TT - The is a truly worthy continuation of your noble (often Nobel) tradition. Your series helps to insure that the music will not die. I know that crafting a top-notch parody is a most time-consuming (shell-shocking?) undertaking. I and quite a few others wish you the time and inclination to create more of your most enjoyable works...and share them here with us. ;D

A TT i C....nice work and tribute to those great R&R pioneers....sad,,,like the Patsy Cline crash a few years later

Old Man Ribber: Strange, Stockholm hasn't called yet. Are you *sure* that there's really a Nobel prize for parody? ;)   Thanks for the kind words... but judging by the v/c so far, apparently there aren't all that many others. xD .... Oh well, a few sincere comments are worth dozens of rote ones. Thanks.

AFW: And so many others.... It seems that Don McLean's tribute immortalized their tragedy above the others we've lost. Thanks for v/c.

Well written, particularly all the "..ights" in the last verse.

John Jenkins, thank you very much.

Wow—more MoFo'ing 'Takes on a Plane' than Samuel L. Jackson—seven of 'em!

Your creativity and obvious passion for the subject(s) are inspiring. I really admire (and attempt to emulate!) your terse style—nary a syllable's wasted in any TTProduction.

Your verbiage, too, is always interesting, and more importantly for me, fUnpredictable, with cool couplets like: trio/con brio, remember/engender, RnR's/guitars, ignite/incite and Fargo/cargo....

Right® on, bro, write on!

In Flight Mentortainment: (lol) Thanks for picking out many of the author's faves as well. (Predictable is boring!) Glad you enjoyed the inflight movie; if only the ending were better... thanks for v/c!

In sentiment, I echo OMR, and in technique IFM. I'm glad for all of us you could keep to your established 'in memoriam' date with that ever so sure flick of the flipper, forever fostering the feeling for that fateful flight. As they say in Australia on Remembrance Day: 'Lest We Forget ...'

Sneaky return plug on this subj., including a couple of turtlecalls (whatever they sound like) - not sure if you've seen this one:
http://www.amiright.com/parody/misc/gilbert6sullivanpiratesofpenzance0.shtml

And don't forget Roger Peterson, pilot of the ill-fated plane. So much talent lost that night, other lives spared by quirks of fate. I recall many years ago a "60 Minutes" expose on the alleged safety problems of the "V" tail Beechcraft Bonanza. Glad to see you continuing your annual series of tributes to some great musicians who passed on before their time.

Lifeliver: Always appreciate astute alliteration, aspecially applause. Don't think I've seen the shout-outs, but there's an (American) football game starting shortly that's supposed to be some kind of big deal. Will definitely check it out. Thanks for v/c.

Patrick: IIRC, one main issue was that being a more high-status plane than a Cessna or Piper, they tended to be bought by doctors, who, because they are authority figures in their day job, tend to think they know all else about all else. (No offense to any doctors in the house.) Hence, underqualified for the high-performance aircraft vs. the scooter in which they took their flight training. You got the money, they;ll sel you one.
  I don't think the plane was the issue. The pilot wasn't qualified for the weather conditions encountered,, and I think it was you and I who discussed that the horizon gyroscope in this plane read in the opposite direction from standard "artificial horizons", confusing the pilot. Thanks for the v/c.

The "60 Minutes" segment seemed to suggest that the problem lay with the "V" tailed version, which handled differently from the standard rudder and tail surfaces. I think there was a "Bonanza" with the conventional layout that didn't have as many problems. The "V" tail was "sexier" in appearance, greater sales appeal. "You got the money, they sell you one" reminds me of a legend I read of a wealthy Texan who wanted to dispose of his wife, who fancied herself a pilot. He bought her a restored WWII F4U "Corsair", an airplane with a notorious rotary engine requiring great strength and skill to control, especially on takeoff. She hopped into the plane, which immediately spun into the ground, accomplishing his purpose.

I still think that if the weather had been good and the pilot had achieved his Instrument Flight Rating, for which he was still taking lessons at the time, it would have been fine.

Other V-tail crashes seem not to relate to the tail:

On July 31, 1964, country music star Jim Reeves and his pianist Dean Manuel died when the Beechcraft Debonair Reeves was piloting crashed in the Brentwood area of Nashville during a violent thunderstorm. (d'oh)

In February 1981, Apple Computer cofounder Steve Wozniak crashed his Beechcraft Bonanza while taking off from Santa Cruz Sky Park. The NTSB investigation revealed Wozniak did not have a "high performance" endorsement (making him legally unqualified to operate the airplane) and had a "lack of familiarity with the aircraft." Wozniak later made a full recovery, albeit with a case of temporary retrograde amnesia..

On 19 March 1982, Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads was killed when the wing of the Bonanza F35 he was riding in hit the band's tour bus and the plane crashed into a tree and a nearby residence. The pilot and another passenger were also killed. The NTSB cited the causes of the crash as poor judgement, buzzing and misjudged clearance as well as indicating that the use of the aircraft was not authorized by the aircraft's owner. (Steal a plane to buzz your band? D'oh squared.)

Straight-tail (36) Bonanza:
On 13 March 2006, game show host Peter Tomarken crashed his Bonanza A36 into Santa Monica Bay during climb-out from the Santa Monica Airport in California. He was en route to San Diego to pick up a cancer patient who needed transportation to UCLA Medical Center for treatment. Tomarken and his wife were killed in the crash.

So, stupidity can get you killed in any airplane.

WikiP lists both advantages and disadvantages of the V-tail desigh, which has also been used in fighter craft. However, SOP before flying *any* model of aircraft with which you are not familiar is to get a check-ride from an instructor familiar with that model. This is required before any rental service will rent you one (I know: been there, done that), but if you walk into the dealership and pay the price, you get the plane. Not their problem -- maybe you have a pro pilot waiting somewhere or whatever.

That'll be the day... when I don't immensely enjoy a TT lyric! Lovely tribute, as usual. :)

Okie Girl: How did I miss your comment? Must have had head up wrong end of shell. ;)

Thanks for the kind v/c. You are "O-K" in my book! Okie-dokie? ;-D