(For those of you who haven't seen any of my posts in the past,
I have a morbid fascination with plane crashes.)

Yesterday, June 1st, I was observing Air Show Colorado from
the balcony of my apartment via binoculars.  Air Show Colorado
was taking place at Jefferson County Airport, which is one of
the highest points in north Denver.  The airport is only about
three miles northwest of my apartment so I had a great view.

I took a quick break from watching to take a shower (after all,
it was late, late morning and I was on my balcony in pajamas)
and then went back to watching.  The plane that was in the
air wasn't really doing anything so I stepped away for about
five minutes to dry my hair.  As I was walking back to the
balcony, I started to hear sirens.  I looked out the window
and saw a big cloud of smoke rising from the direction of the
airport so I went out with the binoculars.  I could see the
rescue equipment hauling tail off of the runway and down a
hill and through the grass toward a large building which
appeared to be on fire.  I joked with my husband that maybe
a plane crashed.  So as I kept watching, he turned on the
TV just in time to hear a report about a plane crash at
Air Show Colorado, just southeast of the airport.

I missed seeing a real live plane crash by no more than 10
SECONDS!!!!!  I've figured out the time by watching the
news footage of the crash.  The big dark cloud of smoke
started to rise immediately after the fireball subsided and
there wasn't that much smoke when I first saw it.

I can't believe I missed seeing a plane crash by seconds.

Anyway, I just wanted to give some background on the crash
before I asked a question.  They interviewed some pilots
who said that the high temperature caused the ambient altitude
to climb by almost 3,000 feet.  (It was in the mid-80's and
the airport is at ~5700 feet).  I was wondering exactly how
this affects the performance of the aircraft.  Specifically
during stunts, how much higher do planes have to climb during
conditions like this in order to do a 360?

Michelle

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Michelle (Wright) Bork      Hughes Information Technology Systems
mbork@redwood.dn.hac.com     a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft Company
Denver, Colorado
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