Folks Of Interest Rest in Peace, Jessi...

RIP Jessi. I enjoyed watching the shows on TV that she was in

 

It takes a brave person to attempt such a risky endeavour, but if successful, the reward would have been worth the risk. I have nothing but respect for people who attempt things like speed records, It is always a step into the unknown.
Bob

 

Such sad news to hear about yesterday.. RIP Jessi the world was a better place with you in it.. Thoughts & Prayers to her family & friends.. God Speed ..

 

I wouldn't have the you know whats to take that up to the speeds she took it to...It must be a euphoria like no other...

J-Jock you being a pilot and a CF104 Pilot to boot know that power of speed and yeah...I called those Aircraft Rockets with Wings

May She Rest in Peace

 

The F-104 first flew in March 1954, less than a year after Lockheed had been given the go-ahead to build a prototype. It made an almost immediate impact. The needle-nosed jet quickly earned the nickname 'the missile with a man in it'; its official name was the Starfighter.. ( insert woman were man is) , enjoyed following everything she did TV wise and racing... gone to soon

 

We were not arguing, Phil didn't see a roll bar and I thought I did, obviously I am wrong, I would have thought safety equipment would have been paramount in a land speed racer. HRP

 

I think in on of the shows she said " being scared doesn't slow you down "

 

Condolences to the family and friends..sad news..make every day count...

 

Yes all vehicles built for land speed racing are made with the thought they will crash, the requirements for SCTA are stronger than NHRA and NASCAR.
Look at the video of Speed Demon crashing at over 300 mph it went from racing to crash in the blink of an eye and George walked away. Look at Flash Point crash and he walked away. Look at the video of Danny Thompsons Mustang crash,,
I am not telling you to look to be morbid, but at the safety requirements of sanctioned Land Speed, rules are written in blood, the most recent is the change in wrist restraints due to two crashes at Bonneville.
What do jet jockeys do when things go to hell, they punch out. They fly in soda cans with wings.
I have had pucker moments on land speed, but I had time to work out a solution, Jessie had to ride it out.

 

Too Soon! RIP Only conciliation, She was doing what She loved.

 

Jessica “Jessi” Michelle Combs
July 27, 1983 - August 27, 2019​

 

Sad news, to the crew that is mourning, Chin Up!
One of the owners, Steve Green has his shop down the road from me. He explained that one one the reasons they choose this platform was that all the air intake design was already done and proven. The Brits spent tons on getting air into their engine intakes.
We do not need to speculate or dream up some half baked conspiracies, let's remember Her for the passion and guts to live her dream.

 

Not only no, but HELL NO. That is NOT a rollbar, and even if it was it would have been a piss poor one. That machine was NOT SAFE, and many folks had hoped that when Ed Shadle passed away that the project would die. Instead, we take no satisfaction in saying "We told you so".

Also, it would never have been allowed on the salt. There are a lot of rules and reasons why, but on a practical note - there is not enough room for those runs.

 

A quote from the story seems fitting:

"If driving the North American Eagle was anything like the act of flying, she was going to be in heaven, or as close as she could be."

RIP Jessi. You were one hell of a woman.

 

Jessi would not have been content to spend her last days sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch and saying, I wish I would have

She died doing what she loved. HRP

 

I feel bad that I didn't even know who she was...I don't watch those tv shows she's been on. Too bad, though. Obviously talented and gone too soon. RIP

 

God Bless Jessi, you and your whole family!

 

I only knew her through her many television shows but I always thought she was very knowledgeable, not to mention honest, funny and creative. I realize this might sound rude but she’s in a better place up where she is.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

It’s a shame there wasn’t any roll cage in the jet. Obviously they knew better, but for some reason chose not to have one. The outcome might have been the same, one will never know. None the less she will be missed.

 

I don't know what happened, and maybe it wouldn't have mattered, but I don't see any kind of rollover or crash protection in this photo,anyway.

 

The 104 had a basic problem---- Because of its engine size and higher RPM , it suffered from high roll enertia and at speed it wanted to spin around its axis because the engine turned into a gyroscope, The wing had movable counter-weights in the wing that swung out as the speed increased to counter act the rotation besides the ability to trim the airfoils. The 104 jet was rated at mach 1.3, but at 35,000 ft. , the structure and landing gear was only rated at 120knts landing and take-off speed. The pilot seating was ahead of the steerable wheel so with very little input from the stick (and this thing still used a stick) the nose would swing out a bunch, so there becomes a tendency to over-correct. Being on 3 wheels, the engine wanting to rotate the car, and a steering over correction only spells disaster.
My dad doing the flight simulation for NAA, said it took months to train the pilots of the XB70 just to taxi (at slow speed) it around, because they were 80 feet in front of the steer wheel and these were the best of the best jet pilots out there

 

Planes are not designed to crash with the pilot

 

They only ran during private sessions, no sanctioning body. The police report mentioned that although the team got to the remains rather quickly, it was well over an hour before first responders/medical/safety arrived, so the whole operation was bush leage so to say

 

The loss of Jess to family and friends is insurmountable. This " vehicle" was questionable from the start...no comparison to Breedlove' s racer, in hindsight it is/ was more comparable to the " Infinity" tragedy. I' m just a arm chair Observer, but this " car" looks to have too short a wheelbase for the record runs and power from its jet...maybe a more " Breedlove" style front wheel would've helped.

 

... the really foreboding items here, are the earlier speed reports from the team ... involving deployment issues with the parachutes. Previous over running of course ... incidents. Basically not being able to reverse the effects of hitting 400 plus mph.

I do not know specifics of that day. I also do not know of, any first hand information related from that day. This is just information from previous runs, of said car.

I abhore after the fact, told you so dissections. I am not one of those individuals. I hate even posting this information.

This is a massive loss to the sport, and I know of no individual so accomplished, in such a short time frame, regardless of gender.

 

I remover her from various shows, one in particular was with the fellow from BC and they were involved with off roaming trucks I believe (he does some demo stuff for Eastwood).
I saw that car a few years ago at the Langley Cruise-In and remember thinking about it in terms of safety in event of a crash but also thinking they people who built it knew better. It is just a damn shame that Jessi died in that crash. No blame just a damn shame. Very positive role model for girls/women to emulate.

 

Positive role model for everyone.

 

And it was very surreal when she appeared in a rerun of Overhaulin' today. What a sad shame she's gone. RIP.

 

I thought, looking at the basic vehicle, that there might have been at least some strong structure built into the airframe just behind the seat.
Certainly not as good as a real roll cage, but at least something!
Looking thru pictures of the vehicle on the NAE website, I now realize that right behind the canopy is a huge hatch for systems access.
They show it opened up at times while the vehicle is prepped.
The only real "structure" around the driver (from the chest up!) is the seat frame.
That may have had no bearing on the crash or the final result of the crash...but it screams lack of preparedness on the part of the builders/designers/crew. Makes you wonder...what else?

I can't imagine what they were thinking not to do modifications to the driver area to give it some extra strength and driver shielding.
The cockpit is fairly large for a land speed vehicle and any fabricator of reasonable capability would be able to tube it out in short order.
I mean, no matter what it WAS in a previous life, it was now a land based vehicle and should have reflected those new requirements in its final structure.

Such a waste to have Jessi gone like that.
She had something about her. Something that went past gender.
I can't figure out how to describe it...but she had "it" in spades.

I guess she herself got caught up in the pursuit and just didn't push for what I'm sure she understood was needed for safety.

Very unfortunate.

 

^^^^ ... that same systems hatch, flew off on a previous run, ending the attempt early.