Su27 Crashes at Airshow in Ukraine

[Paterbrat]

Purely as an observation, but having had the privilage and pleasure of seeing a number of SBAC shows at Farnborough, one can think back to some in the past where we saw for example 22 Hawker Hunters looping, Fleet Air Arm Sea Hawkes touching down between two others taxiing in the opposite direction with their wings being folded to allow the landing aircraft to pass between them. A Vulcan bomber slow rolling just after take off. Low fly-bys of Hunters with various underwing ordinance or tanks and completing a fast roll just as they past the spectators only a few feet above the runway, (one such roll resulted in a very interesting swerve towards the trees as the pilot slightly misjudged it). Multiple aircraft / helicopters in the air in very close proximity, and many other dramatic demos

Unforgettable stuff ( one doubts that the Hunter pilot ever has), but over the years experience and common sense have dictated limits. This years SBAC show contained pilots who demonstrated their machines towards the outer periphery of the envelope and shown human skills as impressive and inspiring as those who did so in the past, but it was very much safer.

Most show organisers have learned from past experiences, as painful as the one that has just taken place. We all learn something everyday, our lives a continual learning process, some are a little behind others. It may be ventured that, tragicaly, the Ukraine just learned something, and more perhaps will be in the aftermath and subsequent inquiery. It should not however mean the end of airshows.