Godspeed
 

Godspeed Brian, I never met you but your smile says it all,
kindest thoughts for all family & friends at this sad time,

On Sunday, at very short notice, we were asked to help out a visiting Spitfire PR XIX which needed some 100LL in a hurry. Sorted him out and off he went to his display. Fabulous aeroplane in a gin clear Battle of Britain sky.

Whilst chewing the fat with his engineers after he'd gone, we discussed the causes of some historic aircraft accidents: Spitfire XIV, KingCobra, Mosquito, P38, Firefly..... "Touch wood, this year hasn't been bad", we agreed.

Then I went flying. Landed and heard about the Hurricane. Such a tragedy. I've seen the tape of the final moments and cannot really work out what could conceivably have happened.

RIP - and I hope that 'Reichman' will be the first to buy you a beer up there, Brian.

BEagle

Is the tape to which you refer the one that shows the final manoeuvre and impact?

I ask because if so I feel it is very clear what happened but of course leaves us with only conjecture as to why. BTW I certainly do not feel this is the time and place to go into such conjecture however well based that might be from one's own experiences.

JF

Brian buzzing a "Messerschmidt" for Yorkshire Air Ambulance 3rd anniversary. I was flying the Heli and also had a trip with him in a Bucker Jungmeister. A great bloke and true aviation enthusiast. RIP
http://i.1asphost.com/whoateallthepi...you_edited.JPG

How terribly sad to have lost such a fine man, as another member of the helicopter fraternity who had dropped into Breighton occasionally and been allowed to wander around the hangars and look in awe at the fantastic aircraft there I am truly saddened.

Was only a month or two ago I was chatting to him about the airshow season and what he was doing this year, a man who genuinely enjoyed what he did.

RIP Brian, you will be missed, aviation needs more like you.

Just an observation on my part - nothing more.

The video of the final movements of the Hurricane, in my view do bear more than a passing similarity to that of the Firefly accident at Duxford.

RIP Brian.

FS

est quam videri
 

Good shot of the man himself and a fitting one at that. Happy as Larry and always ready to give his all.God's speed my friend.

@ John Farley

I've watched the video* several times and I can't see it. Stall? Loss of engine? Control surfaces?

I have heard "local talk" of the engine cutting out, but the prop seems to have been rotating all the time (do piston-props "windmill"?)

One of the regional papers had a headline "Hero Pilot Avoids Crowd" - (I didn't manage to buy that paper) Maybe he was limited as to where/how he could allow the aircraft to go down by show-watchers in the surrounding areas?

Any suggestions as to what might have been the problem?

(*there are a couple "out there" showing the moments before the crash - too many just showing smoke and fires that should not be publicised - I saw that smoke last Saturday, and do NOT need to be reminded)

At our (Buffalo) Lodge on Tuesday in Littlehampton, we shared a moment's silence for Brian during our weekly "remembering the fallen"

Bye Brian - We all wish you could have been here to tell us :sad:

Golf India Tango, Some Police Cadets were there as well. Was at a debrief later, none saw the actual crash although all saw the resulting smoke. Their welfare will be looked after. Yes there was a slightly subdued feeling afterwards and the numbers were certainly lower on the Sunday but I believe mainly due the the poorer weather.

ExSimGuy, Several Officers who attended the actual scene and the staff in the RAFA radio room, also wondered if the aircraft was placed into the final crash site. Had it gone anywhere else then ground inj's, or worse, would have happened. I will always believe that Brian choose his final resting place.

clicker

That's a lovely thought, but it does assume he had a choice in the matter.


FL

The BBC won't make any money out of me...

And for the press - will they ever crawl back under their stone!:D

I can't imagine what it was like for Brian in the crashed Hurricane, It is always at the back of our minds.

