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...Too many things can go wrong, and too many pilots have egos the size of a city that make them believe they can never do anything wrong. ....
I knew a pilot with an ego like that. He was a very humble man in general, and my dearest friend as a teenager (and we kept in touch throughout the years, the sort of friendship where we'd laugh out loud at the first sound of each other's voice), but he used to brag that he was so good that he could fly the box the plane came in.
As it turns out, he couldn't, and I lost the best friend I ever had to a fiery plane crash.
It is rather interesting to see where one's focus is. Been thru the first page.....and no mention of what the B 17 was called and for those of us in such worlds, that is what we lock in on.
I've noticed that too. I've looked at the Commemorative Air Force page and the page about the Dallas show and the only thing I can find is that it MIGHT have been the Texas Raider. Seems like that's something that they could have included as part of their announcement.
I've seen two airworthy B-17s (Memphis Belle and Sentimental Journey) and one B-29 (Fifi) at air shows. Much as I'd love to take a ride in one, the high cost has discouraged me from doing so. The loss of this B-17, while not on the same level as the loss of the people aboard, is still a painful blow.
Well, I don't know the larger context, but the B17 is flying much slower and is rapidly overtaken by the P-63 coming in from behind and above it, so if anyone is at fault, it seems like it's the P-63. Thing is, it looks like he just stayed locked in his track and flew straight into the B-17, it's a direct hit. (and no, I am not trying to imply anyone did anything on purpose). Does anyone know anything about how these pilots are supposed to coordinate their paths in these air shows? I assume it's not just a chaotic free-for-all?
behind and above is the ideal attack profile for a prop aircraft, especially one built to strafe ground targets.
visibility out of one of these, ESPECIALLY forward and down and outward is actually pretty good. lots of inside the cockpit photos on the web
It is rather interesting to see where one's focus is. Been thru the first page.....and no mention of what the B 17 was called and for those of us in such worlds, that is what we lock in on.
The Wings over Dallas website was down and dark until tonight, just went live. First time I saw the names
Looked like the B 17 was flying straight and level, not more than a couple hundred feet above the ground.
The P 63 came in fast from behind and above, about a 45 degree bank to port, and hit the B 17 high on the port side at the junction of the wing and fuselage.
The P 63 all but exploded on impact, there didn't appear to be any significant size pieces on impact that appeared to be more than shrapnel.
The tail of the B 17 was sheared off with flame obvious at the rear of the now tailless air plane.
The front of the B 17 went into an immediate, uncontrollable dive into the ground where it exploded into a fire ball.
The time from initial collision to impact with the ground, about 4 seconds.
To me it looked like the P 63 was attempting to fly by or over the B 17 and either misjudged or had a mechanical failure they could not correct for.
The B 17 never saw it coming. Short of the pilots maybe having a instinctive reaction to pull back on the yoke when the plane went nose down, it was over with barely any time to utter even a 'Oh crap'.
So very sad and gut wrenching. Several videos from different angles.
How tragic, especially for the little kids that saw it happen.
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Originally Posted by texan2yankee
It looks like a terrible accident. The bottom of the smaller plane was above the B-17 so it's entirely possible the pilot couldn't see the bomber...in a blind spot. It's also possible the smaller plane's pilot misjudged his turn radius.
Maybe the sun got in the smaller planes eyes? That was my original thought watching the video
I think one of the issues with the warbird displays is that they don't have the resources to plan like the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds do. The military display teams plan their shows to use optical illusion to make them look more spectacular than they really are. When viewed from the ground, the planes look very close together, but from a different angle they are not as close as you would think. When the planes are actually close, they are not doing any complex moves. The military pilots also fly in formation a lot more than the warbird pilots. That's why the FAA introduced training requirements for airshow formation flight.
I think one of the issues with the warbird displays is that they don't have the resources to plan like the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds do. The military display teams plan their shows to use optical illusion to make them look more spectacular than they really are. When viewed from the ground, the planes look very close together, but from a different angle they are not as close as you would think. When the planes are actually close, they are not doing any complex moves. The military pilots also fly in formation a lot more than the warbird pilots. That's why the FAA introduced training requirements for airshow formation flight.
Oh, like at Ramstein AFB in 1988? Remember it well for I was traveling that night and flew, as a passenger, with a responding burn team.
Now, maybe things have changed a lot since then.....but let's not give the illusion that the military is immune to such. From the XB-70#2 to 1982 Thunderbirds Diamond Crash, that should be proof enough of how hazardous this is. Further, keep in mind that military budgets are flexible and the money going to who sees which task is more important.
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