Typhoon Close Call At RIAT

[safetypee]

I wonder how this incident may affect future displays.
First politically; there are likely to be (or should be) questions asked like what if 35 ft lower? (it is interesting how this value crops up in many display accidents). The fact is that in the current political climate Jo Public would not like paying for a military ‘error’ that parked one of their new jets at the side of the runway. What would £xxM pay for elsewhere; and ‘Tiffys’ do not catch terrorists. All of this has to be set against the backdrop of increasing public power, and the need for blame and retribution.

Secondly what can be learnt from the incident? I doubt that any findings will be made public, but I hope that whatever happened is passed on internally. I recall many years ago an excellent article (Air Clues?) on display flying; even for those who were not in this category there was something to heed about judgment and human error in precision flying. I expect that the pilot debriefed with flying display committee (a similar organization to that used at Farnborough) where explanations and advice would be exchanged for mutual benefit; at Farnborough the world tp community is close enough to talk and learn from each other, I hope the military can similarly benefit from any lessons learnt.

A speculative diversion; does the Typhoon’s control philosophy - control about the velocity vector as opposed the longitudinal axis, change the perception of display maneuvers? At high alpha there is a significant difference between where the aircraft is pointing and where it is going; when the VV is vertically down could there be a perception of well-being as the pitch attitude indicates less than 90? Whilst in principle this is true for all aircraft, would the Typhoon’s motion cues in having a different frame of reference give alternative or incorrect awareness of relative motion?

I hope that their ‘Airships’ do not overreact; most have a good track record in balancing the risks of display flying against the benefits. But these people too suffer political pressure, and the need for action is often predetermined. From my fast jet experience I knew several professional display pilots, two close friends, were killed. The majority of display accidents involve human error and extreme vertical maneuvers. Is there now good justification in restricting low level vertical maneuvers, particularly those not directly applicable the current role of the aircraft? Is it sensible to expose a new aircraft type to the increased risks of display flying; albeit small risks, but all with minimum margin for human error? Fortunately I do not have to make these calls, but during my career the advice I attribute to Hugh Meriwether (Hawker tp) aided my judgment – “speed and upwardness”.

Edit: My apologies to Duncan and Hugh, following JF’s comment; and not forgetting the many examples of professional of display flying from Bill, David, John (JF), et al. A bit before my time, but I watched from the grass at F’Boro.