He knew the risks of Display Flying, But he put the spectators 1st, And sadly died in the process.:(

And they have the 'gorm' to put this on You tube!!:sad:

R I P

I met Brian several times at Breighton during my time at Church Fenton and he was a fine bloke, however I have no problem with the BBC and others posting video clips as I find them to be generally informative (as I teach aerobatics occasionally I want to know what has caught out an experienced display pilot).
The video of the Hurricane's final moments shows it pulling up to about 10-15 degrees and beginning an aileron roll to the left. As the aircraft nears the inverted attitude the nose begins to drop and then pitches more sharply down as if to pull through. As the aircraft passes through the vertical there is a slight change of heading and the wings can be seen to rock, then it disappears from view. Control surface position cannot be seen from the video that I viewed. These are facts, not opinions. As John Farley has mentioned though, why this happened is unclear, and having seen him display the same Hurricane at Breighton several times I find it hard to believe it was a wholly deliberate sequence of manoeuvres without some other external influence, whether medical, airframe or engine.
Having said that I will allow myself an opinion, which I believe very strongly: In a museum these aircraft are dead and may as well be plastic models. They MUST be flown and seen and heard by airshow audiences. Listen to Brian talking about the sound of a Merlin then tell me we should ground these aircraft. The sight and sound of that solitary Hurricane looping and rolling up and down the grass runway at Breighton on a warm summer day was worth a million visits to all the museums in the world, and much, much more.
Best wishes to all at Breighton from one of the Fenton Firefly pilots.

Breighton Bugle
 

The Breighton website has a fitting tribute and some photos of Brian at
http://www.realaero.com/news/news.htm

G.

Whilst I agree with much of DB6s post - the videos of the actual crash itself are as said informative, what I do find objectionable on youtube are the number of videos that are of the smoke and wreckage, these I did not watch and flagged as innapropriate.:*

Foxmoth said:

Spoken like a true gentleman and the very same reason why I would never post links to any of my Breighton pics in a thread such as this!

Brian could never be replaced, but I hope the rest of the members and staff at Breighton can pull themselves through this tragic event and keep Breighton the friendly, welcoming place it is, so that Brian can look down with pride on his airfield.

Brian Brown, 1957-2007, R.I.P, from aviation lovers everywhere

DB6, thank you, your third paragraph is spot on.

Foxmoth, agreed, I have no problem with the Youtube videos but as you say the dwelling on wreckage is uneccessary.

Aviation can be so terribly unforgiving even of its most favoured children - but the most positive thing of threads such as this are the memories posted by those who knew them.

Very Sad
 

I watched the accident happen sadly and am content to wait for the AAIB report rather than speculate. However, the description of what happened is accurate and fits what I saw. The Hurricane was fairly close behind a 108 and a little to his left from my vantage point. The 108 pulled up to between 500 and 700 feet and carried out a roll to the left, rolling out in a right turn. The maneuver was carried out towards rising ground with Lancing Chapel and its associated buildings just to the right of the roll axis. The Hurricane appeared to attempt to duplicate this maneuver at a similar airspeed to the 108.

I passed the crash site today walking the dog, it is fairly close to the school buildings and an area where spectators stood during the show. It could have been a much worse accident!

Whatever the reason for the crash it is a sad loss of a well respected pilot and a fine aeroplane. I did not know the pilot concerned but from the kind words above he would appear to be one of the good guys. Accidents happen to the best of us.

In thirty three years of flying I have been very fortunate not to have seen a fatal crash, I hope I never see another!

To his friends and family my heart felt sympathy.

I looked up this thread to try to find what happened to the Hurricane, but only DB6 has described those last moments in objective terms.

To me it looks like an attempt at pull through and then flicking inadvertently - I see it as a "snap" rather than a wing rock. Have heard it said the Hurricane has a crisp stall - is it prone to flick?

John Farley says he knows what happened, will he please enlighten us?

DB6 has described what happened. As JF said, the mystery isn't what happened, but why.

SSD

'Woodenwonder,' like most others on here you will have to wait for the AAIB report before it can be decided what actually happened. even then it may not be conclusive and speculation is pointless and non helpful.

Your request to JF will go unanswered if I know him, and I do.

Time will tell. Sad as it was.

