P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

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PorkScratching
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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by PorkScratching »

Here's what the Skyraider looked like as it landed, living up to it's Vietnam reputation for taking damage. Very relieved to hear the P-51 pilot is ok, and indeed well done to him for having the presence of mind to bail out from a low height and get the chute open in good time.

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Offbreed
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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by Offbreed »

Great shots, shows how strong the folding bit in the wing is, they certainly built aircraft tough in the old days.

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by DamienB »

Gutted to see my favourite Mustang go in but so happy to see a good chute and to hear Rob was up and walking where he landed. Bloody quick reactions to get out so low with so little warning - and an equally quick recovery from the Skyraider pilot who was on the point of rolling inverted before he got his aircraft back under control and landed safely. Looked to me like the Skyraider's wing smacked BBD in the belly by the radiator exit and broke the back of the aircraft.

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by Kieran »

Crikey! :sad: Thank god, both pilots are safe and relatively unharmed; but such a shame about BBD as me and James were only saying on Friday how fantastic it is to see her back in the UK! I even sprinted from the toilet to see her arrive! That Skyraider damage looks nasty!

I had a feeling something bad was going to happen today, if truth be known. Too many things were happening for the worst: EP120 looked a little unnerving on take off, obviously the DR1 landed awkwardly, the Horsemen burgered off to the West for a couple of minutes, the tooled up Skyraider nearly collided with the other Skyraiders hence why he dropped out of formation and held in the East, and now this collision! Such a horrific day but thankfully without any casaulties!

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by agdickie »

That's quite a chunk missing! As has been said, good reaction by the pilot to overcome the asymmetric lift in time.
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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by Rob.Brindley »

I've heard it happened on the break to land after the Balbo? Did the skyraider "Slide into" BBD while they were still supposed to be in formation or did it happen as they tried to break?

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by Monty »

Rob.Brindley wrote:I've heard it happened on the break to land after the Balbo? Did the skyraider "Slide into" BBD while they were still supposed to be in formation or did it happen as they tried to break?


Covered pretty well over on FC here http://www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=287&p=236661#p236661

the tooled up Skyraider nearly collided with the other Skyraiders hence why he dropped out of formation and held in the East


Actually he came very close to colliding with a Spitfire on finals as he ran in for his first Solo pass which led to him taking hard evasive action.
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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by DylanLlewellyn »

Was about to mention this mornings near miss with the Skyraider myself, was great flying and awareness to not collect the Spit during that run in!

Great shame about Big Beautiful Doll but at least both pilots where able to walk away!

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by Rob.Brindley »

Monty wrote:
Rob.Brindley wrote:I've heard it happened on the break to land after the Balbo? Did the skyraider "Slide into" BBD while they were still supposed to be in formation or did it happen as they tried to break?


Covered pretty well over on FC here http://www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=287&p=236661#p236661

the tooled up Skyraider nearly collided with the other Skyraiders hence why he dropped out of formation and held in the East


Actually he came very close to colliding with a Spitfire on finals as he ran in for his first Solo pass which led to him taking hard evasive action.


Thank you. It's such a shame that this has happened... I got to sit in BBD last time the Horsemen were over here, Can't believe she's gone... Atleast Rob is ok though :)

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by JBartlett »

Arthur Tee wrote:Is somebody feeding the Daily Mail rubbish?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... crash.html

Arthur


I think you find that's an old article :wink: glad all ok such a shame about BBD does it look like it can be fixed?? I guess the french skyraider will be at duxford for a while as it gets fixed. just seen some shots looks like the skyraider was ok as the flaps was untouched im guessing if the flap went as well it be another story?


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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by FGR2 »

Someone posted a distant pic here :(

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=110391

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by JBartlett »

I have a feeling the way legends is run is going to change, for example only take off and land when no aircraft is displaying or if a aircraft was displaying you will not be able to land or take off.

