yea i bet the engine is a bit of a mess after that, hopefully the rest of the damage (cept the landing gear) is light and they get it flying again sharpish
SimHQ Arma3 sessions, weekly semi-serious co-op action for all ages and skills! check the forum sticky for more info!
It's the catch 22--do you ground them and preserve them more securely, or let them continue to fly where they have more meaning but the risk of loss is far greater?
The Jedi Master
The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
That was a smooth belly landing, kudo's to the lucky pilot. I don't think the plane is a total loss, although it will costs a lot to repair it, I wonder if it is insured for that sort of thing.
The break in the video makes it a little unclear whether he was landing normally after his demo or if he cut the demo short because there was a problem. Lowering the gear so quickly before touchdown is not normally done so my assumption is that he turned final fully aware of trouble and hoping for the best.
Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 24,712Dart
Measured in Llamathrusts
Dart
Measured in Llamathrusts
Lifer
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,712
Alabaster, AL USA
Good job by the pilot!
Hindsight being what it is, pity he didn't go for the turf wheels up.
WWII aircraft are extremely robust, so we can safely assume the spars are okay based on the low speed, low G impact with the runway. He greased that wingtip to the pavement and it slid smoothly, with the other side easing more than slamming down to the runway.
So let's tally what we can see for damage:
Engine rebuild, along with a new prop. Not a big deal; they probably rebuild it as much as NASCAR crews do to their engines, just to inspect it. Flaps are toast. Repair and rebuild; they're probably salvageable as I'll bet they were forced closed. If they stayed open it's actually better for the airframe. Gear is toast. Repair and rebuild; again, probably salvageable, though they may need to make new skirts for the gear. Cowl is damaged, along with the underside of the fuselage. Remove and repair; I see a lot of English wheel and bags of shot in their future. Wingtip and right wing skin repair. They'll have to remove it regardless to check the spars and ribs.
Very, very fixable.
On the money, it's not an issue. Any warbird above an L-4 and if one has to ask how much to buy, maintain and repair it, one can't afford it. Even without a wreck, keeping a warbird airworthy and in even just occasional flight throughout the year can run half a million dollars without a problem. It's not "a man and his Sea Fury," it's "a man and his maintenance team and shop and his Sea Fury." In this case, the gov't is involved, but even in private hands the folks with flying warbirds have deep pockets. The other option is to pool resources with others, like the CFA, in order to keep them in the air.
Last edited by Dart; 08/02/1404:28 PM.
The opinions of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
The T.20 is owned by the Fly Navy Heritage Trust and is civil registered. It's operated by the Royal Navy Historic Flight, hence the Fleet Air Arm driver. Well done to the pilot for making a judgement call and saving a great aeroplane. The RNHF lost a single seat Sea Fury a few years ago when the pilot bailed out following undercarriage problems, then they lost another after engine problems. Looks like both happened this time..
The wingtip vortices at 0:13 are interesting. I didn't think warplanes of that era could make them. Wingtip vortices appear in IL-2, but I thought that was just for drama.
Cheers
R
Quote:
So the Thunderhawk would come screaming out of the sky at mach ohmygod! and as soon as the struts hit the ground they would rip off.
Quote:
You're trying to apply scientific principles to 40k. Do you not see the problem with that?
I make vortices all the time in the Pitts. Today was cool and humid and I vorticed both wings pulling for a humpty with a 1/2 roll on the up and 2 of 4 on the down. A feat I've never achieved before!
