Sad news. The definitive Tomcat pilot and all around great aviator....
Sad news. The definitive Tomcat pilot and all around great aviator. https://theaviationgeekclub.com/dale-snort-snodgrass-legendary-us-navy-f-14-tomcat-pilot-killed-in-in-the-crash-of-a-siai-marchetti-sm-1019/
Incredibly ironic that a Master Pilot with thousands of hours in high performance warplanes and over a thousand carrier traps is killed in what amounts to an L-19 at a small airport in Idaho… What on earth could have happened??? “Fate is the Hunter”… Ernest Gann
"It matters not who you are and what you have done. It only matters that your time has come."......Robert Parks, 2021
I think his last recorded transmission was something along the lines of "aghh, ****, ****", which could mean several different things. However, he departed at mid field and still crashed before the end of the runway which makes your premise quite possible.
I will take the liberty of copying from an email by one of his former flying buddies: A Minute of Silence the World of Aviation Lost a Legend. Capt. Dale “Snort” Snodgrass Legendary Grumman F-14 Tomcat Pilot in the US Navy & Air Show Performer. A Real TOP GUN One of the first two Navy Flight School Graduates to be Selected for F-14 Tomcat Training. Navy’s Fighter Pilot of the Year in 1985. Selected by Grumman Aerospace as “TOPCAT OF THE YEAR” Best F-14 Tomcat Pilot in 1986. The Highest Flight Time F-14 Pilot in history, 4,900 Hours 7,800 hours in Fighters 1,287 Carrier Arrested Landings. 12 operational Fighter Squadron/Wing tours. Navy Fighter Weapons School Graduate and Instructor (TOPGUN). Date of Designation: December 1973 Dates of Active Duty: August 1972 – June 1999 26 Years of Decorated Naval Service. Capt Snort was awarded honors including a Bronze Star for Leadership and Valor. Awards: 3 Legion of Merit for superior performance in positions of great responsibility. 1 Bronze Star for Leadership and Valor during Desert Storm. 3 Meritorious Service for exceptional service in the position of Senior Leadership. 3 Air Medal for Valor during Desert Storm, (1) Strike. 3 Navy Commendation Medal, Various Service and Campaign Ribbons and Award. Combat Tours: January - February 1991. During “Operation Desert Storm” Capt Snort was Commanding Officer of Fighter Squadron 33 (VF-33), USS America, leading 34 combat missions (F-14), as Overall Strike or Fighter Lead. In September 1994 he became Commander Fighter Wing US Atlantic Fleet, Commander of (14), US Navy F-14 Tomcats Squadrons totaling over 300 aircraft and 5,000 personal until 1997. Commands: CO VF-33, November 1989-February 1991 Commander Fighter Wing Atlantic, August 1994-January 1997 Duty Assignment Chronology: Flight Training Pensacola, FL., Student Naval Aviator. Sep-Dec 1972 VT-23 / VT-21 Kingsville, TX., Student Naval Aviator. Jan-Dec 1973 VF-126, Instrument Instructor Pilot. Jan-Jun 1974 VF-124, FRS Student. June 1974-March 1975 VF-142, First tour Pilot. April 1975-May 1978 VF-101, Instructor Pilot and Landing Signal Officer (LSO). June 1978-June 1981 CVW-8. LSO. July 1981-July 1983 VF-43, Operations Officer. August 1983-December 1985 VF-101, Re-currency training. December 1985-February 1986 VF-143, Operations Officer/Maintenance Officer. February 1986-February 1988 VF-101, Executive Officer. (XO). March 1988-December 1988 VF-33, XO/ Commanding Officer. January 1989-February 1991 USS Theodore Roosevelt, Navigator. March 1991-March 1993 OPNAV N88, Training Aircraft Requirements Branch Head. April 1993-April 1994 COMFITWINGLANT, Commander April 1994-January 1997 Head OLA - Head US House of Representatives Office. February 1997-June 1999 12 years flying the Grumman F-14 Tomcat for the US Navy Tomcat Demostration Team within the airshow circuit dating from 1985 to 1997, reaching 400 military demonstration flights, this being an unprecedented record number of Demo flights representing the US Navy. In his retirement, Capt Snodgrass would go on to fly some of the world's most legendary aircraft on the air show circuit: F-86 Sabre Mig 15 ***ot Mig 17 Fresco L-39 Albatross MS760 Paris Jet P-51 Mustang F4-U Corsair P-40 Warhawk T-6/SNJ Texan/Harvard 8KCAB Super Decathlon Due to his vast experience in formation flights, in 