WWII aircraft pilot dies in crash

[Warden]

The pilot of a WWII plane was killed when his aircraft crashed during an airshow display in West Sussex.

See BBC news report here

Harry

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Tragic and sad. He died doing something he loved. This sounds true: 'the pilot would have wanted them to carry on.'

 

[twobarbreak]

wow, thats horrible...at least he died a painless death doing what he lived for.

 

[Micawber]

On September 15th too

 

[dhermann1]

I must say, I don't approve of a lot of what is done in airshows. Aside from the risk to irreplaceable aircraft, the casualty rates at these events is far too high. Between accidents at the shows and accidents involving the pilots, including training accidents, I suspect if you talleyed it up, you would find the numbers horrendous. I was at a fly in at Floyd Bennett Field last week, and the most aerobatic thing that was done was to land and take off. I think that's as far as it should go. I love old airplanes, and it's thrilling to see them do their stuff, and of course it's great to raise the public's awareness of the historic significance of these warbirds. But I think foolish risks are taken, and an excessive price is paid.

 

[Smithy]

On September 15th too

That's what I was thinking, tragic.

 

[moustache]

Very sad. RIP.

JD

 

[blacklagoon]

R.I.P Brian Brown.

R.I.P to the pilot Brian Brown.Brian Brown was the general manager of The Real Aeroplane co. at Breighton in yorkshire.It was he who was flying the hurricane that crashed.From all accounts,he was a very experienced pilot of world war 2 planes.i will post a few links that i have found,with info about Brian Brown:

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1189867521/9

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=482014&in_page_id=1770

I am beginning to see now,after reading 8 pilots have died in the last 17 years,and a lot of the planes have been destroyed,what critics of using original planes in air shows mean,when they say the practice of flying them in mock battles etc should be stopped.spitfires and hurricanes are become very thin on the ground now,and there is only one lancaster bomber left.It is only a matter of time until that one remaining lancaster bomber crashes.
R.I.P to Brian Brown.I hope his family and all his friends are coping with their tragic loss.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Blacklagoon, my mind agrees with you, but my heart still wants to see them flying. I want to hear a Merlin in full song over my head at least once before they're all put on static display.

 

[The Wingnut]

Terrible. Absolutely tragic. May he rest in peace.

I know standards for airshows are different in the UK than in the U.S. The minimum altitude for low passes is 500 feet, I believe aerobatics are higher. I've only seen mock dogfights at one show and they're choreographed and tightly controlled. Generally, aircraft flying together are either in a preplanned, practiced routine or they're flying in formation.

...the day warbirds are grounded will be the day the world has forgotten about them. Aircraft are living things, they are not meant to sit idle in a museum. A static aircraft is nothing more than an assembled collection of sheetmetal and expensive parts. They do not do what they are meant to do, they deteriorate and become non-airworthy, they cannot be seen moving, they cannot be heard running.

New airframes can be built. There are brand new Yaks, FW-190s, BF-109s, Me-262s, Spitfires, P-51s and even Zeros. Many restorations rebuild from scratch large sections of the airframes to the point that they are new aircraft. Unfortunately, there is a ever-dwindling supply of engines. It's wishful thinking, but there might be in a dusty warehouse somewhere - owned by Rolls, P&W, Allison, any number of manufacturers or their holding interests - full of tooling from the '30s and '40s, obsolete but possibly usable to put the engines back into production.

You can do things that are just as dangerous with a new plane as you can a properly maintained old one. One of the primary keys to living a long life as a pilot is knowing when to push it, and when to back off. You've all seen that Rolex ad.

 

[Diamondback]

Or, with time, money and effort, it would be possible to reverse-engineer an existing engine, redraw the blueprints and reopen the line from those, using modern manufacturing techniques like laser-cutting and CNC machining to reduce the cost and time per part.

I'd propose structuring things so that originals are flown mostly straight-and-level, and new-build replicas (up-built and "re-materialed" to take the extra stress) be the only aircraft used for dogfighting. That way the old birds continue flying, but aren't placed at risk through any "extreme" maneuvers.

My thoughts and prayers to Mr. Brown's family.

 

[Smithy]

I'd propose structuring things so that originals are flown mostly straight-and-level, and new-build replicas (up-built and "re-materialed" to take the extra stress) be the only aircraft used for dogfighting. That way the old birds continue flying, but aren't placed at risk through any "extreme" maneuvers.

