tombuch 0 #1 February 27, 2009 There is an interesting short story in the AOPA email news brief today about Larry Pennington, owner of Skydive Suffolk, who had a heart attack a while back. Larry was flying a 206 when he had a devastating heart attack, but he was able to land and get help. The story reports on his progress, and his successful effort to recover his medical certifiacte and fly jumpers again. The full story is at http://www.aopa.org/flightplanning/articles/2009/090226bypass.html?WT.mc_id=090227epilot&WT.mc_sect=gan. The news brief pushed via email this morning is as follows: QuoteLife after bypass surgery: A jumper gets back to his favorite pastime Today, some 12,000 pilots with heart disease are flying on all three medical certificate classes. Larry Pennington of Suffolk, Va., is one of those pilots. Pennington, now 56, suffered a heart attack in 2003 while flying a Cessna 206 from Suffolk to Raleigh/Durham, N.C. Amazingly, he was able to maintain control of the aircraft—there was no autopilot—and land. He’d never felt such pain. “It (was) like someone had a fish hook in my chest and was trying to pull my heart out of my chest,” Pennington says. He opened the 206’s roll-up door to get more oxygen, doused himself with water, descended from 6,500 to 2,000 feet, and focused on the instruments—airspeed, altitude, heading, attitude—until he landed at Raleigh-Durham. Read more >>Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SARLDO 0 #2 February 27, 2009 Wow! I had no idea this happened to Larry but, knowing just a little about him and his background, not surprised he was able to stay alive and got back into the air. Larry, your the man! Ron"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest" ~Samuel Clemens MB#4300 Dudeist Skydiver #68 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SimonBones 1 #3 February 27, 2009 I remember Larry telling me that story a year ago or so. It's more amazing when you hear it from the man himself and get all the details. But that is only one of his cool stories. He's got plenty more! Ask him about the tattoo on the back of his head or the barrell that burned in by CSS! I'm glad he made it through that ordeal and I'm honored to have gotten a chance to fly with him 108 way head down world record!!! http://www.simonbones.com Hit me up on Facebook Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VideoFly 0 #4 February 28, 2009 I’ve seen Larry do amazing things while flying several different aircraft in difficult and questionable times. Where other pilots might not have brought the plane down successfully, Larry kept us all safe. He has incredible flying skills and maintains a keen awareness of all airplane and atmospheric behaviors. I am always confident and proud when I fly with him. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