PPP

I think John Farley is well qualified to say what he thinks happened and I agree it is fairly clear why the aircraft crashed but it is not clear what caused it to do so, we may never know! However, I assume Mr Farley is rightly keeping his thoughts to himself as there may be more to this than meets the eye and we need to see what those clever chaps at AAIB discover, they may shed more light on the matter. Things are not always as clear cut as they first appear.

What is clear from the above postings is this was an experienced and well respected pilot and there are lessons to be learned as there always are in these cases. Lets make sure we learn the right ones and not just assume! Speculation is of little value but understandable!

Whatever the reason for the crash Mr Brown appears to have made a positive contribution to aviation and gained the respct of those he came into contact with. May we all have that said of us and be so well thought of when our turn comes.

I thought that the combined experience and knowledge which can be mustered on this forum could help discuss aviation in all its aspects; including accidents.

But if we are not to do so when there has been a death, and the only contributor who feels he knows what happened isn't going to tell us, I am at a loss as to the function of the forum.

As for waiting for the AAIB report, they might well be guided into what sort of questions to ask BEFORE writing it, if all the possible factors were discussed here.

Left to their own devices I reckon they do a pretty poor job with accidents outside the heavy, recorder equipped, public carriers.
Certainly they made a hash of my own minor prang - after I had given them chapter and verse on the system I had failed to check, including detailed illustrations of the mechanism, and a description of what I did wrong!

QUOTE: I thought that the combined experience and knowledge which can be mustered on this forum could help discuss aviation in all its aspects; including accidents.
But if we are not to do so when there has been a death, and the only contributor who feels he knows what happened isn't going to tell us, I am at a loss as to the function of the forum.
------------------------------------------------------
Woodenwonder, you may have misunderstood the situation. There is no mystery as to what happened - JF knows what happened, so does anyone who has seen the video or the actual accident. If you haven't, then WHAT happened has been accurately described on here a few posts back.

What we don't know is why it happened. As far as I know JF has not professed to know that (QUOTE JF: I ask because if so I feel it is very clear what happened but of course leaves us with only conjecture as to why. ). And neither to the best of my knowledge has anyone else on here.

SSD

Woodenwonder

With respect this forum is for rumour and most of what gets posted is just that. Out of respect for a dead pilot, his friends and family Professional pilots be they PPLS, Military or Commercial would rather not speculate on a web site open to the press and general public.

The AAIB are a very professional organization and I doubt anything posted here will be of any help to them. They will have plenty of video footage handed in by those at the show and witness statements not to mention the physical evidence and records. As for your remarks regarding AAIB I cannot comment on your "PRANG" but in my experience AAIB have done a fantastic job over the years improving flight safety and getting to the bottom of most accidents.

We all want instant answers in these days of 24 hour news but in situations like this they often are not available. Whilst in my own mind I think I know what happened there could be factors I know nothing about so like many others I will wait for the AAIB report. ;)

I agree with your post, Kinsman, except I don't think the AAIB is quite the organisation it was. I used to have great respect for it, but was involved some years ago in the periphery of a minor accident they reported. They stepped way outside their 'objective' brief, were a tad lazy in who they interviewed, and consequently put some stuff in the report that was biased and misleading and stemmed from 'blame deflection' by the one party interviwed against another who wasn't. If they'd stuck to fact and avoided opinion, that wouldn't have happened.

To bring the topic back to its original subject...

For those of you interested who haven't already found it, the Real Aero website has a lovely photographic tribute to Brian, on the Bugle page (www.realaero.com). I just made our online donation to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance this morning in his memory. Delighted to make the donation, just wish it wasn't for such a sad situation.

It is clear that some would like to see speculation run a course. You can find that on other websites but not this one I'm afraid.

Speculation has a habit of creating scenarios that are a few miles away from the truth and which often refer to things that did not actually occur. In the end it serves no purpose - as always.

We here, for the time being, are interested only in a man who has left an indelible mark on aviation and to whom many can look up to.

Time tell, or not, as the case may be. In the meantime Brian Brown's name must not be allowed to be rained upon because someone has a view that they think is right but can turn out to be very wrong.

