rudder. My eyes and feet are much more aware now. Tom fly into the heavens and give God a flight lesson.

Many Prayers for the Family of Tom, his wife, and those beautiful children.

Flying is about mitigating risk. These events are great fun to watch , and I’m sure even more fun to fly it. They in no way mitigate risk. They accept a higher level of risk as compared to non-completion flying. That is the decision of the competitors. Truly the only ones that can answer the question of “is this worth it to accept the higher risk level” , are the competitors … until an accident happens. At that point , sadly the question falls to the family and friends left behind. As much as I would enjoy watching and/or participating…. I have to think my personal choice is….No. Flying is serious business with serious consequences. It need to be treated as such. The more of a game it becomes , the higher the risk levels accepted , the more tragedies will occur. Everyone has their own take , accepts their own risks levels , and takes the chance of dealing with their own consequence. My biggest concern is “normalization of deviance” as new , young , up and coming low time pilots see this kind of event and take away that it’s “normal” flying and no big deal. It is not. It is high performance flying with serious consequences for lack of experience, judgment , or simply just bad luck. This is a tragedy beyond words. My heart goes out to all his family and friends.

During my biennial flight review in my Cessna 150, we practiced something called the falling leaf maneuver. The airplane is flown into a power off stall with the elevator in full up. Do not recover from the stall- maintain power at idle and full up elevator. Keep the wings level using only the rudder for several seconds. This requires quick rudder input to maintain wing level and nose straight ahead control. If a wing drops, a spin may result especially if aileron recovery attempted. Lower nose and add power for recovery. This maneuver creates a memory response much like hitting the brakes in a car in an emergency. Try this maneuver with a flight instructor and weight and balance with forward c.g.

Juan - Almost tragic deal at Wawa Ontario in '74. I drove w/Buddy from MI, Cessna 172 Float Plane to Lodge, caught lots of fish, Beaver (luckily) for return to Wawa w/dense fog, in 100% whiteout got clearance from Air Service using engine noise for clearance of hill (mountain?) to settle/land. I not pilot but seated in rt seat. Told pilot had passed ground school, but ours said I jumped stretched arm out near to windshield & shouted "Mountain There"! Supposed to be only dense fog there so pilot yelled "Full gas, full flaps, here...take wheel and pull until straight up". Pilot trimmed, adjusted, and coaxed most from Beaver until I said "Straight up Sir"! Pilot grabbed wheel while I said "Sheer rockface 10' below floats". Pilot dam near sht. We were slow but with full power & engine snortin' did continue up short ways until I said "That's it", pilot kicked rudder & w/last air over control surfaces Beaver turned straight down 'till treeline meant Pilot dodged trees until trimmed top off last one and roared up into the safety of the zero visibility fog. Pilot got schtuff back together, went around with new approach, got new more better clearance from Owner of Air Service that had just tried to kill us, and performed perfect landing. I know what you want Juan...what was the cause of the near crash? Well, it was bizarre. On other line Owner had The War Dept, ignored handlers' shouts that sound had went silent (Mountain between Air Service and plane again), but continued to have other cheek ripped off by his Wife, so I suppose the cause would be filed under "Beautiful Beaver nearly lost due to cheek removal by angry Beaver operating remotely"!

You are right about Stall/Spins, I learned to fly in the early 1970’s at a Piper Flight Center. The Instructor & I would spin the Cherokee 140, do a full Stall and Right or Left Aileron, the 140 would break into a Spin…

In everything new there are many aspects that need to be perfected. I hope to see the ideas & changes that might come from this tragedy to keep STOL going. TY Juan for the time you put into these videos & all videos about aviation. As for me & not being a manned aircraft pilot it is very educational in learning & understanding aviation. I'll never be manned aircraft pilot, I'm too old & my health would never allow it. Juan you have brought an interest & a want for the knowledge. I have to say Juan you have some very good knowledge & is wonderful that you share it. My condolences to Tom's family & friends....

For those arguing about if a 140 is a STOL aircraft, STOL is relative. The 140 might be considered to be a good STOL airplane compared to something heavier and faster, while it is not great compared to a super light Zenith or custom Cub that is designed for competitions. A way better and more relevant event would be STOL contests between similar-performing aircraft. A STOL contest between 140s would actually be fun and interesting, not to mention, in hindsight, safer.

