Originally Posted by
Bob Viking
Surely to pull through from a loop that has apexed at 2800’ actually requires incredible skill and concentration. Any lack of consciousness or awareness would surely have resulted in a vertical ground impact rather than a (miraculously) survivable almost level attitude?
I can only put this accident into Hawk terms but I know that if I were to apex 1500’ lower than intended and continued the manoeuvre I would be incredibly lucky to complete the second half before ground impact. I can’t imagine a Hunter is markedly different in that regard.
BV, there is data supporting your assumption in the AAIB report. The aeroplane had to be flown at maximum instantaneous turn performance (light buffet) throughout the pull through to achieve that radius. Assuming that the aircraft was trimmed in pitch at the pull-up point, this would have required a significant (but easily applied) aft stick force and displacement throughout the manoeuvre. There are a couple of extra significant considerations.
First, analysis of the external videos showed that at some point in the manoeuvre the flaps were selected from 1 notch to 2.
Secondly, during the last quarter of the manoeuvre when about 30 degrees nose down the aircraft entered wing rock which would have been caused by a further aft stick input increasing angle of attack past the maximum value ie. the aircraft was pulled into an accelerated stall. This would actually have increased the height loss slightly but was, in my opinion, a totally instinctive control input and did indicate to me that the pilot was aware of the aircraft's flightpath with respect to the ground.
Your comparison with the Hawk is interesting because the Hunter is actually a lot easier to fly in situations such as this. It has a progressive increase in buffet intensity as AoA is increased compared to the Hawk as so is much easier for maintaining maximum instantaneous turn at all airspeeds.