P51D crash at Reno last year - 2011

[davekiwi]

Came across this report:

www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1222506/1/.html

Quote:

The "experimental" single-seat called The Galloping Ghost was traveling at about 445 knots, or 512 miles per hour, in the third lap of a six-lap race when the accident happened, said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

and:

"During the upset sequence, the airplane's vertical acceleration peaked at 17.3 G, causing incapacitation of the pilot. Seconds later, a section of the left elevator trim tab separated in flight."

Why oh why do people feel the need to do these mods .... what brought it home was reading the thread on the South African Lightning crash.


.

[Tony]

From the Herald:
www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10830127

Aerial 'Russian roulette'


The crash of this modified fighter near Reno killed 11 and injured more than 70. Photo / AP

The World War II-era P-51 Mustang hurtled over the race course in Nevada at more than 800km/h, its skin wrinkling and canopy separating from the sheer pressure of the airflow. A crucial tail control fluttered, its screws loosening.

At the controls was 74-year-old pilot Jimmy Leeward who had listed his age as 59 on a race entry form and made changes to his plane to make it fly faster than it ever had before. It did for several seconds before taking a deadly plunge into spectators.

Nearly a year later, and just weeks before organisers stage the race again on September 12, federal investigators yesterday blamed Leeward and his aircraft modifications for the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt, speaking at a board hearing in Washington, compared Leeward's decisions to putting a loaded gun to a person's head.

"If you want to go out and fly fast and try to win, that's one thing. If you're modifying an aircraft without fully understanding how the modifications can affect the aerodynamics, you're playing Russian roulette."

The World War II-era P-51 Mustang hurtled over the race course in Nevada at more than 800km/h, its skin wrinkling and canopy separating from the sheer pressure of the airflow. A crucial tail control fluttered, its screws loosening.

At the controls was 74-year-old pilot Jimmy Leeward who had listed his age as 59 on a race entry form and made changes to his plane to make it fly faster than it ever had before. It did for several seconds before taking a deadly plunge into spectators.

Nearly a year later, and just weeks before organisers stage the race again on September 12, federal investigators yesterday blamed Leeward and his aircraft modifications for the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt, speaking at a board hearing in Washington, compared Leeward's decisions to putting a loaded gun to a person's head.

"If you want to go out and fly fast and try to win, that's one thing. If you're modifying an aircraft without fully understanding how the modifications can affect the aerodynamics, you're playing Russian roulette."

Leeward and 10 people on the ground were killed. More than 70 were hurt in the September 2011 crash.

According to the NTSB final report, in addition to cutting 15 years from his age, Leeward failed to report to the Federal Aviation Administration all the modifications that had been made to his 65-year-old aircraft. He also didn't provide documentation showing they had been tested.

NTSB investigator Clinton Crookshanks said cutting several feet off the aircraft wingspan and other modifications reduced weight and wind resistance. They also weakened the frame and made the aircraft more unstable.

- AP

By Ken Ritter

[corsair67]

While air racing seems interesting to many people, my personal opinion is that it is a terrible waste of some very beautiful old airframes - especially when you have some people with more money than braincells trying to push the boundaries of aerodynamics by tweeking the hell out of these old aircraft designs - with the terribly unnecessary results as seen at Reno last year.

[Dave Homewood]

I tend to agree with your thoughts Craig, but I must admit I wouldn't mind going to Reno one year for a look. It must be pretty exciting seeing WWII aeroplanes pushed to their limits. I'm not a big fan of the cut down, messed about warbirds though, it's like taking a classic 1930's car and chopping it down into a hotrod, it ruins the original historic car.

[dakdriver]

It’s not all about racing warbirds.
There are other classes of aircraft that are raced….


Formula One aircraft are all powered by a Continental O-200 engine (the same 100 hp engine used in a Cessna 150). The fastest Formula One aircraft reach almost 250 mph on the 3.12-mile race course in Reno. Many Formula One aircraft are built by the pilots that race them and are a relatively inexpensive way to enjoy the excitement and satisfaction of air racing.