2011 he was designated the only pilot approved to fly in both the Air Force Heritage Flight Program and the Navy Legacy Flight Program, which made him in the one of only nine civilian USAF Heritage Pilots. Chief Pilot and a founding member of DRAKEN INTERNATIONAL, the famous commercial adversary service provider. Famously photographed in a knife edge pass close to the USS America aircraft carrier in 1988. At 12:11 p.m. last Saturday 24 of July 2021, a small plane crash at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport in Idaho, for those who knew the registration or tail number they knew it was Capt. Dale O. “Snort” Snordgrass plane a Yellow SIAI-Marchetti SM.1019 an Italian STOL liaison monoplane built for the Italian Army, and based on the Cessna O-1 Bird Dog, who was also distinguished by the Korean War era VF-33 Tarsiers patch featuring "Minky", a Tarsier monkey in the tail of the aircraft. The squadron called themselves at that time the "Tarsiers", which was a fierce monkey. The squadron affectionately called their Tarsier "Minky". In 1987, the Squadron VF-33 abandoned "Minky" and changed their name from Tarsiers to Starfighters, which was their radio callsign. The new patch featured a large star with a head-on view of a Tomcat, from January 1989 to February of 1991, Comander Snodgrass, was VF-33 Starfighters, XO/Commanding Officer. I am honored to have known Captain Snodgrass and having seen him fly the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, and many other aircraft in the past years. Born in 1949, Captain Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, left this world at the age of 72 doing what he really liked to do and what he most enjoyed in his life "Flying". Courage and strength in this difficult moment of life for those who knew him most closely in the Tomcat Community for his distinguished and appreciative family, especially for his wife Cynthia Snodgrass, for his colleagues in his professional military carrer in the Navy, and for his civilian colleagues after his retirement and for his great friends. The loss of this Great Pilot is the return of a Giant and Beautiful Angel who will Reinforce the Sky with his Greatness. “Fair Winds and Following Seas" All my respect for you Sir.
Yea, that's the data I was working with. Looking at the plane, being a turboprop stol, and it's relatively short distance of flight that was my best guess. Hope we all get go doing what we love!
Amazing that not only was he a great fighter pilot, but also surface navy qualified to act as the navigator on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
BUT, even if a departure stall at high AOA we'll have to see if the NTSB can determine an actual cause. Could have been engine/design related, e.g. loss of fuel flow. I hope he was unconscious after impact.
Sad news. I had fun flying T-28s with Snort at the KSBM formation clinic 2 years ago just before Oshkosh. Good dude.
Having been in 4 high impact incidents I can verify that you don't feel or realize a thing except a sense of over powering energy. The hurt comes when you regain consciousness and then shock sets in. Airplanes and motorcycles can be dangerous at times. That must be why I'm so goofy now.
I mentioned unconsciousness because the engine compartment and cabin were engulfed in fire for over 5 minutes.
. The plane immediately and smoothly arcs up upon take-off. Nothing sudden or jerky. (turn sound on) blancolirio - some preliminary analysis (turn sound on) .
Without much knowledge about modern airplanes, this looks like locked controls.But how could this happen to a high time pilot.?
My you always have fair winds and following seas. Beat Army. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
That’s a silly request. She’d be better off to ask that he was remembered for his accomplishments rather that the last few minutes of his life.
. The electric elevator trim analysis vid (post 19) certainly gives a couple interesting, plausible explanations. Hopefully maintenance records will shed some light. .
The internet doesn't work that way. There's things to be learned from most incidents. To me, the fact that a high-time superpilot was in trouble almost instantly is deserving of analysis.
