Conclusion
Thanks Rob,
I have read every one recently when a potential buyer pointed this list out to me last week; there are lessons to take from each one, most of which have nothing to do with the aircraft type but clearly the fuel stoppage is focussed on the vapour lock confined to the large T67M260 with under cowl air conditioner, flown in hot and high conditions.
Example of not related to this aircraft specifically - the pilot having never flown the display in the different 200hp machine, just getting into one and flying it low level and crashing - darwin award.
I lost a friend in a Vampire Jet who did exactly that - someone was sick, so they offered to take their place and flew a routine not practiced at altitude and crashed - he was retired military with thousands of operational hours in props and jets including harriers plus huge aerobatic hours but fell foul of the golden rule... doin't do anything at low level you have not practiced at altitude (I guess except landing!) it will kill you .. and it did.
However, I do understand why myself and perhaps others are safe - I READ THE SLINGSBY FLIGHT MANUAL including the section on spin recovery which is simple and specific and NOT the same as other aircraft.
Then I went out and practiced what it said in the manual with an aerobatic instructor and it worked.
Since I am not a test pilot, I have no plans to get into a spin and try alternative methods of spin recovery ... would you ?
Clearly from reading the detail, that is what some people did, including a survivor who explained what they had done, still not understanding why the aircraft would not recover.
The USAF went one stage further with the T67M260 and even wrote their OWN flight manual thereby sealing their fate....
I went flying in the T67M200 yesterday and if I could afford to keep it indefinitely, I would not sell it, it is fabulous. It has full IFR panel, enough comfortable room for 2 side by side, will fly cross country further than my bladder will and I can roll about the skies doing loops and rolls like it is at a fairground on rails - ahhh - and I know how to avoid a spin, know how to recover a spin and know how not to botch a spin recovery - it is in the manual.
If you are interested - the key points for spin recovery are this - it says "a high rotation rate spin may occur if the correct procedure is not followed" - this is pretty dammed clear would you not say ? "particularly if the control column is moved forward, partially or fully BEFORE the application of full ani-spin rudder" - which is exactly what is known to have happened to one survivor and if you screw-up it even tells you the botched recovery er recovery ....
a. Check that FULL anti-spin rudder is applied
b. Move the control column FULLY AFT - then SLOWLY FORWARD until the spin stops.
c. Centralise the controls and recover to level flight (observing the G limitation)
I would add one more thing from reading the accident reports, although it should be obvious if you are learning aerobatics.
When pulling out of a dive, do it gently and make sure the rudders are central.
If the rudders are not central and you pull like buggery, you are executing a snap roll and guess what, it does a snap roll whilst pointing vertically down.
From the evidence, it looks like some people did exactly that.
The Slingsby is made of rust-free composite before the days of carbon fibre so it is HEAVY and from what I read, the 260hp version T67M200 spins very nose-low (the T67M200 does not from my experience)
This could be very scary if you have not practiced it and if the trainee panics and just yanks hard at the stick, they will do some more aerobatics pointing vertically down.
Today, I have decided that I will not sell my aircraft to anyone until they have have conducted a spin training session at my cost with my flight school A cat instructor and demonstrated not only that they can recover from a spin repeatedly, but that they know what is the incorrect spin recovery to avoid for this aircraft. I discussed this with the CFI there yesterday and unprompted he spelled out the CORRECT spin recovery for this aircraft and explained why. "most aircraft with the horizontal stabiliser placed low down relative to the rudder will suffer some blanking of the rudder in a spin. Keeping the stick back while applying opposite rudder ensures that the the rudder gets maximum airflow" yes he speaks like this. Interestingly, I have read that T tail aircraft suffer blanking by the fuselage in a spin - no controls will fix this - so are not certified for spinning for that reason like the DA20s that the USAF bought to replace the Slingsby.... here endeth the first lesson.
Best wishes
Regards
Trevor