Zulu Alpha
I believe that "wrinkling" image was not captured at the time of the accident but previous to the accident..
And thanks to Tredigraph below, I found the article that quoted Matt Jackson, President of the Unlimited class at Reno:
Jackson said the accident was the result of pilot error, not shoddy aircraft designs or the failure of the race organizers to ensure safe aircraft participate in the races.
“It was the mistake of one individual in making a critical decision — a decision that didn’t work out,” Jackson said. “It wasn’t deliberate. It was an accident — just like the accidents that happen every day out on the highway.”
According to Jackson, Jimmy Leeward, pilot of the ill-fated Galloping Ghost, made the mistake of using his “elevator trim tab” to control his plane during the Unlimited race on Friday, and the trim tab broke off, causing the plane to shoot into the air.
Jackson said the crash was an accident — not the result of sloppy designs or the lack of safety oversight on the aircraft.
Essentially, with the crash being an accident, it means the spectators might have an expectation of injury, as the tickets warn.
Jackson said the plane was safe if it was flown properly. He said Leeward made the mistake of using his trim tab on his tail to control his pitch, and the force of the speed was too much for that small piece of equipment, and it snapped off with catastrophic results.
“I know exactly what happened,” Jackson said, “and when the National Transportation Safety Board comes back with its report on the cause, they will say the same thing I’m saying.”
According to Jackson, Leeward’s elevator trim tab broke off when Leeward rounded turns No. 7 and 8.
“I always tell the pilots that we don’t touch the trim tabs on any of the fast airplanes,” Jackson said. “Apparently he was using the trim tab. It snapped off. That’s the pop we heard.”
When the trim tab broke, the Galloping Ghost shot into the air.
The G-force of about 9 caused Leeward to black out, and his body slumped forward, hitting the control stick and causing the plane to turn to the right and then down.
Photos of the plane support this, Jackson said. The back landing gear is down in photos of the plane just before it crashed. The landing gear is designed to deploy at 9 Gs, Jackson said.
In addition, Jackson said, Leeward was not visible in the cockpit of any of the photographs of the airplane’s final moments.
When racers fly, they set their shoulder harnesses to allow them to move around in the cockpit so that they can look over their shoulders for the other planes in the race. That would explain how Leeward disappeared from the cockpit, he said.
“The pilot blacked out or was dead in the airplane,” Jackson said. “His body came forward and he was pushed against the stick.”
“It’s going to come out that the trim tab failed,” Jackson said. “The plane that crashed was a very precise aircraft. Nothing had been short-cutted.”
It was an accident — not a design flaw, Jackson said."
The G-force from the sharp pitch caused Leeward to black out, and then fall on his control stick, which made the plane turn and then nosedive into the ground, said Jackson, who has been racing these planes for 20 years.
SO, my synopsis is:
Leeward , having gone faster than he ever had before, with an opportunity to pass into second place, disregards the instructions and trims against the nose up forces resulting from his increased speed.
He over-stresses the tab and then it breaks off the aircraft, resulting in a massive nose up force that he cannot hold against.
This force is sufficient to render Leeward unconscious and is testified by the deployment the tail wheel.
We all know what happened after that...
reason for edit, update reference
Last edited by gileraguy; 28th Sep 2011 at 07:39.