Plane crash at Reno airshow

[fenderhutz]

Wow.

Just saw the video.

Doesn't look good.



http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/stor...storyid=167457

[hover]

My God. So sad.

[Staccato]

Sad...

I saw a pilot killed at the National Air Races in Reno-when I was a teen. That pilot was also a family man.

[boynamedsuse]

A tragedy, but the airlines retire pilots at 50 (or at least they used to). This guy was either 74 or 80 (depending on the source). There comes a time that a person needs to hang it up. I've been to the air races in Reno and it's very exciting, but everyone knows its dangerous. I'm going to guess there will be some changes to flying regulations (both racing and federal) as a result of this.

[AnchorHoy]

Granted I'm not privy to the NTSB report (which isn't even close to being written at this early stage) but it looks like he was rounding a pylon and stalled it in mid-turn

If that's indeed the case, he had essentially one choice to make in a split second's time, in order to avoid the grandstands: either haul back on the stick and try to tighten up the turn (Very Bad choice, since that's what got him into that predicament to begin with) or roll out of the bank and try to level off and maintain some altitude

Anybody happen to know if the Mustang he was flying had its wings clipped? If so, that would've been a major contributor to increasing its tendency to stall during high-speed turns.....

[Dash Rantic]

He didn't stall--it was mechanical failure:

CorduroyPlanet: Chilled

Couple of photos taken shortly before impact, showing the elevator trim tab missing. At those high speeds and low altitude, likely enough for the pilot to lose control of the aircraft. He did manage to maneuver the plane to take a nosedive impact, rather than at an angle where the debris would have rolled along the ground and killed potentially hundreds more people. Knew he was going to die, and could make that sort of choice in a split second... Wow.

-Dash

[Solarmist]

What a terrible thing to happen!
P-51 Crashes At Reno

[bradjonesbass]

Pilot was 75. He was from Ft Wayne. One of my college professors was close friends...

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

That's sad but it's very lucky that something like this hasn't happened before.

I've always wanted to see the Reno Air Races.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by Bob Lee (QSC)

That's sad but it's very lucky that something like this hasn't happened before.

I've always wanted to see the Reno Air Races.

Me too. On TV.

[ADbassman]

Originally Posted by AnchorHoy

Anybody happen to know if the Mustang he was flying had its wings clipped? If so, that would've been a major contributor to increasing its tendency to stall during high-speed turns.....

I read on AP that indeed they were clipped.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by ADbassman

I read on AP that indeed they were clipped.

He cut 5 feet off each wing, and added power. That broken trim tab is the main issue they're pursuing.

[fenderhutz]

Just a side note. That plane that crashed Saturday at the WV airshow is 10 miles away from me. We were going to go but decided to hold off due to rain in the morning.

http://www.journal-news.net/page/con....html?nav=5006

[fhm555]

Sorry if this is plain in other accounts, but in the two I read it was never made clear if he was a doing an acrobatic show routine or was a racer. The titles said crash at air show and the articles mentioned air races, but nothing else to clarify it as an air show associated with the races, or if it was a racer who crashed.

From what I could tell it sounded like he was a racer and I suspect it was called an air show to avoid the negative kneejerk reaction from those who think any kind of racing is bad.

I guess in the end it really doesn't matter, it just seemed the stories were deliberately trying to avoid any direct association between the air races and the crash.

[tangentmusic]

I live in Reno. It was the annual Air Races. It was horrible. I was not there. Our vocalist's wife works at the hospital were most of the wounded were taken. I will not even describe the things she said she saw. The videos show enough.

[LiquidMidnight]

Originally Posted by fhm555

Sorry if this is plain in other accounts, but in the two I read it was never made clear if he was a doing an acrobatic show routine or was a racer. The titles said crash at air show and the articles mentioned air races, but nothing else to clarify it as an air show associated with the races, or if it was a racer who crashed.

From what I could tell it sounded like he was a racer and I suspect it was called an air show to avoid the negative kneejerk reaction from those who think any kind of racing is bad.

I believe he was doing a qualifying round for an air race.

[AnchorHoy]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

He cut 5 feet off each wing, and added power

Very common for warbirds converted to air racers. That's pretty much why I asked, before the pic of the trim tab came to light

That broken trim tab is the main issue they're pursuing

Roger that. Now it's starting to look like aerodynamic flutter contributing to catastrophic loss of control. Same problem that plagued the early versions of the P-38 - often with the same end result