Big Crash at Reno

[Lyman]

Machinbird

Howdy. The 'add' roll left, at the moment one expects a roll right for level, is consistent with a wing drop on the left. With input right aileron the left aileron drops into the airstream, creates drag (lift) whilst the right aileron tucks up and lessens drag on the right wing. As you know, of course.

Is it possible this was a STALL? I pick up a NOSE drop after the wings reach vertical, and quickly followed by regain of lift, and NOSE up.

When the tail comes back into view, there is a marked torsional sequence of the Tail Feathers relative to the Fuselage, likely caused by asym downforce after the TT broke.

I think the TT broke off as a result of drag, past critical stress, aiw. The Trim Tab loss is not on its own sufficient to explain, with these other clues apparent.

This Torsion would explain the buckled skin in the still photo, but so would a Nose Drop post stall.

Keep after the video, I think you will see rapid and extreme Pitch aspect changes, coincident and following the short snap to left. This Pitch is certainly what caused the TW to drop out, since clearly it was dropping out before the climb.

This is suggestive to me of the massive g load at this point in the sequence, prior to 'climb'. Carefully watch the entire airframe as it reacts to the rolling, it is in extreme distortion, the elevators and wing undersides are distorted radically, and the flight path is 'shaken' in the camera lens.

Let me know if you cannot see the Torsional flexion in the tail relative the fuselage, I can find the exact frame, I think.

Ah, the Phantom

So, for the rest of us, shouldn't we be looking for a reason the left wing drops out? Instead of why a Trim Tab let go? The 'Roll' follows the precise timing for a reversal into Right Roll, and if the rest of you can't see the aileron on the left wing dropping down, I think I see it. What does a wing do when it is asked for more lift at critical Lift? It Stalls, drops, and induces a Nose Drop in Roll, with Yaw. All of these quite visible in the video.

The other explanation is that the Tail, having lost a tab, imparts twist into the fuselage, and this causes the unwanted Roll Left. This is evident from the video, but did it cause the roll back to the Right? The twist is clockwise as seen from the back, consistent with a loss of downforce on the left HS. Depends on the position of the broken Tab. Did Leeward have ND cranked in, or NU? And did the tab break as a result, or did it cause, the upset?

Pretty powerful Tab.