F4U Corsair bailout. Hopefully not a repost
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9161106816384837258
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9161106816384837258
-
Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?
Go here:
Edit Account Details and Profile
F4U Corsair bailout
- Thread starter bunk22
- Start date
What a heartbreaker. Good thing he got out though.
Saw this on a special on Discovery/TLC/one of those, if I recall correctly that was at the Reno Air Races and the pilot said the plane/engine just went up. It was a shame since the plane had apparently gone through a helluva restoration.
I'm sending this one on to my Step-Dad. I may have told the story here before but he faced a similar situation in a Corsair at Atsugi back during the Korean War. An external tank had developed a leak and caught fire. He still had power and put the plane into a climb, unbuckled, and started to climb out. One of his shoulder straps caught on the flashlight on his Mae West so he sat back down, untangled the strap, and then went over the side. He caught the opening shock just before touching down. Had he not spent the time getting un-tangled (and climbing), he probably would have been too low.
He told me the other day that of all the Navy aircraft he flew, he liked the F4U the least.
He told me the other day that of all the Navy aircraft he flew, he liked the F4U the least.
This is why I've never been a fan of air races utilizing WWII aircraft. Air races require skill and a good airplane, so I'm not knocking the event, but they're just so hard on planes and there's only so many pieces of history flying, I hate to see them end up this way.
It's not correct to believe that Unlimited air racing is responsible for destroying many warbirds. In fact, quite the opposite is true -- there are a number of documented cases where basket-case airframes that were destined for the scrapper were "saved" because they were used to build up a racer.
In this case, the Super Corsair was not a complete aircraft to begin with. If it had not been built up as a racer, the parts would have probably been totally scrapped.
Other examples of this are the Bearcat "Rare Bear" and the Mustangs "Dago Red", "Strega", and "Stiletto".
Remember also that when the vast majority of highly modified warbirds were hitting the pylons at Reno, they weren't nearly as rare or expensive as they are today. The heydey of the modified Mustang and Bearcat was in the 1960s and 1970s...when the aircraft were worth maybe $100,000 and there were many good examples around. Hell, there were even South American air forces flying them in front-line service.
Now, what IS a valid point are the numbers of engine parts -- especially Merlin engines -- that have been killed by racing. Unlike airframes, which are easily rebuilt, most of the engine components and parts are no longer manufactured. When the case on a racing Merlin gets blown in half, there's no way to repair it.
It was at the Phoenix 500 air races. The airplane had been custom built up from parts about 10 years before the crash.
That's kind of what I was getting at. When they started racing, it wasn't as big a deal. Now that they are more rare... But your point is taken about the rebuilt airframes. I just enjoy seeing them in their originally livery bombing runways at airshows. But as a wise man once said, "No bucks, no Buck Rogers."
Yup, I was there to see it in person. The pilot now flies at my airline. He has a very good reputation. I think Kevin was in his early 20s when the accident happen. He still flies at Planes of Fame out in Chino. Kevin has time in most every WWII fighter you can think of. Interestingly, he has said that the Hellcat is his favorite.
As I recall he had hit one freon bottle, the flames died down, then came back. He hit the other bottle, then the fire restarted. By then he was running out of airspeed due to the climb. He was busted up pretty good in the bailout. Hit some part of the tail. I believe he was one of the very few wearing a parachute. They were not required in air racing back then. The thought was that if you had a major structural failure or mid air in the race it did you no good due to the low attitudes. If you had another problem you were right over an airport going the speed of heat, so you climbed and landed. Kevin's experience changed that attitude.
Boldface Ep:
1: ROLL INVERTED
2: VALSALVA
3: EJECTION HANDLE - PULL
That was a good job getting the AC away from the crowd/buildings too...good video.
1: ROLL INVERTED
2: VALSALVA
3: EJECTION HANDLE - PULL
That was a good job getting the AC away from the crowd/buildings too...good video.
There wasn't anything out there, just desert. The front straight of the race pattern was well clear of the show line, as required by the FAA.