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Post by kiwitone on Jul 11, 2011 8:33:21 GMT 12
What was the last moments of sundays airshow; marred another great day at Duxford today; two aircraft collided after making the final pass and going into wing overs, they were a Doulas sky raider and the P51 mustang called "Big Beautiful Doll". they appeared to touch; I reckon they pulled up really close together, the Sky raider slowed and the P51 came up from below. The sky raider dived away and managed to land with 2metres of his right wing tip missing.
The P51 carried on for a few seconds then went nose down and I saw the canopy and then the pilot come out; chute opened low, and we were told that the pilot had landed in a field and had walked away. No impact or smoke either.
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Post by kiwitone on Jul 11, 2011 9:25:03 GMT 12
Also earlier in the afternoon a Fokker DR1 caught a wing tip and went nose down at crowd centre.
There were 28 aircraft for the Balbo today 4x sea fury,3x Skyraider, 9x spitfire same no. mustangs, 1x hurricane, 1x tigercat 2x corsair + B17,lancaster,Dc3x2...(probably dont add up, lost my list) and Im read for early bed Naughty field cleared again today......Mustang came down left of vector....and I was inside the show.....
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Post by michaelh on Jul 11, 2011 9:42:09 GMT 12
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Post by flyjoe180 on Jul 11, 2011 9:46:55 GMT 12
That's shocking news, glad the pilots are okay, but what a shame about the Mustang.
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Post by Andy Wright on Jul 11, 2011 9:54:21 GMT 12
Mustang pilot sounds like he was very lucky. Glad to know both pilots are well.
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Post by kiwitone on Jul 11, 2011 10:44:40 GMT 12
the tiger cat is a bearcat, along with the DC3 display, were highlights today shiny P-38 was beautiful as was the ex aussie navy sea fury tm
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Post by htbrst on Jul 11, 2011 12:04:38 GMT 12
Video of the mid-air is here:
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Post by baz62 on Jul 11, 2011 16:00:55 GMT 12
Great to see the pilot got out ok. Sad to see Ray Hannah's old Mustang bite the dust.
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Post by wccivil on Jul 11, 2011 17:08:38 GMT 12
Uh Kiwitone, check the video. Mustang pulled up first, Skyraider came up from below and behind and clipped BBD
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 11, 2011 19:39:37 GMT 12
That is really sad news. What a shame, the lead up to the airshow loked as if it was going to be one of the best ever.
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Post by kiwitone on Jul 11, 2011 20:53:47 GMT 12
yes seen it, reckon I got quite a shock yesterday; the video clears it up. I got a couple of shots of it as well to me the right wing tip cut through the mustang just behind the radiator bump and BBD was actually bending as the pilot left.
so despite being there, I got it wrong; no wonder people come up with such different versions of the same event.
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Post by jasonmac on Jul 11, 2011 21:06:39 GMT 12
Speechless... I was there just last week watching training displays etc.... Very sad to see the demise of such beautiful machines! If you ever get the chance to vist Duxford, it'll blow your mind!! I'm very fortunate.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 11, 2011 22:33:24 GMT 12
Was Big Beautiful Doll the aircraft that Ray Hanna famously flew in 'Empire of the Sun'?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 12, 2011 0:00:23 GMT 12
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Post by mumbles on Jul 12, 2011 10:00:18 GMT 12
Was Big Beautiful Doll the aircraft that Ray Hanna famously flew in 'Empire of the Sun'? Yes it was. Registered as G-HAEC it was returned to flight circa 1984-1985, initially in RAAF markings to reflect it's origins as an Australian built CA-18 www.mrhaslam.plus.com/milborne/g-haec.htmlI remember a write up about it in Flypast at the time (and probably have the issue somewhere still if I can be bothered to dig it out). I prefer that scheme to the BBD markings to be honest, as P-51's marked as anything other than 8th AF aren't common. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 12, 2011 11:23:03 GMT 12
I just read onthe FlyPast forum that BBD was flown by Mark Hanna in the film, whereas Ray flew a TFC-owned Mustang in the famous Empire of the Sun scene.
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Post by mumbles on Jul 12, 2011 12:18:48 GMT 12
Video of the incident here: www.flyingfilm.co.uk/archives/58Some very quick reactions and thinking by the Mustang pilot. The canopy goes very quickly after the hit. |
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Post by skyhawkdon on Jul 12, 2011 20:28:27 GMT 12
One thing that struck me was the time it took for those in officialdom (who obviously didn't see the accident) to react. The commentators never even knew there had been an accident and kept dribbling on as all the aircraft landed! "Oh look the Skyraider has lost part of its wing" was their first clue!
The crash fire guys also took a long time to respond (maybe the lack of a fire to guide them to the crash site has something to do with it?).
A good save by the Skyradier (another good Douglas product!) pilot but he has some explaining to do over what happened!
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Post by efliernz on Jul 12, 2011 22:27:02 GMT 12
I agree over the explaining. There are several different angles on youtube already. The P51 disappears below the lower-right cowl of the Skyraider. Perhaps I should word it another way... the Skyraider put himself in a non-sited position in relation to the other craft... The big surprise was how long it takes to climb out of a P51 after the canopy has gone! Gotta love the modern Martin-Baker  Awesome skills (in the end) from both pilots. |
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Post by mumbles on Jul 12, 2011 23:20:27 GMT 12
I agree over the explaining. There are several different angles on youtube already. The P51 disappears below the lower-right cowl of the Skyraider. Perhaps I should word it another way... the Skyraider put himself in a non-sited position in relation to the other craft... The big surprise was how long it takes to climb out of a P51 after the canopy has gone! Gotta love the modern Martin-Baker Awesome skills (in the end) from both pilots. I don't know if it took all that time. I think the canopy might have gone intially as a precaution (which turned out to be a wise one a few seconds later) while trying to assess the damage. I'm not basing that opinion on any particular expertise, but wartime accounts of fighter bailouts I have read give the impression that egress could be very quick once the decision was made. Either way it is one of the lowest non-assisted parachutings I have ever seen pictures of. It will all come out in the AAIB wash I expect. What is interesting is just how much force is apparent in the collision. The P-51 completely changes attitude, and the Skyraider goes into an uncommanded snap roll into the damaged wing. Speculation is rife on other forums, but one thing that has been pointed out is that the damaged area on the Mustang is right where the control runs to the tail are. |
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Awesome skills (in the end) from both pilots.