Bad Crash at the Reno Air races.

[sniper7]

That was my thought-would loss of a trim tab be enough to cause a catastrophic loss? Aileron yes- trim tab?? Control surface flutter?
I caught a bit of an interview last night of the pilot a couple days prior-he made reference to Friday being a big day and pulling out all the stops or similar.
Maybe a mod that went bad?

Rough summer for 'Stangs and Fortress's.

no, just a trim tab would not be enough.

With the experience this guy has, I am thinking it has to be total loss of control. he came in almost vertical. complete loss of the controls, with the trim tab in a nose down position.

because if he had any kind of roll control he would have rolled it 90 degrees, kicked in hard rudder and flow it knife edge away from the crowd. obviously everything happens super fast and they are pretty low

[Ridge]

It looks like he went into a right hand barrel roll and came out coming down vertically. Possibly an accelerated stall led to that condition. Pulling back the throttle isn't going to do a damn thing, and if the hydraulics did blow out or the piston hyper extended when the trim tab ripped off, then it could cause low pressure throughout the system, slowing any other control movements.

[Tweety Bird]

Flight controls on a Mustang are not hydraulically powered.

[patrick0685]

im pretty sure that the tail wheel is always down on the P-51's

[sniper7]

Flight controls on a Mustang are not hydraulically powered.

and their wings are also not shortened by 5 feet. there are huge differences between a stock mustang from WW2 and what these guys put together. anything goes. they could be mechanical, they could be hydraulic, they could be electric or a combination. depends on what kind of money they have, what weight savings it gives them and the best control they would get.

[sniper7]

im pretty sure that the tail wheel is always down on the P-51's

no its not. you can see in the crash photos the gear doors are down.


here it is normally

[Hoser]

im pretty sure that the tail wheel is always down on the P-51's

The P-51 tail wheel retracts electrically. Too far to run heavy hydraulic lines, even more so in an air racing aircraft.

I have been to the Reno Races many times. I was there in 99 when Gary Levitz (the furniture guy) went in with Miss Ashley II, another P-51.

The Galloping Ghost was one of the coolest racing P-51s out there. Chopped wings, new canopy, ect and no radiator under the belly. Like Rare Bear and Drago Red, it looked fast just sitting there and sounded even cooler burning 3-4,000 gallons per hour of gas at max RPM.

It is a shame to see something like this happen.

I am glad Jimmy was able to at least keep it from hitting the main stands. He was one of the coolest cats out there.

I hope the races continue on, but I would not be surprised if they dont.

[jerrymrc]

I hope the races continue on, but I would not be surprised if they dont.

I hope they do as well. It is one event I would like to go back to. It was on my retirement bucket list.

[Hoser]

I hope they do as well. It is one event I would like to go back to. It was on my retirement bucket list.

I either drive or fly. Always an empty seat avail if I drive.

[rocktot]

There was an F-86 that went in at Broomfield, like 15 years ago. Trying to compete with the F-16s going way too low for this altitude.

Heard you might be able to hitch a ride for gas in the Mig 17 that flys out there.


Looks like there are some body/parts in that photo, but it could be wiring or ???

Nasty. Trim tab flapping around can fudge you up, but this bad? To cause catostrophic failure.

Every air show seems to be a risk nowadays.