Duxford incident-Pilots reported safe

[Rod1]

News on other forums of a collision between a P-51 and Skyraider .
Skyraider landed ok minus approx 4 foot of wing.
P-51 pilot bailed out.

[Torque Tonight]

Crikey. :eek: Been a bad week for this sort of thing. A fortunate result if the above is correct - let's hope so.

[NutLoose]

Link to image of the Skyraider

Skyraider wing damage: http://yfrog.com/klytbrj (http://yfrog.com/klytbrj)

Photocredit: Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/TonyHouse1)

They were lucky!

[Auster Fan]

P-51 pilot was apparently Rob Davies, who was flying Big Beautiful Doll

[flybydayuk]

Yes. Rob did a good job of getting out of the "Doll" as he appeared quite low. I resist estimating altitudes but he appeared pretty low for chute operation. Another Mustang orbited & reported pilot down & walking. Doll fared less well appearing to have gone straight into field. Skyraider driver did well to land back lacking so much of the manufacturers recommended wing span.

[astir 8]

Oh b******, not Big Beautifull Doll! What a lovely aircraft. Fortunately feel OK saying such a thing if pilot OK.

[Mr Cessna]

Where is Big Beautiful Doll based? Damyns Hall because I have seen it there alot :confused:

[strake]

Very glad to hear they're both OK.

Be interesting to know when the last pilot bailed out of a P51 to save his life..come to think of it, I wonder when was the last time any pilot bailed out of a non-military powered aircraft for emergency reasons...

[treadigraph]

Rob Davies based BBD at his strip in Kent, but recently sold her to a German organisation who had re-registered her D-FBBD. Rob was still a nominated pilot on the aircraft.

Last P-51 bail out I know of was in the USA a few years ago, after the aircraft lost power over mountainous terrain and above cloud. Pilot and passenger abandoned successfully and I have an idea the wreckage was even gathered up for a "rebuild". I wouldn't be surprised to see BBD reincarnated in a few year's time.

[JEM60]

Treadi. Think you are right about the bail-out in the USA. I believe it was one of the many 'Glamorous Glenis' that Yeager always used to fly at Oshkosh.. Just had fabulous four days at Duxford. Shame it ended like that, but could have been worse!.

[kevkdg]

Caught on video

BBC News - Vintage fighter planes collide at Duxford display (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14106730)

[coldair]

There are some excellent photographs in the Daily Mail ( A UK 'newspaper' )

Display pilot's incredible escape from World War Two fighter as he bails out after mid-air collision at airshow | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2013219/Display-pilots-incredible-escape-World-War-Two-fighter-bails-mid-air-collision-airshow.html)

[old-timer]

VERY glad all pilots safe.

Sad about Big B.Doll - saw her the day before looking particularly shiny & resplendent - amazing work can be performed so let's hope we'll maybe see her airworthy again one day.

As said, main thing is the Pilots are all safe, they can't be rebuilt !

[MichaelJP59]

Definitely the main thing is that the pilots are OK; remarkable low level bailout by the P-51 pilot and a safe landing with what must have been compromised roll control on the Skyraider.

On the bright side, hopefully the insurance will pay out on BBD and that money can be used to restore her. Doubt if there's much usable on the very crumpled airframe but there's plenty of work there for one of the excellent warbird workshops.

[Kestrel]

Anyone know the name of the Skyraider pilot .?

[Tay Cough]

RD may have a few suggestions. :oh:

[Barcli]

Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis

[cats_five]

Thought that was the operator? I think 'amicale' is a club or association.

[pax britanica]

Amazing pictures
The P51 guy must have decided really quickly to abandon ship as theywere so low . And surely the Skyraider guy displayed amazing skill, his aircraft is at an extreme attitude almost vertically banked a few 100 feet up; a large piece of wing (and aileron?) disappears and he lands a big heavy brute like that. Incredible stuff

PB

[patowalker]

Jean-Baptiste Salis lost his medical some time ago, not surprising, as he was born in 1896.

AJBS - Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis (http://www.ajbs.eu/)

[HappyJack260]

Does anyone else think it looked from the video as if the P-51 lost most of its fin and rudder, too? That would have made it uncontrollable pretty quickly!

[MichaelJP59]

Does anyone else think it looked from the video as if the P-51 lost most of its fin and rudder, too? That would have made it uncontrollable pretty quickly!

It looks on this photograph as though it is just the underside of the fuselage that is damaged, presumably with consequent damage to the control runs.

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh31/Easyrider5258/IMG_3204.jpg

[Unusual Attitude]

I have to confess, that picture has got me thinking about the merits of trying to find an ulta-slim chute pack since I dont have much room, anyone know of any such thing?

[FleetFlyer]

Try searching for 'Softie Parachutes'. I Believe they deal with that sort of thing.

If you google for a cutaway picture of a Mustang, it will show you that the control cable runs make their way from the top of the rear fuselage to the bottom as they run forward, in exactly the area that is missing from the P-51 in the picture above. I'm sure he bailed because the elevator was not responding.

[Justiciar]

As a serious question, how do you bail out in a situation like this. Looking at the video the canopy was jetissoned very soon after impact, implying an early decision to bail out. But, what do you actually do? Stand on the seat and throw yourself over? I seem to remember reading that spitfire pilots would if they could turn inverted and fall out!

[Cusco]

Looking at the photo (esp tailplane apparent angle of incidence) I wonder if the a/c's back is broken and maybe the canopy departed as a result of this rather than pilot action.

The AAIB report will tell us, I'm sure......

Cusco

[Sir George Cayley]

Pilot on TV tonight saying he had no pitch control.

SGC

[Genghis the Engineer]

I imagine that the pilot in question will have that photograph posted by JP, or something very similar, displayed in their downstairs loo for the rest of their life.

G

[beamender99]

Anglia Regional News | Anglia Tonight - ITV Local (http://www.itv.com/anglia/pilot-speaks-about-crash48488/)