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David,
I do not think that you can compare this incident to an engine failure after
take off and subsequence attempt to return to the departure runway.
George (Thunder Mustang pilot) was doing about 375 MPH when he blew the
engine(two holes in the engine case). He pulled up, in a left turn, to
convert airspeed to altitude; so far so good.
The standard drill for an emergency during a race at Reno is to pull up and
turn left (circle the airport) so as to position yourself to land on one of
the 6 runways, or perhaps a taxiway.
The wind was a major factor. On the surface it 25 with gusts to over 40,
from the South, with variations as much as 30 degrees. There was a great
deal of turbulence on the race course itself.
At the top of the climb George decided to turn right instead of continuing
left. Had he not turned right, runway 14 would have been his for the
taking(long and wide). With the right turn his only option was 26. Even
after he got the plane turned south the high winds were pushing him and the
plane north away from the runway. He made it to the runway, but was not
aligned with it; and thus departed in a Southwesterly direction and the
plane was destroyed.
Without the winds there would have been no accident.
I was one of the six pilots in that race.
Oh, there were two Thunder Mustangs in the race. The other one ground looped
on landing (runway 18) after the race. The plane was not damaged.
Lynn Farnsworth
Super Legacy
TSIO-550 Powered
Race #44
-----Original Message-----
From: Lancair Mailing List [mailto:lml@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of David
Standish
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2010 07:40
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Subject: [LML] [Fwd: RE: [LML] Thunder Mustang Crash at Reno]
He never claimed weather was a factor but there was a significant
adverse wind. Gusting from the west. This was minutes before they
decided not to run the unlimited race final due to wind and turbulence.
The failure occurred while he was headed easterly near the home pylon.
He attempted make a right turn back to 26. He was still not aligned
with the runway when he ran out of altitude and caught the wing tip.
Makes you think twice about trying to return to your departure runway
after an engine failure on take off.
David
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: [LML] Thunder Mustang Crash at Reno
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 10:32:52 -0400
From: Bill Bradburry <bbradburry@bellsouth.net>
To: lml@lancaironline.net
He never explained how he converted 2K feet of altitude into a
cartwheel?? Personally I prefer landing on the wheels and not the wing
tips. :>)
Bill B
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Lancair Mailing List [mailto:lml@lancaironline.net] *On Behalf
Of *Steve Colwell
*Sent:* Saturday, September 25, 2010 8:46 AM
*To:* lml@lancaironline.net
*Subject:* [LML] Thunder Mustang Crash at Reno
There was an seminar at Sun and Fun years ago where they talked about
how to best crash an airplane without a suitable place to land...and
this guy did it...a cartwheel. The energy is dissipated more slowly and
the G Forces are minimized. They looked at a number of crashes and
found that in those that cartwheeled, the pilot walked away. Your comments?
Steve Colwell Legacy
http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-092110-pilot-survives,0,646191.story?track=r
ss
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