Posted on 06/12/2017 5:53:42 AM PDT by DFG
A vintage Spitfire fighter flipped and nosedived into the ground at an airshow in France, terrifying onlookers. Footage captured the moment the WWII plane is about to take off, but its propeller hits the ground. The aircraft then flips on its head, sending dust and debris everywhere at the Longuyon-Villette Airport, near the French city of Verdun.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
It’s a metaphor for the recent election ...
Bystanders lifted the plane off the pilot, he’s in the hospital, condition unknown. (I guess the hospital knows his condition).
Looks like his right wheel hit a soft spot.
What is it?
It's a large building where doctors and nurses treat the sick and injured, but that's not important now.
Prayer's to the pilot for a quick recovery.
LOL good one worked airplane into the reply- if i must say why i love freepers
Stupid post.
Possibly, but I read a recent article, can’t remember where, that described this very kind of incident as being fairly common with Spitfires. The propeller was between 10 and 11 feet in diameter, depending on which variant the aircraft was. It was important to keep the tailwheel on the deck until the aircraft rotated or there was a risk of hitting the ground and doing exactly what happened in the video. Look at a photo of a Spitfire at rest on a ramp and you can see just how close the prop is to the deck even with the tailwheel down.
It looks to me like he let the tail get too high and the prop hit the ground.
I miss Johnny
risk of hitting the ground
Should read “risk of the propeller hitting the ground”.
FReepers can be sticklers for accuracy. :-)
Sounds about right. Plus, look at the video and watch the position of the elevators. He starts with them up and then as he goes to throttle up they are in the down position briefly. He tries to compensate and you can see them go fully up but by then it’s too late.
One our favorite Brit tv series was Foyle’s war. Foyle’s son was casted as a Spit pilot.
When the producers brought in an actual Spit to be use in a couple of shows, it got more attention from the cast and support people than if one of the Princes visited.
Their biggest fear was the Spit being damaged. The comments below was a Brit write up of the Spit’s appearance.
“The Spit in Foyles war that Foyle’s son flies is Spitfire Vb BM597 owned by the Historic Aircraft Collection and flown by Clive Denny or Charlie Brown most of the time.
I’m guessing Hawkinge would have been the base as I know the Spit XIIs of 91 Squadron were covering Hastings in 43. I think the rotating radar was artistic license on the series part.”
A very good series btw.
And another one bites the dust. Makes me ill just thinking about it.
An exact analysis of the mishap is impossible from this clip because the whole takeoff roll is not seen. Probably the throttle was opened too rapidly and the tail controls (rudder and elevator) had not enough airflow for control of pitch and yaw. (Ie. incompetent pilot)
Awesome post!
British pilots break wind and fly into the ground.
Not as ill as it made Ensign Zip.
Was he wearing the prerequsite redshirt? (Sorry, had to!)
Has ISIS claimed responsibility yet?
I had the page up for 5 minutes and it STILL wasn't done loading its dozens of ads when I bagged it.
I just removed AdBlocker Plus from my browser for too much RAM-sucking, and this was the first time I went to Daily Mail afterwards.
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