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by stuart n »

The Mustang didn't appear in trouble for the first couple of seconds after the impact , for a god awful moment it looked like the Sky Raider was going in with the pilot on board. Can only admire the reactions of both pilots to get the outcome. From where I was on the tank bank you could see the Mustang pilot (think it was Rob Davies) bail out and there was a big cheer when his chute opened up.
The commentary team, and fire crews, initially seemed unaware of what had happened. The Sky Raider landed and stopped more or less in front of where I, and several other members of this forum, were standing. The crowd gave the pilot a big round of applause but he clearly had other things on his mind rather than acknowledge the crowd. All the time this was going on another Mustang (February I believe) was circling over where BBD came down.
There was a huge cheer when it was annouced the emergency crews had found the Mustang pilot walking in the field. Wasn't nice to see but the outcome is both pilots are safe, that is the main thing.

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by keithjs »

JBartlett wrote:I have a feeling the way legends is run is going to change, for example only take off and land when no aircraft is displaying or if a aircraft was displaying you will not be able to land or take off.

James


Too right, James and after reading posts elsewhere from people posting what they saw, (or thought they saw) the CAA and FCC is gonna have a field day with this lot! :sad: Oh well I was only going to do RIAT next year if the shows clash anyway..... :sad:
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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by Arthur Tee »

JBartlett wrote:
Arthur Tee wrote:Is somebody feeding the Daily Mail rubbish?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... crash.html

Arthur


I think you find that's an old article :wink: glad all ok such a shame about BBD does it look like it can be fixed?? I guess the french skyraider will be at duxford for a while as it gets fixed. just seen some shots looks like the skyraider was ok as the flaps was untouched im guessing if the flap went as well it be another story?


James


Doesn't help by having today's date on the top of an old article though! :grin:

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by jimbob1194 »

It did look very tight indeed on banking! I was filming today, and stopped filming BBD, February, and the SPAD as they disappeared from my view up the tankl bank end. BBD went up first then the SPAD, then February.I indeed thought it was extremely close, but I wasn't quite sure due to the angle and of course you can't tell how far apart they are as it's in the distance. Anyway the next minute I could see bits of debris coming off the SPAD I believe. The SPAD then started too dive, which then I thought oh no!. But luckily the aircraft recovered amazingly! She stopped right in front of me! As for BBD, I didn't see her go down or the pilot bail out! But as Stuart said, she didn't seem to be in trouble at first, hence why I was looking at the Skyraider as it looked like it was going down. But I am very glad that both pilots are ok. That's the main thing.

Was also very good to see the commentators keeping the crowd occupied as it occurred. I'm sure they didn't see it happen at first, like the fire crews! But well done too them if they did know about. They kept themselves nice and cool! Good job chaps!

James
Last edited by jimbob1194 on Sun 10 Jul 2011, 7:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by Nivvy »

good news both are ok, what time did this happen?? and did they end the show straight away?

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by A380FWWOW »

Well all I will say is it was sickening to watch the events unfold this afternoon, to see two aircraft in the sky with chunks falling to the ground is probably the oisk sickening sight I can recall seeing! It was wonderful to see the canopy come off and then a few moments later see the Parachute deploy. But also sad to see BBD falling to the ground.

I must say that the fact that the Sky Raider managed to return and land is a testament to the skill of the pilot!

It was also great to eventually get the news that the P-51 pilot had walked away from his landing site.

Its now down to the AAIB to work out what went wrong!
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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by FGR2 »

keithjs wrote:
JBartlett wrote:I have a feeling the way legends is run is going to change, for example only take off and land when no aircraft is displaying or if a aircraft was displaying you will not be able to land or take off.

James


Too right, James and after reading posts elsewhere from people posting what they saw, (or thought they saw) the CAA and FCC is gonna have a field day with this lot! :sad: Oh well I was only going to do RIAT next year if the shows clash anyway..... :sad:



I've never been to Legends, one of the reasons is that there is always a slight concern I have that something may happen. When you have a lot of old different performance, privately owned aircraft performing aerial manuevers, in tail chases or in formations they have only probably flown in once or twice together, it does worry me that someone will overlook something or not be aware of another aircraft's performance and an incident will occur.

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by UKTopgun »

The speculators are already out on the key forums! 'I don't want to speculate but blah blah !!'
I too think the powers that be could well review how things are done. I must admit at times the displaying whilst a/c are on finals
does make me uneasy, although it clearly had no relation to what occured today. I recall yesterday, an aircraft running low west to east
pulled away hard after seeing a Griffon spit (?) on finals. Can't recall what it was, may have been a Skyraider.
Certainly yesterday had that 'feeling' - a few things happened, niggles mainly, but made me feel a bit odd.
I'm sure we all know that feeling. Thankfully the weekend is over and all the pilots can reflect on events.
That is, of course, the main thing...

