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Stearman prang in Texas 2/10/21 - no injuries...

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Stearman prang in Texas 2/10/21 - no injuries...

Old 3rd Oct 2021, 08:30
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Stearman prang in Texas 2/10/21 - no injuries...

Ummmm... take off from a highway in Winnie. just east of Houston. The aircraft had taken part in a street parade apparently. Ooops!

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Old 3rd Oct 2021, 10:36
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Taking off from a road. Is that allowed in the UK?
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Old 3rd Oct 2021, 14:05
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No idea. Maybe in the USA, which is where the accident happened, it might be allowed?
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Old 3rd Oct 2021, 17:31
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I think the CAA would take a somewhat jaundiced view in the UK. However, I do know of a Rallye that force landed in a small meadow alongside the A30 in Devon many years ago. Whatever was troubling it was easily fixed but the field was unsuitable for take off, so it was craned over the wall and with suitable permission and the assistance of the local plod, it departed safely from the road.

Another video out there of a force landed C210 hitting something and ending up rather crumpled while attempting a take off from a US road some years ago.
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Old 4th Oct 2021, 19:04
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Seems such an unescessary accident and loss of aircraft.

Last edited by DogTailRed2; 5th Oct 2021 at 09:42.
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Old 4th Oct 2021, 19:34
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If the Local Authority and the Police give permission for a road to be closed and a private aircraft to land and take-off from it, without pax, would the CAA's permission be required anywhere in the UK? Assuming the insurance was valid.
If it was a static display, not flying during the show, authorisation would appear not needed.
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Old 4th Oct 2021, 23:25
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In North America, sometimes roads are used, with official tolerance. I cannot comment this event, but an airplane on the road is not out of the question. It is certainly done in rural farming areas for crop duster operations.


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Old 7th Oct 2021, 19:15
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Another view on Facebook - hmmmm.

https://tinyurl.com/yzurtse8
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Old 7th Oct 2021, 19:36
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Interesting - could the sudden yaw before becoming airborne suggest a power failure ?
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Old 7th Oct 2021, 19:48
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He appears to drift onto the median which looks a bit like one of those storm water ditches then hoicks it off - the first video the engine sounds pretty much on song to me.
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Old 7th Oct 2021, 22:35
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Traffic lights must have been on red,.... get my coat...
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Old 7th Oct 2021, 23:52
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Well... Were I to speculate, I would suggest that the road was unusually narrow for the view expected by a back seat pilot in a Stearman. When he pitched up to rotate (perhaps a little underspeed), he also suffered a reduction in directional perception, so drifted left. The effort to get back on track both used up energy, and disoriented the pilot, so he tried to outclimb the wires with too little speed, and stalled over them.
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Old 8th Oct 2021, 04:02
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Regardless of the drift off the paved surface, it really doesn’t look like he had enough space to takeoff and get over the power lines.
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Old 8th Oct 2021, 10:22
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Everything about that takeoff looks wrong. Oh well. It'll buff out.
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Old 9th Oct 2021, 02:42
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One analysis.

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Old 9th Oct 2021, 10:20
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Looking at the Facebook clip, initially all looks OK, but then it seems the pilot decided to abort the take off and the tail lowers, but then changed his mind and decides to continue. By then it was too late
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Old 9th Oct 2021, 12:24
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Interesting - could the sudden yaw before becoming airborne suggest a power failure ?
Probably just old fashioned propeller theory - An attitude change leads to changes in the directional forces from the propeller and even the forces (drag) on each wheel. Quite possibly a classic case here of the drift and slower acceleration due to attitude change. Then even more drag from the sloping grass surface possibly leading to a slightly longer than expected TORR.

The propeller theory related to this accident will most likely be quoted in tail dragger lessons for years to come.
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Old 9th Oct 2021, 17:54
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I suggest everyone watches the video that Megan posted.
Lots of good information from a well respected pilot.
The most obvious comment made in that video was "could have just towed the aircraft the 3 miles to the airport" which really sums up the accident.
Why attempt a difficult or dangerous takeoff from a road when you could have just towed it?
As Scott says "If it's difficult, dangerous or different" then don't do it.
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Old 10th Oct 2021, 12:25
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Originally Posted by munnst

Why attempt a difficult or dangerous takeoff from a road when you could have just towed it?
The same question about a takeoff still applies, even if there is no nearby airport(eg. Fuel leak resulted in successful off airport landing. Fuel replenished but takeoff difficult and dangerous…..call out the mechanics to take the aircraft apart to put on a truck.)
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Old 10th Oct 2021, 19:37
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400 meters takeoff run over a 50 feet pole will not work in a normal 220 horsepower stearman.

Analysis from Blancoliro
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