Thing is that such "replicas" would be as structurally sound as original restored warbirds. All warbirds which have been restored to airworthy condition have 99% of the time been near to rebuilt especially in terms of airframe and using modern techniques. If we take the Alpine Fighter Collection's original Hurricane IIa, this was recovered from the Russian tundra (and had a service history dating back to the Battle of France) and was completely rebuilt, that includes the structural airframe, spars, etc, etc. WWII fighters were designed to take a hell of a lot of stress and during an airshow display no pilot will be putting the aircraft under the kind of stress that will push an airframe to its absolute limits and that is including standard airshow aerobatics. Unfortunately the majority of accidents involving warbirds - like all aircraft - can be attributed to pilot error rather than structural failure.

 

[Miss Sis]

Our group were at Biggin Hill for a memorial to Battle of Britain pilots and crew on Saturday when we heard this had happened. Very sad, indeed.

We had a flyover from a Lancaster and I have to say it is amazing to be that close to a Warbird. It not being an airshow, the pilot was allowed to fly right over us, very low. It really hits you in the stomach, and we all agreed, it makes you feel very proud of those who flew.

 

[Smithy]

We had a flyover from a Lancaster and I have to say it is amazing to be that close to a Warbird. It not being an airshow, the pilot was allowed to fly right over us, very low. It really hits you in the stomach, and we all agreed, it makes you feel very proud of those who flew.

4 Merlins thundering away just a mere matter of feet above you Miss Sis. You were indeed so very, very lucky

 

[Spitfire]

The couple of times, I have been to Flying Legeds at Duxford, I've allways had something wet in the corner of my eyes, during the last flyby, when all the great planes passes over your head.
The sound, the sight, the impact...to see those old majestic warbirds.
I would have sworn it was because of the sun - I know now, it's not.

 

[scotrace]

This is indeed a terrible thing.

I was just talking about recent crashes with a friend the other day. Seems like several in a row. My friend thought it was a matter of time before the Feds banned flying the rare old planes.

One of the most goose bump-inducing moments of my life was watching a B17 take off in its lumbering, menacing way, then fly low overhead. Absolutely amazing.

 

[Diamondback]

Thing is that such "replicas" would be as structurally sound as original restored warbirds. All warbirds which have been restored to airworthy condition have 99% of the time been near to rebuilt especially in terms of airframe and using modern techniques. If we take the Alpine Fighter Collection's original Hurricane IIa, this was recovered from the Russian tundra (and had a service history dating back to the Battle of France) and was completely rebuilt, that includes the structural airframe, spars, etc, etc. WWII fighters were designed to take a hell of a lot of stress and during an airshow display no pilot will be putting the aircraft under the kind of stress that will push an airframe to its absolute limits and that is including standard airshow aerobatics. Unfortunately the majority of accidents involving warbirds - like all aircraft - can be attributed to pilot error rather than structural failure.

The other idea is that a readily-replaced replica is "expendable" compared to a priceless historical artifact. (The up-stressing is just because, as an engineer, I'm deliberately overconservative on structural matters.)

BTW, Scott, you'll be disappointed to know that the entire B-17 fleet, all 12 flyable survivors, are grounded by FAA Airworthiness Directive until they've all had their wing spars checked for cracks and cleared.

 

[Grit]

...the day warbirds are grounded will be the day the world has forgotten about them. Aircraft are living things, they are not meant to sit idle in a museum. A static aircraft is nothing more than an assembled collection of sheetmetal and expensive parts. They do not do what they are meant to do, they deteriorate and become non-airworthy, they cannot be seen moving, they cannot be heard running.

I'm with Wingnut on this.

Airframe in Sky = Airplane
Airframe on Ground = Engineered Sculpture

To me, a decrepit airplane that sees the sky is far, far more beautiful than the most meticulously restored groundbound hangar queen.

Whether it's old or new, the genuine article or a faithful replica, the question of flying is exactly the same. Personally, I think it's up to the aircraft owners. Hopefully they'll use common sense, weigh the payoff and risks, and decide when/how/where to fly. Or not. Just like any pilot does during every preflight.

But for uninvested bystanders to tell someone they should or should not fly is like someone telling me not to drive my old car or wear my old suits because they might get damaged. It's really none of their business.

 

[dhermann1]

What about the 50 or so spectators who were killed a few years ago? I'm just saying that the guidelines should be a lot more strict.

 

[Spitfire]

Who wants to see a stuffed racinghorse standing still in a museum?