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by LN Strike Eagle »

FGR2 wrote:
keithjs wrote:
JBartlett wrote:I have a feeling the way legends is run is going to change, for example only take off and land when no aircraft is displaying or if a aircraft was displaying you will not be able to land or take off.

James


Too right, James and after reading posts elsewhere from people posting what they saw, (or thought they saw) the CAA and FCC is gonna have a field day with this lot! :sad: Oh well I was only going to do RIAT next year if the shows clash anyway..... :sad:



I've never been to Legends, one of the reasons is that there is always a slight concern I have that something may happen. When you have a lot of old different performance, privately owned aircraft performing aerial manuevers, in tail chases or in formations they have only probably flown in once or twice together, it does worry me that someone will overlook something or not be aware of another aircraft's performance and an incident will occur.

There were several other incidents in today's display and I felt, from very early on, that it had the potential for something nasty to occur. Thankfully it seems everybody walked away from it, but it was building up to that.
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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by rjlaker »

LN Strike Eagle wrote:
FGR2 wrote:
keithjs wrote:
JBartlett wrote:I have a feeling the way legends is run is going to change, for example only take off and land when no aircraft is displaying or if a aircraft was displaying you will not be able to land or take off.

James


Too right, James and after reading posts elsewhere from people posting what they saw, (or thought they saw) the CAA and FCC is gonna have a field day with this lot! :sad: Oh well I was only going to do RIAT next year if the shows clash anyway..... :sad:



I've never been to Legends, one of the reasons is that there is always a slight concern I have that something may happen. When you have a lot of old different performance, privately owned aircraft performing aerial manuevers, in tail chases or in formations they have only probably flown in once or twice together, it does worry me that someone will overlook something or not be aware of another aircraft's performance and an incident will occur.

There were several other incidents in today's display and I felt, from very early on, that it had the potential for something nasty to occur. Thankfully it seems everybody walked away from it, but it was building up to that.



I wasn't there today, but I felt the same yesterday. There was one incident in particular where something ran in from over the tank bank for a high speed run (think it may have been a P-40) whilst there was another slower A/C in front of the crowd. Shame to lose BBD but from relief that both pilots were ok.

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by SuffolkBlue »

LN Strike Eagle wrote:
FGR2 wrote:
keithjs wrote:
JBartlett wrote:I have a feeling the way legends is run is going to change, for example only take off and land when no aircraft is displaying or if a aircraft was displaying you will not be able to land or take off.

James


Too right, James and after reading posts elsewhere from people posting what they saw, (or thought they saw) the CAA and FCC is gonna have a field day with this lot! :sad: Oh well I was only going to do RIAT next year if the shows clash anyway..... :sad:



I've never been to Legends, one of the reasons is that there is always a slight concern I have that something may happen. When you have a lot of old different performance, privately owned aircraft performing aerial manuevers, in tail chases or in formations they have only probably flown in once or twice together, it does worry me that someone will overlook something or not be aware of another aircraft's performance and an incident will occur.

There were several other incidents in today's display and I felt, from very early on, that it had the potential for something nasty to occur. Thankfully it seems everybody walked away from it, but it was building up to that.

I have to agree with you there. Despite it being a good show, at times, I felt uncomfortable with a few things. It's easy to say in hindsight, but I had an uneasy feeling during today's display as well. Maybe the pace of the show was being pushed too fast?

Just glad all are safe and well.

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by DamienB »

I see the armchair display directors are pontificating here too then...

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Re: P-51 Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" down - Pilot ok!

Post by UKTopgun »

DamienB wrote:I see the armchair display directors are pontificating here too then...

I don't think that is totally unreasonable, although yes we are probably guilty of being a bit wise after the event.
But Legends always has felt compelled to keep the pace up very high, giving it a lot of appeal undeniably.
But I never mind airshow 'gaps' - they are there for a reason. No one knows what happened here apart from those involved,
and I am not offering any conjecture re that, just that this show does sometimes appear to force the pace, that is all.

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