The Sport Class highlights the new and innovative work being done in the development of high-performance kit-built aircraft. Competition in the Sport Class is fierce, with the rapid introduction of race-driven engine and airframe technology. Sport Class aircraft race on a 6.37-mile course at speeds reaching nearly 350 mph.

The Biplane Class, represented by small, aerobatic aircraft like the Pitts Special, the Mong and the Smith Miniplane, gives pilots a chance to apply their skills to racing on a 3.18-mile course at speeds exceeding 200 mph

The T-6 Class features match racing between stock aircraft, including the original T-6 "Texan," the Canadian-built "Harvard," and the US Navy "SNJ" version aircraft. The fastest T-6 aircraft generally post race speeds into the 220-230 mph range on the 5.06-mile course at Reno. Because the aircraft are all of the same type, the T-6 Class provides some of the most exciting racing at Reno, with an emphasis on strategy and pilot skill rather than raw horsepower.

The Jet Class was inaugurated in 2002 as an invitation-only class, featuring match racing with Czech-built Aerovodochody L-39 "Albatros" jets. Today the class has opened the field by adding other aircraft such as Provost, Iskra, L-29 and De Havilland Vampires. This class truly stands for the "Fastest Motor Sport" with speeds exceeding 500 miles per hour.

With the exception of very few "scratch-built" aircraft, the Unlimited Class has generally been populated by stock or modified WWII fighters with the P-51 Mustangs, F-8F Bearcats and Hawker Sea Fury being flown most often. The Unlimited Class flies in speeds exceeding 500 mph
So it’s not all about modifying warbirds although I agree and feel some of these mods have gone too far without the appropriate testing and development being explored. In 1991 Bob Pond commissioned the design with the idea of developing a modern aircraft that could compete with the vintage warbirds in the Unlimited Class at the Reno air races. Bob Pond was concerned that each year at Reno, valuable and historic aircraft were being crashed and destroyed, not to mention many engines being damaged or wrecked beyond repair. The Pond Racer was hoped to be an alternative to vintage aircraft that would be as fast and spectacular in the air as the warbirds.


Having said all that to watch an unlimited race was thrilling and spectacular, something I would not have missed for anything

[johnnyfalcon]

Good overview. I was under the impression that there was a carbon-fibre, piston engined, fighter replica concept being developed some years back. With modern technology what would be stopping that?

[dakdriver]

There have been a couple in the unlimited class but to my knowledge only one remains at this time. There still many scratch built in the other classes. Also there are not that many classic aircraft involved and I guess when they start getting that rare they will disappear from the racing scene being the rearity will increase the value of the survivors and not make it a viable horse for the race

A mustang inspired design Tsunami was a Merlin powered airplane built completely from scratch for the unlimited races. The basic idea to harness the power of a Rolls-Royce Merlin to a much smaller and lighter airframe. This plane however was lost, taking with it her pilot and financer

The survivor of the unlimited scratch built is the Nemesis NXT designed and built by the core of the original Nemesis team. As if it wasn't enough of a challenge to scratch build a racer once this team has done it twice. While some feel the verdict is still out on this plane, the fact that the design placed third in 2005 on half the horsepower as the rest of the field is testament enough

This is the future of air racing. Carbon fiber everywhere and some of the most extensive fluid dynamic research done for development this is where air racing is going to have to go if it will survive the last mustang.

Reno is about to happen this month

[Dave Homewood]

yes I was aware there were different classes and some proper warbirds among it all.

The Thunder Mustangs race there too. A bunch of them racing together must be awesome!

[dakdriver]

Don’t know about the Thunder Mustangs this year but it sure would be awesome, same airframes different power plants could make a big difference to the outcome of each race. Would be just as exciting as the unlimited race and there are no warbirds as such. This could be a watch this space