How not to treat a Spitfire

[NutLoose]

Or at least the engine...

During a landing at Dijon recently the French based Griffon powered MK 19 nosed over on landing shedding great lumps of the prop, judging by the size of that lump the young lad has picked up they must be about 18 inches in length.
At the end of the landing roll out he keeps pouring on more power to taxy in, no doubt wondering why it isn't moving fwd very fast......it might be something to do with the lack of a lot of the prop..... :ugh::ugh:

One would imagine the thing was trying to shake itself apart, not a great result for the prop, engine or indeed the Aircraft... :ugh::ugh:

Film which isn't the greatest quality here

crash spitfire dijon - YouTube

[500N]

Interesting way of doing it !

A real shame.

[CoffmanStarter]

Don't care who it is ... Bloody idiot who needs more tail wheel time ... Pure sacrilege :(

[SASless]

Nice Souvenir for hanging over the bar at home!:ok:

[NutLoose]

He looked as if he was off to return it, quick splash of superglue and voilà..

[emeritus]

Can't complain about the pilots airmanship. There wasn't any. Same goes for common sense. :ugh:

Emeritus

[Buster Hyman]

How not to treat a Spitfire? Outside of shooting at it?

[Brian Abraham]

Feature of Spitfire ops. "Pecking" the WWII types called it.

[ExAscoteer]

[Geek Mode] If it's a PRXIX, why is it painted as a FRXVIII? [/Geek Mode]

[A2QFI]

Shock loading check on the crank will probably cost more than the prop.

[500N]

Brian

"Feature of Spitfire ops. "Pecking" the WWII types called it."


Maybe so during WWII with 18 year olds and 20 hours experience
but if it was such as feature, why doesn't it happen to BBMF flight
and everyone else who flies Spitfires ?

He just cocked it up ?

[GeeRam]

[Geek Mode] If it's a PRXIX, why is it painted as a FRXVIII? [/Geek Mode]

It's not a PR.XIX.

It's a MK.XIV, ex-SM832 (F-AZSJ)

[Cows getting bigger]

I wouldn't let him loose on my Citabria, never mind a Spitfire.

[sisemen]

OK. So we know the location and we know the airframe. So who was driving it and do they post on here?

Step forward and accept the shame.:eek:

[Danny42C]

500N is right. P/O Percy Prune lives ! (thought he had a nosewheel ?)

We all have our off days (......cast the first stone.....?)

Did an OTU on them in '42, flew them on 20 Sqdn in '50 -'51. Never heard of "pecking" before. As we'd been aiming to three-point everything (if we could !) from Day 1, it usually happened to us only when we carelessly strayed off taxiway onto mud with a few knots on.

Nutloose

"the thing was trying to shake itself apart"....... I thought the Griffon did that all the time ! ('ware incoming)

D.

[Dysonsphere]

That has to be one of the most stupid thing I have ever seen , not the prop strike s**t happens but not shutting down straight away but then revving it up after what an idiot.

[Low Flier]

C'mon, boys. All join in the chorus:

You can teach ....

[Just This Once...]

I'm glad when videos such as this come up as I have been perfect at every stage of my aviation career. Yep, no mistakes at all in any aircraft; if fact I am pretty-much perfect.

Never left an aircraft at a rakish angle near the runway. Never forgotten a pin. Never made a mistake with a weapons selection. Never crewed in to the wrong aircraft. Never felt someone else's piper on my head. Never bust a bubble. Never arrived at +/- zero seconds on completely the wrong minute. Never had the inquiry president ask my if it is ok to record my statement. Never had to listen to my own voice on the ADR.

I am also sure that I am not alone in these achievements and the forum is full of equally god-like aviators.

:ok:

[Onceapilot]

Two basic options here, best he could do in the circumstances or, a coc&-up. Have read there was engine trouble of some sort and so, maybe the apparent mush into the ground was a result of this rather than just getting too slow? On the other hand, the post-accident handling, high-rev taxying, was crass.

OAP

[Agaricus bisporus]

I am also sure that I am not alone in these achievements and the forum is full of equally god-like aviators.

You cannot be serious???!!!!