This is so sad, I’m not an expert, barely know what an airplane is, but to me Tom was a great and hard working pilot who flew his airplane on final until to end where it wasn’t flyable anymore due to, in my humble opinion lack of space Don’t you think that a good way to honor him, his family and his great efforts to stay in the air, would be for the organizers of these events to create or implement a rule, something like the Tom’s Rule, where the fastest airplanes go first and the slowest and more powerful ones at the end of the pack, like leading from the back. From the distance I could see that Tom loved flying, my condolences to his family Be strong Thanks you Juan for your content and for sharing your inside knowledge of this wonderful family activity I believe that people like you help keep it safer

I learned to fly in a C150. It has a very nasty habit of quickly dropping a wing during a full stall. My instructor would punch me in the arm every time I tried using the ailerons instead of the rudder for stall recovery. After a few sore arms, I learned my lesson. Using the rudder is a must. A very sad accident that shouldn't have happened.

well done Juan. such a tragic loss for a beautiful family. Deepest sympathies to them and loved ones.

From my knowledge & experience with the 140, it wasn't designed to be a STOL aircraft and should not be flown as such. Great for conventional T/O & Landing.

"Thou Shall Watch Thou Airspeed or the Earth Shall Rise Up and Smite Thee." Taught to me by a pilot who flew C-47'S over the Hump in WWII.

Having taught STOL techniques for years, I am encouraged that these events will highlight good technique. Good takeoff technique, as you just said, is to get into low ground effect as soon as possible (that is how they are graded) and stay as low with the fuselage level as possible for as long as possible or at least until zoom reserve airspeed that allows maneuvering flight or even short duration climb with engine failure (that is what is not happening.) Good landing technique, as you just said, is to fly a stabilized approach at more than stall speed out of ground effect followed by a power/pitch deceleration coming into high ground effect. STOL, which understands that the airplane will fly slower than Vso in ground effect, is targeting the speed at which the wing will stall in low ground effect. Going behind the power curve, not necessary in that headwind condition, will allow the wing to fly at less than Vso out of ground effect with the throttle closed. That is why we must pitch to decelerate to the point of sink (not necessarily behind the power curve) in order to bring dynamic throttle into very effective glide angle and rate of descent control. This dynamic throttle control, in strong balloon closed and then adjust or in rapid sink to the firewall and then adjust, is what makes adding airspeed in gusts not necessary. Just a bit of dynamic throttle was necessary with those winds. Finally, and most importantly, with even 50' of vertical space available (400' was available) insisting on a level turn, teaching level turns in the maneuvering flight world, is counter-productive. We are teaching pilots of small airplanes, the planes most train in, to stall when startled in a turn. It makes so much more safety sense to teach pilots (outside the high altitude and flight by instruments world) to release back pressure in all turns (muscle memory). Releasing back pressure allows the designed to not stall airplane not to stall in startle or inattention of pilots turns. The airplane cannot stall itself. A pilot pulling back on the yoke is necessary to cause stall. The critical angle of attack is not why it happens, but rather when it happens. I very much appreciate your videos, Juan. I apologize for the long STOL technique lesson, but I think it is an important one for all pilots. I think the basic low ground effect takeoff and deceleration using the apparent rate of closure (power/pitch) are safer techniques than what are presently Airmen Certification Standards. My condolences to the family, but STOL isn't what got a good pilot. Muscle memory for pulling back on the yoke in the turn did. He made that turn as taught. Unfortunately he got startle close and there was no instruction in allowing the airplane to do what it was designed to do in a 1g turn of any bank angle. Muscle memory cannot do the math so the 1g at any bank is safer.

A lot of chatter around the web regarding this accident. Firstly, here's a man who seemingly had EVERYTHING. A beautiful wife, five beautiful children, a successful business and a successful career.... and a beautiful vintage airplane. For some reason he chose to compete in these STOL competitions alongside actual STOL designed aircraft. Admittedly, these skills are useful and valuable in back country aviation, so one can understand why a pilot would want to hone and practice such maneuvers. BUT... when you weigh that against a family life with six loving people who depend on you and need you as a Husband and Father, it begs the question why one would risk that in dangerous competition. Some would say it was ego and hubris. Over confidence, perhaps. But.... whatever the underlying reason, it is all moot now - Tom Dafoe is dead and his airplane smashed, and more importantly his wonderful family is left bereft and wondering what the future holds without him. All is a skinny instant. God Speed Dafoe family. Namaste'

You do so much good. Those of us who are mostly earthbound (think of us as aviator fan boys) seldom recognize the mathematical complexity involved in aviation, even in a small craft. You chop it into bite sized pieces that help us understand.

