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Reno racer down

jmcquate

jmcquate

Well-Known Member
Contributor
The unlimited class P-51 "Galloping Ghost" went into the boxes an Reno.

Thoughts and Prayers.
 
Maybe shouldn't, but it's out there, so:


Having spent many years working/in the pits at Reno, I'm not really sure what to think...I can't imagine his fellow pilots would have let him fly if they thought 80 was too old to be on the course with him (as many other guys as there are that get black-listed for being bad pilots).

A horrible tragedy nonetheless.
 
An article I read said at least 2 others besides the pilot are dead, with over fifty others taken to local hospitals. The pilot crashed into the VIP grandstands. A very bad day, prayers to all involved and their families.
 
Age could be an issue, but age isn't the only issue, as Bob Hoover has shown. That old man can fly.
 
Thoughts and prayers to those involved. Here's some pictures of what was presumably the trim tab during the incident-

plane+enlarged.jpg


TimObrien%20(2).jpg


It certainly looks like some sort of mechanical failure from this angle-
 
eas7888 said:
Age could be an issue, but age isn't the only issue, as Bob Hoover has shown. That old man can fly.
Click to expand...
Despite his amazing flying ability, Bob Hoover had plenty of issues with the FAA and his medical suitability for flight due to his age, etc. Gotta love bureaucracy.
 
CumminsPilot said:
Looks pretty cut-and-dry in that vid and from those pictures. Sad deal...hopefully it doesn't spell the end of the races, otherwise I'll have to set a different life goal.
Click to expand...

+1

If any obvious changes need to be made in the name of safety, by all means, but don't eliminate the races. Spectating at any event with fast moving machines is inherently dangerous. Maybe I'm weird, but whenever I'm at an auto race, air show, rally, etc., I always stay in the vicinity of cover, or at least pay attention to where trajectories will carry things. As this accident shows, you can always be SOL, but the understanding should be there. I guess as a "pilot" and racer (cars), I've seen enough to understand it's not as exact a science as people want to believe. The question is not if it (or you) will fail, but rather when. The worst are rally fans, I swear they have a death wish. Not that I necessarily have a problem with it, but there is this term lost in today's litigation happy society and that's "at your own risk."

Regarding insane rally fans, imagine what would happen if this driver got it wrong. More than a few times Grp. B rally cars came back with digits stuck in the wings and fatal crashes (some involving spectators) were eventually what killed the class.

 
CumminsPilot said:
Looks pretty cut-and-dry in that vid and from those pictures. Sad deal...hopefully it doesn't spell the end of the races, otherwise I'll have to set a different life goal.
Click to expand...

I’m not optimistic about the Reno Air races continuing, at least not the Unlimited Class. A similar incident occurred at the Cleveland Air Races in 1949. A highly modified P-51B, the “Beguine” went into a house killing a mother and her young child. After that they shut it down, the public and the media were a lot more tolerant of something like that back then.
 
Happened at least once before: http://www.warbird.com/voodoo.html

"Apparently, the left elevator trim tab came off the airplane at speed, causing the bird to abruptly pitch up, subjecting driver Hannah to over 10 G's of deceleration forces, and causing him to lose conciousness!"
 
My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families and friends affected by the tragedy in Reno. Air show is still on according to @USNavy on Twitter, "Air Show is still ON this weekend in#Memphis, despite tragedy in #Reno. Our thoughts in prayers go out to anyone affected." Let's all hope for a safe show.
 
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