REFLECTOR: On Mack Murphree

Terry Miles terrence_miles at hotmail.com
Sun Aug 24 13:31:00 CDT 2008


To All,

 

Captain Mack Murphree was a good friend of mine too.  It has to be 25 or 30
years now.  We worked at together at both Flying Tiger and later FedEx and
then we lost track of each other with retirement.  

He called me the very day he saw my name on the Reflector as a new builder.
That's the kind of guy he was.  

 

I remember flying with him too in both the DC-8 and the B-747.  He would
come down to the hotel lobby 5 minutes before "show time," and there would a
two cups of coffee just waiting for you as you went to check out.and the
same would be true after hours with the first round of beer.  That's the
kind of guy he was.  

 

I was stupid enough to land gear up in the early going of my own first 40
hours.  He called to offer encouragement and support, later to check on my
progress.  That's the kind of guy he was.  

 

We all know as builders that there are meager resources out there beyond
Sebastian when you get stuck, and so we turn to each other.  Some builders
are pretty group-aware and helpful, others don't have time to dig back in
there own notes and references to help the next fellow past a hurdle you
recall tripping over yourself.  I am guilty of that.  Mack had his own
style, and methods and choices, but he would share. He would help.  That's
what he was doing the day he died, because that's the kind of guy he was.

 

When I get to heaven and I check to see if there is a room for me, I expect
he will be there at the counter with a big smile and with a glass of
Guinness in each hand.  

   

With a deep sadness,

Terry

 

  _____  

From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Chuck
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2008 12:36 AM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Velocity crash

 

Scott, Steve called me to tell me the sad news. I don't really know the
details other than he was helping out a guy (?) who was trying to get his
plane flying again (supposedly had 5 hrs). It ran up fine on the ground, but
lost power shortly after takeoff. The FAA/NTSB is doing an investigation,
but nothing has been released yet that I'm aware of.

 

As we all know Mack, was a great pilot and very knowledgeable Velocity
builder, so it had to be something that was unusual to cause this tragedy.
Steve and family are pretty broken up as you might imagine. 

 

 

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Scott Baker <mailto:sbakr at comcast.net>  

To: Velocity <mailto:reflector at tvbf.org>  Aircraft Owners and Builders list 

Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2008 2:30 PM

Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Velocity crash

 

Chuck,

Details about the accident in the press are lacking.  I along with everyone
at Velocity are holding our collective breaths, wondering and fearing who
was the pilot in the accident.

Please fill us in on what you have learned - and what information discloses
Mac as the pilot.  He is a dear friend.  My heart aches.

Best,

Scott B.

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Chuck <mailto:c.harbert1 at verizon.net>  

To: Velocity <mailto:reflector at tvbf.org>  Aircraft Owners and Builders list 

Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2008 1:53 PM

Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Velocity crash

 

It was Mack Murphree flying someones plane. He lost power very shortly after
takeoff and radioed that he was going down trying to miss the houses. 

 

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: NMFlyer1 at aol.com 

To: reflector at tvbf.org 

Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2008 9:13 AM

Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Velocity crash

 

Doug, 

 

I agree with your angle, but for now (as was proven in California) they can
not limit experimentals per se. 

 

There is always a way to tweak the rules though, and run off those
considered "undesirable". For example, at the Albuquerque international
Sunport (KABQ), they have kicked out many of the small piston GA aircraft.
They have done this by taking back the leases where the hangars were, in
favor of building larger corporate, turbine and jet facilities. They have
also raised gas fees to almost 7 bucks a gallon, and charge a 20 dollar ramp
fee if you shut down the engines on their ramp. 

 

They can not, however (yet), tell experimental aircraft that they can not go
there. It would be a violation of the Grant program that funds the airport.
Yes, I suppose enough smoke can be raised that would cause those in power to
try and accomplish such an act, but luckily the FAA has not put up with that
yet. 

 

I believe that correct and complete information (not inflammatory media
coverage) should be used. For example, there are 57 accidents listed before
this one at the VGT airport. Of those, 4 were experimental (none fatal). 

using the same broad category, 31 of the accidents were Cessnas, with 4
fatal. 

 

Yes I know there is a gross use imbalance here, but for purposes of
illustration, it shows that you really should not single out one unfortunate
accident and expect to "save the world" as the media and politicians try to
do. 

 

Kurt 

 

 






  _____  


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