I think we are in a similar situation that auto racing was in the 1950s and 60s which is not much consideration given for pilot safety in a crash. I don't know why someone would take a plane that is out of place for this type of event (in my humble opinion) and try to compete with planes designed to fly at a much slower speed safely. It was obvious that the 140 was too close to the plane ahead when on final. Prayers for all involved including you Juan.

very tuff topic, and your discussion brought back a lot of how I used to land back in the early '70s with my Piper PA-22-160 + McAllen Gullwing Tips. I lived in West Texas NW of Borger, and the winds were fairly stable "most of the time". Prayers for Tom's family and how things were handled after the incident.

Thank you for the update! It had to be a difficult video for you to make witnessing it first hand. My previous comments in no way had/have any reflection on you or the STOL community. I have seen way to many times people jump to conclusions that creates a lot of other issues for the affected family and the flying community! Thanks for everything you do!

Glad you took time on this. We look to you for this.

The right wing was shaded because he wasn’t crabbed into the left cross wind… The stall warning horn is on the left wing (the wind was keeping good air flow over the left wing, no stall warning) The right wing likely gave a stall buffet as the first indication of a stall. He tried to correct the stall with ailerons… that just made it a snap stall spin. Crabbing matters… and correcting a stalled wing with ailerons can exceed the critical angle of attack causing a snap stall spin. Ouch… Lesson to be learned here, more than just following to close.

Blessings to Tom’s family.

Really had to concentrate to hear the difference between "STOL" and "stall". At first I thought Juan was talking about a "stall demonstration".

Sorry for the loss of your aviation colleague , Juan as always you explain the details with great expertise keep the great work up and stay safe👍👍

This STOL contest (how slow can you fly without falling out of the sky) is like playing chicken with head -on cars or seeing how long you can hold your breath under water. Some contests are just obsolete.

Juan, Something I noticed in the video of the crash that AOPA provided; at the point just prior to the stall/spin, the aircraft starts to accumulate a sink rate. The net effect of this increasing sink rate is a shift in the apparent wind in relation to the chord line of the wing. As the aircraft starts to sink at a low airspeed, the AOA is increased as the apparent wind moves down. This means the airplanes attitude hasn't changed, yet you are approaching critical AOA. In many cases the airspeed will not change, and the pilot will not realize the AOA is changing. This is why an AOA indicator is such a good tool, it measures AOA not airspeed.

Your intern has an opportunity of a lifetime in the palm of his hand. I sincerely hope he has the drive and inherent talent to take full advantage of the blessing he has of being mentored by you. He's hit the lottery in my opinion.

This is very sad for everyone, especially his family, a great guy, your friend, and he is terrifyingly gone in an instant. I can see the sight picture from the small cockpit as the wing drops, and the nose follows and the ground begins to turn. I can vividly remember from spin training in a Cessna 150 about 50 years ago. I remember thinking, "will you look at those cows in that pasture going around in circles!" What bothers me is the tendency for good, confident, always capable pilots to push it just a little too far. This accomplished pilot was behind a slower plane, so he pushed it just a little slower. He knew the danger, but he just edged a little closer to the danger. Or the accomplished medivac pilots in the Lear Jet returning to their home field on a stormy night a bit to low and a bit too close to the runway on a circle to land approach who pushed the turn just a little steeper. Or the beautiful young package delivery pilot in the Cessna Caravan on approach in the snow storm at Burley, Idaho who pushed it just a little lower. In the military I think the young pilots may become better or the best by pushing it, like the Navy fighter pilots at Star Wars Canyon, but for us civilian pilots, let's all try not to "push it."

My sincere condolences to their families. And thank you a lot for explaining the various dangerous points, that we as pilots need to keep due attention to.