There is some video here, but it doesn't show much of the crash itself. This video has a couple seconds, if that, of the airplane beginning to go in. It's hard to tell, but it seems to me that the airplane was inverted, maybe a few hundred feet above the ground, and it sucked into what looked like the backside of a loop, hitting damn near vertical, very close to the front row of spectators.
These two photos are interesting, from MSNBC:
(Click on the photo to enlarge it)
Look at the left elevator, visible in the left-hand photo. The trim-tab is missing.
There wasn't much left of the airplane. This photo is from last year. (Photo credit)
Seemingly some crazy stuff going on in that airshow.
ReplyDeleteMy first impression from that almost useless video is that he was going fast enough to have elevator authority, yet he seemed to be going rather straight. I was thinking the pilot blacked out.
But the missing trim tab is interesting. How important is that to a P-51?
Yahoo has a bunch of pics, including the two you've posted. In one shot of the plane taxiing before that flight you can see the pilot's head in the center of the canopy. But in a couple of profile shots right before the crash, I don't see his head. I don't know whether that means anything; the plane's relative orientation, reflections on the canopy, or image resolution might account for it. Plus I would assume there was a shoulder harness, and one's head alone can't fall *that* forward, can it? Still, I'm an irrational animal programmed for pattern-recognition who has limited information, so I keep returning to my inability to see the pilot's head in those last images. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteThought you'd find this article interesting, the pilot's last action may have saved lives.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible the joint between his seat back and bottom cushion broke, and he wound up flat on his back, pulling the stick with him. That would account for the half loop, and - with mounting G's - an inability to sit back up straight.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking of the stories my flight instructor told me about people in Cessnas not double-checking their seats are secure on the rails. When they take off, the seats slide back to the stops. Instinct tells you to grab on to whatever is available - the yoke you've already got in your hands. They wind up in a power-on stall, with no room to recover, and with little else to grab to pull themselves forward.
My bet, is control failure.
ReplyDeleteYou loose the trim tab at 400+ and that stick needs a lot (read massive) amount of effort. If the trim is not working with you it can be against you! I am unsure of the interconnection between the trim tab and the aero-assist tabs (next to the lost tab) that make unboosted rod, lever, and cables controls possible.
The harness system is 5 point. that both shoulders lap and crotch.
I don't think the seat broke. It's
likely an improved version of the fighters seat (better padded). that and there is structure behind it.
Eck!
Nangleator, I don't know how important that tab is. But I'm wondering if the airplane didn't experience some control flutter.
ReplyDelete