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Old 16th May 2017, 09:48
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9 lives
 
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Pilots who fly low level aerobatics know that they are placing themselves at risk. It is very poorly trained in general, but their is a "height/velocity curve" for a fixed wing airplane, every bit as much as there is for a helicopter. Flying within that band of altitude, and airspeed means that a successful power off landing will not be possible. A lot of flying is done in airplanes which is allowed to be engine power dependent, when done differently, or at a higher altitude would be much more recoverable in the case of power loss. I was the unfortunate witness to a very similar, though more severe low level aerobatic accident at Oshkosh, where the aircraft SF260 impacted the ground the same way right in front of me. It was a fatal accident.

In both cases, an informed pilot made an operational choice, I hope this pilot recovers well. I hope other pilots include this painfully learned wisdom in the planning of their flights.
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