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Old 4th Apr 2001, 01:08
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Flight Safety
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Patsy001, since you asked about large aircraft and bombers in formation in a photo shoot...

That reminds me of the XB-70 crash in the 60s. An XB-70 AV2 (test air vehicle 2) was in a photo shoot with four other aircraft (fighters), all of which were equipped with GE engines. The fact that all 5 aircraft were GE engine equipped was the reason for the photo shoot, as a promotion for GE. A learjet was being used as the photo plane.

During the photo shoot, with all the aircraft in a tight formation (XB-70 leading) for the photo op, one of the fighters (an F104) flew in too close to the right wing tip of the XB-70. When it did, it got caught in the heavy wing tip wake vortex of the bomber, and was "blown" by the vortex over the top of the bomber and it struck both vertical stabilizers. The F104 was severed in half and decended in a ball of flames. The XB-70 flew on for a very brief time, then became unstable without the vertical stabs (which were torn off by the fighter) and decended in a dive and crashed.

So I think your question is a very good question from a safety perspective. This type of thing has to be watched carefully in photo shoots of aircraft in formation. Good planning with wake turbulance in mind, should prevent a safety problem from developing.

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Safe flying to you...