Another WWII aircraft goes down, this time taking out several air show fans

[Troy]

You have to remember that there was a HUGE surplus of aircraft after the war and a shortage of just about all materials (steel, aluminum, etc.) - probably from a making all the Jeeps, planes, ships, and tanks! However, they were so good that the US was still flying them in battle in Korea with the last being retired in 1957 so that probably saved a lot of them from being scrapped. There were 16,766 Mustangs built (8,156 P-51D variants) which means about 1% are still flyable (not bad for a 66+ year old plane). They are expensive and can be a handful to fly (they are fighters after all). Certainly not a plane the average private pilot will have in their hangar.

Spitfires are popular. Here's a list of them:
http://www.deltaweb.co.uk/spitfire/preserve.htm

Troy

[64dartgt]

As a pilot, I am sure the 74 year old had to have a physical and that his plane had to have FAA certification to fly as well.  What may be an issue is that the guy did some modifications for speed (decrease wing and tail sizes) which may have contributed to another P51 crash in the past.  There were a number of FAA and NTSB at the race who witnessed the crash, so I think they will have a leg up on sorting it out.

[bull]

Well, just like Chargers, if they knew what they would be worth they wouldn't have scrapped them. But then if they hadn't scrapped so many they wouldn't be worth as much.

[hemigeno]

My Dad mentioned today that a rumor making the rounds now is that the seatback either broke, or the seat slid back on its tracks causing the pilot to lose contact with the controls.

Just a rumor, carry on.

[Troy]

My Dad mentioned today that a rumor making the rounds now is that the seatback either broke, or the seat slid back on its tracks causing the pilot to lose contact with the controls.

Just a rumor, carry on.

It would seem odd to have a movable seat on a racing plane (or car). Those are built around the pilot and weight is trimmed wherever possible. The seat back doesn't recline either - but I suppose it could have broken nonetheless.

Besides, neither of those explain the missing trim tab.
There's a good picture of what I mentioned earlier:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44556695/ns/us_news-life/t/death-toll-rises-reno-air-show-crash/

And this video has a shot of the tab coming off:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=47e_1316499019

Troy

[Ponch ®]

i still say he stepped on the gas instead of the brake pedal.

[Drache]

This was posted by a member at another forum I'm a member of. Taken Friday Morning at the Reno Race:

[bull]

My Dad mentioned today that a rumor making the rounds now is that the seatback either broke, or the seat slid back on its tracks causing the pilot to lose contact with the controls.

Just a rumor, carry on.

It would seem odd to have a movable seat on a racing plane (or car). Those are built around the pilot and weight is trimmed wherever possible. The seat back doesn't recline either - but I suppose it could have broken nonetheless.

I thought that one pic from your link on the first page was odd because you can't see him in the cockpit. Where is he? If you look at the pic above it doesn't look like there's a whole lot of room to hide in there and yet there's no sign of him.

And by the way, why is the rear landing gear down? I wonder if he tried to deploy the wheels when he got into trouble.

[Drache]

And by the way, why is the rear landing gear down? I wonder if he tried to deploy the wheels when he got into trouble.

Most likely the massive g-forces that plane was subjected to caused the rear landing gear failure. At the speeds that plane was going the pilot wouldn't have enough time to even think about lowering the gear.

It's not a big deal that the gear was down since many P-51's had problems with the rear landing gear retracting and even up into the 50's some of the P-51s were modified to have static rear landing gear.

Now it has been speculated that the pilot passed out for some reason and the plane went out of control causing massive g-forces to damage the tail trim.

[bull]

Ok, I'll buy that.

But where's the pilot in that picture? At that angle of decent and speed he should have been pinned to the seat back.

[Troy]

I found this (plausible sounding) explanation elsewhere:
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1803173&postcount=149

Troy

[Ponch ®]

Now it has been speculated that the pilot passed out for some reason

...hmmm maybe that he was old?

[Troy]

Now it has been speculated that the pilot passed out for some reason

...hmmm maybe that he was old?

Probably because of the near instantaneous 10gs... you wouldn't fare any better.

Troy

[bull]

I found this (plausible sounding) explanation elsewhere:
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1803173&postcount=149

Troy

Evidentally that guy is speculating that the pilot's seat broke from the G-forces and either pushed him behind or below his correct sitting position. So from that I take it he must have been stuffed halfway inside the fuselage somewhere when that pic was taken? Am I reading that right? If so it's a pretty crazy story but you know what they say, "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Even without a trim tab it's pretty hard to fly if you can't reach the controls.The guy didn't just disappear so he's somewhere inside the plane. Weird.

[64dartgt]

Did you see the video of the crash?  Some idiot seemed to be cheering as the plane crashed!  He had his arms up signalling a touchdown or something!   

[Ponch ®]

The guy didn't just disappear so he's somewhere inside the plane. Weird.

Ever seen a septuagenarian behind the wheel of his/her '95 Buick Roadmaster? Me neither.

Did you see the video of the crash?  Some idiot seemed to be cheering as the plane crashed!  He had his arms up signalling a touchdown or something!  

not necessarily. that can also be a "Oh my God...WTF just happened" gesture.

[Vainglory, Esq.]

i still say he stepped on the gas instead of the brake pedal.

Nonsense.  There wasn't a farmer's market in sight.