Scudrunners

So long, buddy.

http://bnonews.com/news/index.php/news/id5068

I really enjoyed watching Marcus perform last summer in Quesnel.  I was surprised to read that he was killed.  He did pretty basic "old man" acro in a Stearman, no extreme maneuvers like Skip Stewart and his peers.  Really nice to watch because of the noise and smoke that the Stearman generates, and the slow speed of the machine that kept the maneuvers in tight.

It seems like every summer my news feed is full of stories of highly skilled and experienced airshow performers getting killed during their performances.  So my question (as someone who has never done anything more aerobatic than a spin) is: What can be done to make these performances safer and keep these folks alive.  I love airshows, and I understand that there are risks inherent in them, but I don't want to see anyone die for my entertainment.

I flew for eight years in the airshow circuit in Europe and I believe the reason I did not have an accident was I never pushed the limits just to give the crowd a thrill because they don't have a fucking clue about what the machine can or can not do.


I quit at seventy years old because the doctors would not renew my medical if I kept pulling high G loads, I was so fucking happy to be out of that business I nearly died from the relief of not having to deal with the politics of airshows.....it was the worst flying job I ever had.


I just hate to read of another death in that business.

5% per year, regardless of what the AvCan experts say.

[quote]"old man" acro in a Stearman[/quote]

That aircraft, oddly enough, is featured in an awful
lot of accidents.  Probably because it's used so much:

Jane Wicker - 2013
Eddie Andreini - 2014
Martin Keller - 2014
Marcus Paine - 2016

I've probably forgotten a bunch - like the Vintage
Wings Stearman that crashed after it lost a prop
blade that I'm told was improperly threaded into
the ferrule.  I'm sure in 25 years the TSB will
present it's bilingual report, long after it would
have any relevance.

A fine airplane, IMHO.  Trying to remember the
name of the guy that was decapitated when his
Stearman crankshaft broke and the prop laid
down on the fuselage.

[quote]What can be done to make these performances safer[/quote]

Well, they are very safe - for the spectators,
at least in North America.

To reduce the number of crashes, the low-hanging
fruit would be:

1) increase the knowledge and skill of performers
2) have them operate at a lower level of risk

No one gives a shit about either of these, so
nothing is going to change.  There is also:

3) mechanical failure

but it doesn't contribute to as many accidents
as you might suppose.

Some years back, Rob Holland was almost killed
when the oversize rudder on his Ultimate Pitts
broke at the splice in a torque roll.  It did not
want to recover, with the split rudder.

The last fatal accident involving the RAF Red
Arrows was caused by a malfunctioning ejection
seat that fired when the aircraft was on the ground.

Semantics, but wasn't Wicker on the wing of a Waco?

[quote]The Boeing-Stearman IB75A, serial number 75-789 was manufactured in 1941 as a model A75N1.

In 1950, modifications were made to the airplane and the model type changed to IB75A.

A 450-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-1 fuel-injected engine drove a two bladed, metal, Hamilton Standard 2D30 propeller.

On December 8, 2009, the pilot purchased the airplane and on May 3, 2010, the airplane was registered with the FAA under the experimental exhibition category.

On September 26, 2011, the airplane was last registered under the restricted category for the purpose of wing walking.

The airplane was modified with an inverted fuel and oil system, and a four aileron system.[/quote]

I stand corrected, thanks!


The stearmans is actually an airplane I would really like to fly.  I also seem to see a lot of nose overs on landing with stearmans. Is there something inherently unstable with them on landing or just poor hands and feet combined with too much money?

Stearman is a dream of an airplane.  It's incredibly
strong - a flying tank - and there's a good reason
it became the primary trainer in the USA during
WWII.

IMHO it's no more prone to nose-overs than any
other taildragger/biplane, such as this Waco at
Rockcliffe:

[img width=500 height=373][/img]

The one I fly has been modified with an R-985
which is a tad nose-heavy, but nothing serious.

[img width=500 height=354][/img]

Me on that very same piece of pavement. Lovely
airplane.


Pilots manage to find a way to crash just about
everything.  Remember the guy that crashed a
T-33 at Hamilton, landing 800 feet short of an
8000 foot runway?

Or this guy, that tried to land a 172 at the 4000
foot paved runway at my home airport?

[img width=500 height=332][/img]

Meanwhile, at the other end of the very same
runway:

[img width=500 height=375][/img]

This guy tried to land a Texas taildragger
sideways on pavement, which worked for the
guy on the grass strip he normally flew out
of.  Did that right in front of a bunch of air
cadets.

I don't have a picture of the Sonex that lost
control at the same spot, that killed the PAPI
and then leaked fuel in my hangar that night.

Meanwhile, this guy just forgot to lower the
gear at my home airport, after an incredible
100 hours of dual (not from me).  Told me
afterwards the gear horn was on the whole time:

[img][/img]

Mooneys are built like tanks.  We just jacked
it up and dropped the gear.  You could have
swapped the prop and flown it away.

I don't have a picture of Dave Simmon's C-180
amphib, that landed gear-up at the exact same
spot, and then an instructor tried to land on
the same runway,  rolling the tires on top of
the 180 before touchdown, instead of using
the grass.  Quite a lesson for the student.

We just jacked it up, dropped the gear and he
started it up and taxiied it off.  It took some
metal off the floats but they didn't leak afterwards.

Of course, there's a video on youtube. Bottom end of the loop once again...it's like watching a rerun, but we lose a decent person on each iteration.

'' after an incredible 100 hrs of dual"
Say it wasn't to check out on the Mooney :o