Wonder if it was a pilot medical problem? Not sure how many G’s they are pulling on the turns but if I had to guess I’d say this is a GLOC scenario.
A lot of people don't want the jets there. As I understand it there were insurance issues involved for the event because of them. They survived The Galloping Ghost crash and the fallout from that. Be interesting to see what happens.
Aaron Hogue Race # 29 – Ballista L-29 Super Delfin 2021 Rookie of the Year https://www.racingjets.com/pilots/aaron-hogue/ Image Unavailable, Please Login . Image Unavailable, Please Login . Image Unavailable, Please Login . . L-39 jet class . Hogue Inc. (family business) https://www.hogueinc.com/about-us .
That Hogue. I have a few sets of his grips on some of my favorite pistols. RIP. I hope they figure it out. At this point unless it had telemetry which many do its just going to be some assumptions.
control cable break? remember when the P51 that crashed there in 2011 killing 10 people in the stands, it had a modified elevator trim tab that caused it. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/aab1201.pdf Are they allowed to modify the jets?
Well only after modifying the airplane into a configuration that made it susceptible to severe pitch up. It happened to another whose pilot managed to regain control and he promptly sold it. A 3rd aircraft was believed to have suffered the same fate with loss of aircraft but was far enough away on the course no one could see what happened. If I recall correctly that one over stressed and broke up. I understand the L39s are re engined to nearly double the thrust. Not aware of other mods.
Yah I was just about to post this. Blackout seems the most logical given the maneuver. You could hear people watching go "whoa! That was crazy" just before the crash.
L-29 Delfín (T-tail) 1963–1974 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_L-29_Delfín Image Unavailable, Please Login . L-39 Albatros (1971–1996) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_L-39_Albatros Image Unavailable, Please Login .
Pure speculation but to me it looks like he lost focus on his altitude while paying too much attention to the lead. Turn radius at that air speed looks too subtle to validate G Lock. Hopefully the FAA gets this right. RIP. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
I have been up to 5.5G several times flying with a guy practicing for an airshow and the grey-out period didn't just go away afterward. It lingered and I wasn't paying attention to anything or anybody and I had no idea what was happening for a while. Bad stuff.
Unfortunately My wife, 2 kids and I were watching the race and the accident. I remember saying when he pulled up "What is this guy doing" shortly followed by "he's dead". In retrospect probably not the best thing to say but it was what was on my mind at the time. My immediate worry was the affect on my 24 and 26 year old kids. They were obviously upset but surprisingly got over it within about a half hour or so. Then I realized they were there for the Galloping Ghost accident, and at one point we were dodging the trajectory of that P-51. The Air Races are certainly dangerous but most of the racers I know are so driven to race that they will continue no matter the danger.
Watching the racers come out of the turn onto the finish straight is something to see, but it always made me think about what if. I was there in 1999 when the very highly modified P-51 had tail flutter and disintegrated as it flew past the finish line. Been quite a few fatalities over the yrs (3 in 2007). The association has been very fortunate to keep the event going given the amount of development that has occurred over the yrs. https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2022/09/19/list-fatalities-reno-air-races/10423153002/