Please keep on the topic and no speculation please.

I fully concur with PPrune
 

Spare a thought for Brian tomorrow @13:15, godspeed Brian, you will be missed & remembered forever.
This is a time for thinking of Brian, his family & his friends, the investigation is for another time.

We fly, we cry, we belong to the the sky, a world without bounds, a world so beautiful & yet so fragile but just a whisper away.

old-timer,

Well said! And nicely put!

SD

Knowing JF, as I have had the privelege, I am damn sure he would have a quiet word wherever suitable if he thought it was required...

My only experience of AAIB / BOI was during very politically charged situations - those with a knowledge of the Harrier GR5 development will know what I mean, and a very short search would produce a relevant website.

In the case I'm thinking of, the results were very skewed indeed ( though eventually put right ) but that was a very different situation, see no reason why this sad accident should not be treated professionally and hopefully lessons can be learned in whatever way.

I saw the pilot's funeral on local TV tonight - all I can do is offer thanks to him for all the enjoyment he gave to so many people, up to the day, and sympathy for his family & friends.

I didn't see any mention of a flypast, maybe that would have been too painful.

DZ,

Check out the Real Aero website. Photos of the flypast on the "Bugle" page.

I was there and witnessed the accident and am shaken by it. In one of those ironic moments, I had been thinking earlier in the show, that given the number of airshows I have been to, I have been lucky not to see an accident.

Commiserations to all concerned.

I knew from about ten seconds before the crash that something had gone wrong.

I just avoided the urge to vomit as I saw the smoke, and several times after.

I am split on this one - yes I want to talk to people in the aviation fraternity about what went wrong, but I also feel I should not in respect of the pilot.

One question comes to mind. After tha accident, I needed to be away from aeroplanes (for the first time in my life) so I tried to leave, but the gates were sealed for about ten minutes.

Under what laws would this be?

Synthetic,

I suggest the temporary sealing of the gates was to minimise congestion on the surrounding roads to give the emergency and rescue services quick access to the scene.

spekesoftly,

As the police radio controller at the airshow I can confirm that was the case, also I believe that it was so the organisers could broadcast a request for videos etc before people left, although I don't know if that happened as I was rather busy making sure the main roads and local area got closed off asap.

fully understand your feelings synthetic
 

I fully understand your feelings Synthetic, I was at Duxford went Hoof Proudfoot went down with around the same timescale in seconds of realising that it wasn't going to end well- it was a mixture of disbelief, shock, horror & above all else an absolute & awful sadness having seen him earlier in the day along the flight line & chatting with the ground crews (Godspeed Hoof, you were one of the very best in my book both in pilot skills & people skills, almost 10 years since you departed this physical world but my memories will always remain vibrant & positive of you )
I am an aviator but not any where even close to the standard of the guys & lady pilots who display & fly these wonderful machines.
I never met Brian but from what I've read & from seeing that wonderful 'contented aviators' smile in his photos I believe that he was of the same ilk, as they all are, these really are very special people with special skills (although they make light of it generally) to both fly & operate these wondeful aeroplanes takes dedication, skill, knowledge & above all else an absolute commitment which is an extremely fitting tribute to the pilots who flew them in action all those years ago, the years pass by but the common bond of aviators lasts for eternity - Per Ardua Ad Astra.

I was also at the show, and me and my mate tried to leave after the accident. (If I had any photograph/video footage I of course would have remained and submitted it). Like 'Synthetic' we both just wanted to get away from the airfield and away from aeroplanes.

There was a short delay in exiting the airfield, but the guys deserve huge credit for getting everyone out in quick time considering there was only one exit.

A great shame that the 2007 event will probably be remembered for the Hurricane accident, and the show in general will be associated with it for a few years to come.

Thanks guys.

As an engineer and a pragmatist, I appreciate (and do not criticise) Clicker and Spekes' sentiments. There are things more important than my feelings.

12 months later
 

and still no published indication of this accident's cause(s)?

No, I've not seen anything.