Posted on 09/17/2011 6:31:59 PM PDT by Ron C.
Though org.whodat did post a most asinine comment, I derived his useless comment directed at the mechanic in particular and agism in general. In the Army, I had much respect for "drivers", be it C-140, 131, A-10, Blackhawk or Chinook, etc. Called them that to their face, quipped, and more often than not, reached for a barf bag.... Not standard equipment! lol
Poor thing, old metal is old metal. You have two options, one metal fatigue. And/or someone left the wobbling pin out of the wiggling shaft. What a waste of life.
What in the world is wrong with the term driver, damn, that was a standard name, when I was in the airforce.
But thank you for your service, this from an infantry guy.
It was not an inflammatory remark, and someone messed up here and the result is a whole lot of dead people.
Every pilot I have personally known had above average character and innate skill. I would attribute the "cause" to mechanical failure first. I certainly wouldn't jump to the conclusion that human error was the cause. Surely it "may" have contributed, but the "driver" was a professional as well as his crew.
Just for curiosities sake, what do you make of the rear landing gear being deployed? Was this a pilot action or mere inertial happenstance?
Another poster commented that an expert pilot should be able to compensate, and I think the last second maneuver which kept him out of the stands was that compensation. It takes a moment to realize the plane is not responding to control as it should, and he had very little time to try to correct his flight path.
I do not consider myself an expert on aviation by any standard, but the additional drag by the trailing trim tab on the elevator and the loss of effective control surface may have thwarted his efforts to get the plane up.
So sad. Prayers of healing, and comfort for those suffering.
Why do you not have concern for the people killed instead of the damn plane. Dang!
I focused on the plane because YOU assigned blame to the "old guy and his old mechanic".
Are you grieving for the loss of everyone who was killed in auto accidents that day? Yesterday? Drownings?
As the daughter of a WWII B-17 pilot and a much lower time pilot myself, I understand how “driver” is used. It can also be used to minimize the skill required to fly a plane of this caliber under these conditions. It seems I misread your use of it, and for that, I apologize.
I still have a problem with your comment about the mechanic.
And thank you for your service.
I don’t know if the tailwheel had a feature to deploy under certain G-loads, or whether the pilot deployed it to increase drag. The P-51 has a dive speed of about 500 kt. or so, and I’m pretty sure he was well above the max speed for lowering his mains.
I also don’t know what sort of mods were made to Jimmy’s plane - it should be easy enough to find out. I’d be surprised if the original aluminum skins were on it, though, for Unlimited racing.
The pull-up, I’ve heard from friends who race, is the standard way for a pilot in trouble to depart the race course, turning airspeed into altitude.
Signed...60 year old Airframe & Powerplant mechanic
I’m very sorry to hear about your brother, and am grateful for his service. What branch did he serve in?
Navy, seabees
Very tough work, and indispensable. Thank you.
Even with a huge onset rate he should have had 6-9 sec. of useful consciousness. At 450 kts. an abrupt maneuver would be a lot of G if you weren’t expecting it. It could easily slam your head down if you were already leaned forward.
There was an incident during the 1998 Reno Air Races in which a trim tab came off a P-51 named Voodoo Chile.
In that incident, also mentioned in AVweb's coverage, the aircraft pitched violently up, causing pilot Bob Hannah to black out under a G load estimated at 10 Gs.
He regained consciousness at 9,000 feet and was able to land safely.
It surprises me that his sudden pitch up would last long enough to black out, but if he was already loaded and then spiked on 10 g’s all bets are off. I’ve been to the races and seen the course from the air, but never flown it myself. All my experience is from flying fighters. I spent most of my career flying “over the hill” in Fallon.
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