RE: Big P-47 goes in hard.
Some people just love to sit back and "count violations". I am a full-scale pilot and was flying to a small private strip one evening. I had permission to land there and the guy that gave me permission (not the owner, for there is no single owner) suggested that pilots use full flaps for takeoffs and landings since the grass strip is so short. On this evening there was about a 10-15 knot crosswind. Also there were hangars on both sides of the grass strip. On my landing approach I decided to use only 10 degrees of flaps in the Cessna 172 so it would handle the crosswind better. Also, with the hangars there one can never really be sure what the wind is going to do around the buildings. A perfectly normal soft field landing transpired and I kept a little extra speed in my taxi to make the elevator more effective so I could keep airplane light on the nosewheel. I loaded up my passengers and set the flaps to 20 degrees (as published in the POH, by the way) and proceeded on with an extremely uneventful takeoff. Buisiness as usual in other words. The next day I got a call from the guy that gave me permission and he said that someone complained that I wasn't using full flaps and that he would appreciate it if I didn't land there anymore. Excuse me, but WHO IS PIC (Pilot In Command)??? Me in the left seat of the aircraft or some grease monkey on the ground with his head stuck in the cowl of his airplane? I made a judgement based on my experience and knowledge of the capabilities of the airplane. It proved to be a correct assessment of the situation as well. Of course I've never been back to that airstrip and don't even want to. If the people there have nothing better to do but sit around and nitpick everyone elses flying...well then y'all can go piss up a rope...who needs ya!
I feel bad about the guy losing such a beautiful airplane. Nobody was hurt (except for the guy's pride, I'm sure) and I'm sure that as he's picking up the pieces and stuffing them into a plastic bag he wouldn't want someone there reminding him of how many violations they counted.
DaveCFI