That's not a "mistake", that's one of the most insanely unprofessional f@**-ups I've ever seen! What on earth are you thinking of?

[1.3VStall]

JTO,

Don't be so sanctimonious. Every one of us screws up occasionally, and that guy certainly did with an appalling landing, but to carry on revving the engine after a major prop strike simply beggars belief! What a complete f**kwit!

[NutLoose]

"the thing was trying to shake itself apart"....... I thought the Griffon did that all the time ! ('ware incoming)

That's what I heard too Danny, if a Griffon which was a rough running engine ever ran smooth it was about to let go, which was the opposite of a Merlin..

[Stitchbitch]

If only he'd had 25 hours in the Chippy, and half a season on the Hurricane first...:E

[Brian Abraham]

Maybe so during WWII with 18 year olds and 20 hours experience
but if it was such as feature, why doesn't it happen to BBMF flight
and everyone else who flies Spitfires ?Been more than a few accidents with Spitfires and other aircraft of historical importance, and flown by pilots in some cases held in extremely high regard. Mark Hanna comes to mind (Bf-109 accident) or Neil Williams (He -111 accident).

Mark Hanna OFMC flying Messerschmitt Bf109 at Torp Norway 93 - YouTube

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m56/babraham227/z225_zps0a24d8a0.jpg

[Danny42C]

With only about 250 hours on type, I hesitate to comment on the unfortunate attempt to "wheelbarrow" the Spitfire, but this is my idea of what may have happened.

With little or no experience on the aircraft, the tendency is to "play safe" and wheel it in. As you have probably left a few extra knots on as well, to be on the safe side, it will behave exactly like a Tiger Moth and float off if you give it half a chance. Particularly will it do this if it is bounced slightly, or hits a bump. So it might be a good idea to ease the stick just a little bit forward to "clamp" the wheels on the deck? Forget it ! The elevator on a Spit is extremely sensitive, "a little more than a little is by much too much" - and so it was in this case.

There is another possibility, but it is so unlikely that it is hardly worth considering. The brakes are applied by a bicycle-type handle inside the spade grip. Could this have been momentarily "tweaked" by accident ? (a very long shot, I know).

Geriaviator , a while ago, made the point that, in his experience all FJs had trouble with the Tiger Moth first time (as indeed I'd had myself, as I relate). The answer is to land all Spitfires (even the heavier "Griffons") as if they were big Tigers - don't hurry, hold it off, let it drop down by itself. For that reason, I would heartily support the excellent suggestion a few Posts ago by Stichbitch (for a 25-hour Tiger experience before being let loose in a Spit). Tigers are available (and relatively cheap). Flyable Spits are national treasures, we cannot afford to lose (and this one was within a whisker of planting the nose and going over on its back).

The take-off risk of the prop touching (I've never heard of "pecking" before) was always well known to everybody in my day. It happens, of course, because of the natural desire to get the tail up so as to see where you're going.

Of course he should have coasted onto the grass at once and shut down.

D.

[Brian Abraham]

The prototype Spitfire was written off and the pilot killed from nosing over on landing. The official reportThe accident occurred during a landing run after an experimental flight. The aeroplane was observed to make a normal approach and touch down; the tail then began to lift slowly until the airscrew touched the ground. The aeroplane was then moving at a comparatively slow speed, the tail rose sharply and the aeroplane turned over onto its back.The report gives no explanation as to cause. Depending on the Pilot Notes publication date warning is given as to the aircrafts nose heaviness and to be cautious with the brakes.

[Herod]

Danny42c. Age hath its privileges. 91 maybe, but 250 hours on Spits!!!!

[NutLoose]

Herod,

This is the thread you need to read on Danny's flying career, it's fascinating

http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/329990-gaining-r-f-pilots-brevet-ww11-203.html

[Danny42C]

Herod,

Nutloose is too kind ! But if time should lie heavy on your hands, I start on Page 115, Post #2250 on this best of Threads.

Danny42C.

[thing]

Utterley ****e landing but he could have recovered a bit of pride by chopping the engine on touchdown/carrier landing. He surely must have known he had dinged the prop.