Yet another Airshow Incident
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Older low level aerobatics
Sean Tucker, despite being in wonderful physical shape, is no youngster but continues to perform near miraculous aerobatics, including ribbob cutting inverted etc.
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Perhaps investigators should look again at this one. The cause was weather related but still..
http://www.caa.co.za/Accidents%20and...ports/9281.pdf
They found "all four corners" at the crash site (so ruled out an inflight breakup) but...
while..
http://www.caa.co.za/Accidents%20and...ports/9281.pdf
They found "all four corners" at the crash site (so ruled out an inflight breakup) but...
"The horizontal and the vertical tailplane, including the tail wheel assembly, were entangled in a tree near the impact position.
The impact sequence indicates that the aircraft was in a vertical nose-down attitude when it crashed in bushy terrain (Figure 15). The nose section, including the propeller, was embedded in a crater approximately one m in depth (Figure 16). The fuselage, which consists mainly of a composite type of material, shattered in a substantial number of pieces.
Aviator Extraordinaire
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Seems like Low-Level aerobatics catches up with everyone.
It's also a problem with sailing yachts, with composite rudders, masts and hulls failing from time to time. Inspection for damage is much more involved than looking for dents or creases in aluminum. Sadly, the consequences of composite failure are a lot more serious in aviation.
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There is no lower limit to attempt to use a parachute. 700-800 feet is perfectly sufficient for an old fashioned chute with a spider. Modern rig with a "donut" would probably work at 500' or less. And even if you haven't fully decelerated, as long as you live...
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Even if he realized that he had a problem, actually getting out of the aircraft may have been a challenge. He needed to unbuckle, lose the canopy, climb out, all in the matter of 10 seconds or less.
On top of that, G202's canopy is plagued by failure problems, and this very guy had an incident just last year when his canopy separated in flight because of the lever failure. He was a big fan of wire-rim aviator sunglasses (he has them on in every single video on the web site), so he would have been rendered near-blind by wind buffeting without the canopy. That past experience was probably a strong deterrent from any attempt to bail out. I wonder if he even got the canopy open. There's no sign of it being ejected in the video (though it's mostly transparent and could be easily missed.)
These aircraft should really be equipped with ejection seats. Yes, they are expensive and a hassle to maintain, but they greatly improve pilot's odds of survival in the event of a major low-altitude malfunction.
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These aircraft should really be equipped with ejection seats. Yes, they are expensive and a hassle to maintain, but they greatly improve pilot's odds of survival in the event of a major low-altitude malfunction.
An aircraft parachute like the BRS incurs a much lower weight penalty, however the BRS would probably need some adaptation to handle the speed range of aircraft like the G202. It is not impossible to do this, it just requires some engineering.
Fractions of a second count at low altitude. While in flight training in the Navy, I sat across the mess table and heard the story from another student who was the sole survivor of a midair between two training aircraft at pattern altitude. He bailed out and survived because his parachute opened over a hollow.
If you have never practiced your bailout routine, you are going to waste a lot of time and make errors that may be critical to survival.
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While I am a great fan of ejection seats, they are not practical in this class of aircraft.
An aircraft parachute like the BRS incurs a much lower weight penalty, however the BRS would probably need some adaptation to handle the speed range of aircraft like the G202. It is not impossible to do this, it just requires some engineering.
An aircraft parachute like the BRS incurs a much lower weight penalty, however the BRS would probably need some adaptation to handle the speed range of aircraft like the G202. It is not impossible to do this, it just requires some engineering.
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https://youtu.be/jgfG2DfPB6I?t=120
While not being a modern zero/zero Martin-Baker, a BRS gives you a much better chance than a "backpack" or "seat" type parachute.
g.
While not being a modern zero/zero Martin-Baker, a BRS gives you a much better chance than a "backpack" or "seat" type parachute.
g.
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Is that such a big deal?
Or, we could just accept that people will occasionally die?
Is that such a big deal?
Is that such a big deal?
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The person taking the risk is responsible for the trauma caused to their family if it all goes wrong, not me.
Fitting ejector seats to toy aircraft is moronic.
Part of the attraction of high risk sports is the risk itself. Remove the risk and the people will just move on to something else.
Fitting ejector seats to toy aircraft is moronic.
Part of the attraction of high risk sports is the risk itself. Remove the risk and the people will just move on to something else.
These aircraft should really be equipped with ejection seats. Yes, they are expensive and a hassle to maintain,
Apart from the multitude of practical problems, it's hard to see how an ejection seat would have saved this pilot.
Given that he was inverted when he lost his tail, banging out would simply have meant he hit the ground faster and sooner ...
Given that he was inverted when he lost his tail, banging out would simply have meant he hit the ground faster and sooner ...
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... and an ejection seat (plus mounting) would probably weigh as much as the airframe itself.
Not to mention any weight/balance considerations.
Surely, a BRS for an aircraft of that size and weight would not have to be 'large suitcase' sized.
Many aircraft in the recreational/sport category use ones that are considerably less bulky and streamlined as well.
Not to mention any weight/balance considerations.
Surely, a BRS for an aircraft of that size and weight would not have to be 'large suitcase' sized.
Many aircraft in the recreational/sport category use ones that are considerably less bulky and streamlined as well.
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Actually this BEA report does not relate to a true adhesive bond failure, it relates to a fibre to resin failure. This indicates that the adhesive bond is stronger than the resin to fibre bond. This would indicate to me that there is a potential issue of incompatible resin and fibre materials selection, or inadequate storage management of the pre-preg materials prior to cure (maybe the resin was stored in a manner that advanced the cure to the extent that the resin failed to form adequate chemical bonds to the fibres?). In contrast, if the process did not use pre-preg materials, then there may be issues relating to the storage of resin components, mixing issues, methods for application of the resin, environment in which the materials were used, etc.
I have real issues with "kit" composite aircraft. I know of one case down under where the kit pre-pregs waited on the wharf for an extended period for the distributor to collect the kit, despite the horrendous shelf-life issues associated with the delay.
I would be interested to see the results of this investigation, but I stress that the BEA report was NOT actually a bonding issue.
Regards
Blakmax
I have real issues with "kit" composite aircraft. I know of one case down under where the kit pre-pregs waited on the wharf for an extended period for the distributor to collect the kit, despite the horrendous shelf-life issues associated with the delay.
I would be interested to see the results of this investigation, but I stress that the BEA report was NOT actually a bonding issue.
Regards
Blakmax