Reno Air Race Crash

Most of that is from the doppler effect as the sound moves rapidly closer to the camera.

i.e. Pitch goes up as the location of the sound moves closer

 

Airplane is a P-51D-15. The airplane has been flying in races since the late 40's, first in the Cleveland Ohio races. First flew in Reno in 1969, won gold in 1980 and 1981, Jimmy Leeward (the pilot) bought it in 1983 and has owned and flown it since. Wings were shortened 10 feet for speed and he removed the lower scoop in 2006. Jimmy started racing unlimited in 1976 and had flown in about 150 races. He was also a pilot of P-51s in the movies like the Tuskegee Airmen.

more here

http://www.sportaviationonline.org/sportaviation/201105#pg36

 

I read he put it into storage from 1999-2009 then restored it and was going to race it last year but the event was cancelled for high winds. So, the question, was this the first race since being restored ?

The engine on his plane was around double the HP of the original for the D series P51's. I wonder how extensively all these mods were tested.

 

Sorry if this has already been mentioned. Another sign of a high G pull in this photo is that the tail wheel was popped out.

 

Apparently there was a camera rolling in the cockpit and the NTSB has the flash. It's not known yet if the data can be recovered but my guess is that it can.

 

Amazing that they can recover data after a crash like that. Reno has had a difficult month with the shooting last week and now this.

 

F=MV^2

Flash cards are light. P-51's doing 500mph, Not.

 

That was my thinking also. Even if the flash contacts are broken in the crash, they probably can figure a way to extract the data.

There was also data transmission of the engine, temps, and altitude back to the pits. The NTSB has that also.

 

Working backwards:

Crash
Stall-spin
Forced climb
Airframe failure
?

The ? will be interesting. It could be many things. Anything from design error (modifications) to maintenance to pilot error.

Obviously, we have another example of the failure (voodoo) and it was due to mis-rigged flaps giving an airflow condition to the Horizontal Stab that induced flutter in the trim tab.

They're pushing the envelope with their mods. And, that's fine because as an experimental you have to avoid dense areas (residential/commercial/industrial) per FAA regs.

But, RAR is an interesting exception. There are a lot of people being subjected to experimental aircraft that fly close enough to them to be in their flight path trajectory if there is a failure at the right point.

Personally, I hope the races go on. And, I don't think they should change ONE THING. But, the public needs to know about the risk, and some might now. But in 10 years, the memories will fade.

Lawsuits are coming. And, there will be many. Insurance will be an issue. I hope the RAR will continue, because the nanny state is hard to deal with.

Back in the early 90's I went to Pisa. It was an early morning, and the marble was wet and slick. I went up the tower. The low end was a little slippery, there were no guard rails or anything to prevent you from slipping on through and out. I appreciated the sense of adventure that would not have been available in the USA.

 

I hope the races continue too, but I'd say they'll have a tough row to hoe.

I heard someone (maybe in this thread?) speculate that it could become a TV-only event; i.e. no spectators at the airfield.

 

I think insurance will be very hard to get.

 

yep.

 

yes the flash card is just a package for the chip inside. The card is built to allow the chips I/O to interface with larger contacts in the outside world.
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How are they insured now? I'm surprised an insurance company would take that risk on, even before the accident.

 

Only guessing, but I'd imagine based on the history of never flying into the crowd before.

Seems a good argument - until last Friday anyway. I expect big changes in the future.

Jedi

 

I would think it would be impossible to hold a venue like this without insurance. But, you'd have to check with the airport authority or Reno.

 

Good question.

A tradegy that was always going to happen, unfortunately. This event (and Targa type road races) have been pushing luck for a long time now. You can't protect spectators in either event.

Note also that this was not the first case of people on the ground being killed because of air races. In 1949 a P-51 crashed into a house and killed both parents and an infant child (http://www.airnews.co.za/march/article_march_the_beguine_story.html). This ended races in Cleveland Ohio. One of the P51's at the 1949 event was ... Galloping Ghost, then owned by Steve Beville.

It was not until 1964 that unlimited pylon racing made a comeback at a remote desert site near Reno ...

Very sad.
Pete

 

Pilots sign waivers ground crew for event and customers insured. All is good until the event kills a spectator. The fact that 22 pilots have lost their lives at that air show over the years shows that the insurance company's are willing to do business, but last weeks tragedy will most likely change the deal.

 

This was the uncle of one of my best friends. Apparently, all of the best pictures were taken by his son. Apparently, he has high definition video of the entire incident. A copy of that video has been turned over to investigators. Most of it will never be released to the public.

 

I was watching the event Friday from the Valley of Speed. I think with the history of this plane, and what happened last year where the final race didnt happen, I was really hoping to see the Ghost take top prize. I was actually focusing on that plane the entire event and through that awful moment. I took a photo of the plane as it passed me just before going into the last pilon where it pitched up. I also have a shot of the plane the moment it hit the ground. From where I was, it happened behind a building, but in the shot, you can see the front edge of the dirt being thrown up in the air.
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A quick google of "reno air races insurance" turns up the entry form, which requires each participant to have their own liability insurance, with Reno Air Races as an additional named insured.

In this case, I would think that Jimmy's insurance would be the one paying out. Unfortunately, according to the entry form, participants are only required to carry $1 million in liability insurance-- that won't go far in this case. So they will undoubtedly come after the event insurance.

I would think, if nothing else, they would greatly up the liability insurance requirement in the future.

 

I would expect every sponsor, vendor and possibly a few other participants to receive papers with their names after the "v". Most will probably get the case dismissed or settle out but in a mass-casualty loss everyone will have their hand out. The main defendant will subrogate the case to attempt to recover some of what will be a big loss.

 

Spectators tickets usually carry an implied waiver... if you show up to the race, you are accepting some risk. That's all that "lawyerese" on the back of the ticket in bold type

Race flight path is about a 1000' feet in front of the stands on the other side of the runway. It is not as close as you might think. This is also not the tightest corner in the race.

 

They showed a new video of the crash this morning on the Today show. Their clip is linked from the MSNBC.com homepage.

>8^)
ER

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/reno-air-crash-new-video.html

Bottm of the link.

Be warned: It's the closest video to the crash yet. It's, in my opinion, terrifying to watch how close and how fast that plane was going when it hit the ground.