Duxford Flying Legends 9th July

[irishjg10]

[vdomini]

Originally Posted by bobbysocks

from cambridge first...

One of the aircraft lost “chunks” of its wing.

The pilot of one plane parachuted to safety before it crashed into trees and the other aircraft was able to fly away safely and land. No one was injured in the crash which involved a P-51 Mustang and a Skyraider.

Mark Brown, a pilot, from Warminster, was at the air show and witnessed the crash.

He said: “Three aircrafts form a triangle and then they peel off to the left one after the other. As they did that the leader and the one that was following clipped each other.

“The Sky Raider lost a large chunk of its wing tip which fell to the ground.

“It went into a bit of a dive then sorted itself out. The other aircraft dived away from the airfield.

“They were only about 100 feet at this point.

“Then we saw someone jump out and a parachute open. It looked all right, so I assumed someone got out ok. There was no explosion or smoke.”

Henry Simpson, who was at the event and also witnessed the crash, said: “I saw two aircraft collide and large chunks of metal falling from the aircraft.

“One of them then entered a dive before crashing into the ground behind some trees, the pilot did parachute to safety and the other plane landed safely.”

Jason Warden, from Leicestershire, said the Douglas Skyraider, which appeared not to see the mustang and “turned in too tightly hitting the mustang”.

“A chunk of wing fell from the Skyraider which was quickly brought back under control.”

He said people saw a chute open just before the aircraft hit the ground.

Alistair Barbour, from Surrey, took the above photograph minutes before the crash.

He said: “Two Mustangs and a Skyraider were in a three ship formation when the lead Mustang ‘Beautiful Doll’ collided with the wing of the much larger Skyraider. Parts fell to the ground over the airfield from both aircraft.

“The Skyraider lost some control but recovered after losing height, However, the pilot of ‘Beautiful Doll’ could only do his best to ditch his aircraft safely in a field adjacent to Duxford while bailing out a couple of seconds before impact.”



if they were only at a hundred feet or so....that is not much time to make a decision to ride it out or bail. AND if they were only that high its a wonder the chute was able to get the pilot down safely.

impressive , luckily no one injured, gosh!

[winny]

Slightly better video here

Looks like the 51 lost part of one of the elevators.

[olife]

waooooooooooooooooooo!!epic,fantastic,great pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!super!!!!
...and lucky nobody injuried in the crash...a bad lose for the aviation history.
no probs for the t-shirt logo,pleasure is mine.
would be great if next year ,i can go too...
millions thanks to share guys!!!really super!!
thx again!!

[Robotic Pope]

Originally Posted by winny

Slightly better video here

Looks like the 51 lost part of one of the elevators.

No, everything was still on the plane, it just took a heavy whack up the arse. Unfortunatly looking at a Mustang cross section picture, that is right were the rudder and elevator cables travel on their way to the tail. Looking at the damage these cables would certainly been effected if not jammed completely. No way you could recover a spin. Quick thinking saved his life.

[SEE]

Inclined to agree, he was too low to try and make an assessment regards the possibilty of recovering and landing - right decision to bale in my opinion - someones life is worth more than any ac.

[P-51]

Originally Posted by Robotic Pope

No, everything was still on the plane, it just took a heavy whack up the arse. Unfortunatly looking at a Mustang cross section picture, that is right were the rudder and elevator cables travel on their way to the tail. Looking at the damage these cables would certainly been effected if not jammed completely. No way you could recover a spin. Quick thinking saved his life.

Exactly. It's like those moments in BoP when your tail gets slaughtered, making it hard to turn. Only he needs a new set of underwear and a bar of soap for his mouth

My Dad spoke to the Paramedic who attended, he works with him, and he was "shaken and hopping mad, wanting to know who hit him". Glad he's okay.

[Robotic Pope]

In Birds of Prey both aircraft would have exploded instantly

[bobbysocks]

great pics irish! that second video is better.....what a crumpled pile of aluminum that used to be a sweet ac.

[P-51]

With any luck the camera in the cockpit (I remember the DVD was supposed to have cockpit footage) will have survived and we can all S**t ourselves as the ground gets closer.

Put full screen and 720p on for this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmsJW0-6JB0

Edit: Just spoke to my Dad in person after this mornings text confirming the pilot was fine. The reports on the news are wrong, he did not break an arm and did only suffer minor abrasions to both forearms. He was found inspecting the airframe with tears in his eyes (it was his, 3 months previous), wanted to know who had hit him and wanted to get back to the ATC tower as his daughter was there.

One lucky guy. That's it from me on this subject - I think I've posted enough about it :p