Reno 2011

[AlisoBob]

Whoops....



New Kehin 4,100mm PWK

[sabreguy]

Just heard that a plane crashed, maybe the Galloping Ghost, and killed at least 13 people.

Thoughts and prayers go out to all effected......

[Mik329]

major tragedy...

[redrocket190]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCNePeKn3Tg&[/youtube]
Waiting for news of Bob or anyone else who was there...

[Roostius_Maximus]

I just talked with Bob, says he was in the same seats we had lastyear which are 2-300 ft east of the wreck. He'll need to take some time to type it all out. from what he's told me the scene is believable

[redrocket190]

Thank heavens.

[Tharrell]

Thank goodness he's ok.
He's the first one I thought of when I checked the news this morning and saw the headlines.
What a tragedy.

[FZ1426]

This photo says it all. The poor bastard was out of it.

[AlisoBob]

Yup.... Let me hang with the family today... and I'll tell you guys all about it tomorrow.


This is the "money shot"....

1. Trim Tab missing due to elevator flutter. Elevator at full "UP" deflection
2. Pilot out cold, head against instrument panel
3. Inverted, heading towards stands
4. Engine at full song


I've heard all the news reports, monday morning quarterbacks, and dumbass's and numbskulls... and here are the facts.

If that aircraft was built yesterday with a 22 year old pilot, the exact same thing would have occured..... period.

Next... the bit about "Innocent bystanders were killed"....

If you go to an event featuring 60 year old fighterplanes zipping around at 500 mph, and then you pay even more money to "get closer to the action".... well.... I think the innocent bystander thing just got tossed out the window. Just walking into the front gate is a risk at an event like this.

Finally, there have been greater fatalities and rock concerts, soccer matches, and other events. People die every day, in all kinds of different ways.... heres an example ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/1 ... 63971.html

A soda machine took out some people at a McDonalds? Well then, lets outlaw soda machines... its the same mentality...

“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”~ Jack London

[Mik329]

I'd have to agree here with pilot out cold. In all my years of flying and doing aerobatics when I was younger, one thing you learn and do without even thinking is pull the power back when in a nose down attitude and increasing speed. Kinda freaks me out just listening to it go in at full power....

[Tharrell]

I sent an email to Dogger telling him Bob was there and Roosty had posted that you were Ok.
Dogger is a major airline pilot btw.
Here's his email back to me, I don't think he will mind if I post it here.

Good to hear.

I know some of the guys that were competing in that race. I talked to one
of them last night. Looks like the consensus opinion is the mishap was
caused by a control surface failure (trim tab), that caused the aircraft to
aggresively pitch up. The pilot blacked out due to g-loc and at that speed
and altitude, that's all she wrote. I didn't know the pilot personally, but he
was regarded as a good stick and well respected.

I can tell you from personal experience, that kind of sudden onset of high
g would have done the same thing to a healthy 20 year old.

Pylon racing at the Gold cup level is extremely dangerous. 450+ KIAS at 100
to 300 feet AGL in a WW II vintage aircraft, it's a miracle more people aren't
killed every year.

It's a terrible loss to a close knit community.

Don

[AlisoBob]

I started to write it all out..... but its just too sad....



Heres the Ghost, inverted, trim tab off....... destiny is only moments away....



Here's a shot of the aftermath.... if you look around 3'oclock you'll see a woman in denim with blonde hair, being comforted by a ramp worker.

She obviously lost someone very special to her, as many did that day.

Sad....sad....sad.



Bob Hannah had the same thing happen to him in Voodoo in 1998. I was there for that day too..... Bob "retired" after this..... lucky to be alive.

[FZ1426]

Sad for sure dude.

Been to Reno a couple of times. never have gotten over the spooky feeling of being out on that tarmac with those monsters coming back toward the crowd tapped out to every limit in the book.

All I could think was if something broke at the wrong time it could take out the entire grandstands...Very beautiful but very terrifying at the same time. Just the sound of it is fucking scary as hell.

Not to speak for Hannah but as I understand it the same thing happened to him in terms of the pitch up and GLOC. Fortunately he regained conciousness at altitude and lives to talk about it.

We're reminded occasionally about the consequences of doing really dangerous shit. Those of us who live through it hopefully learn from it.

[AlisoBob]

Hannah was:

1. Younger and able to recover quicker.

2. Voodoo has full span wings and climbed out to 9,000 ' giving Bob more time to recover, the Ghost with its clipped wings ran out of energy sooner and came over the top at about 2,000 '.

Reno has been going on for 45 years.... if you toss out a number of 100,000 fans per year for the week... ( a REALLY low estimate) ..thats 4.5 million fans.

Tragic as this is , its a pretty good saftey record. At the 24 Hours of LeMans they had a crash that killes 100 or so fans. LeMans goes on, and so too should the Reno Air Races.

If you ever stood down on the west end of the runway at Reno, by the "T" hangers.. and watched the Unlimited round Pylon 8.... its pretty friggin hairy... even by my standards.

[FZ1426]

This pilot could have potentialy recovered as well depending on what the aircraft did after gloc.

The aircraft running out of energy would have been a good thing. In hannas case it climbed and in fact did run out of energy, allowing him to recover.

In this case the roll component basically induced a split S, inverting the aircraft and maintaining energy (and G force) all the way to the ground.

[AlisoBob]

The Ghosts climb and split "S" was essentically done at a constant 400 knots at maybe 10 g.

It was insane how fast it occured.... The tail wheel lock being overloading and snapping sounded like a cannon going off.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp ... 9#44576019

Had the Split "S" gone the other way.... out over the infield, then towards the Grandstand..... that would have been 1000x more horrorific.




This was shot moments before the accident... The aysmmetric trim tab position worries me. Was only one tab functional and was it overloaded in trying to supply all the trim needed to balance the aircraft?

[Tharrell]

That's the first time I've seen that video.
It's pretty complete and gives a better perspective of what witnesses were describing.
Horrific.

Wonder what significance that trim tabs on the Ghost and Voodoo broke on the left side? More stressful position?

Damn Bob, you're really fortunate.

[FZ1426]

Interesting. Perhaps the tabs were mis-rigged or deliberately rigged that way for some reason? Could have been a factor.

The fact that Hannah's broke on the left side also makes me wonder if the prop wash might put extra stress/vibration on that side...

[AlisoBob]

Its a "50/50" thing I think.........

[AlisoBob]

Damn Bob, you're really fortunate.

I dunno.... 400' is pretty far whe you consider 15' away theres tables and chairs undesturbed.

I have been asked 100' times if I was scared.... nope. No time to get scared... and then its over and the threat is gone.

I do remember saying over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.....


" No Jimmy.... no...no..........................no."

while it was happening. It seemed like a long time from the pitch up to impact... when it clearly wasent.

Half of me says it wasent Jimmy's fault, accidents happen.

Another half says made thay should have tested the plane more over at Minden NV in July / Aug. A buddy hand timed Jimmy's 2nd lap at 495 mph. That was the first time the Ghost was over 490 to my knowlage.
Shit happens quick as speed increases.

My final half says a younger pilot could have recovered..


Three "half thoughts".... see..... I'm still confused.

[britincali]

Even Tom cruise wouldn't have woke up in time after taking that many Gs....

[AlisoBob]

In that last photo I posted, I was asked about the "oil canning" visable near the 177 marking.

Thats pretty normal on a very fast Mustang. It shows how much down pressure the elevators are producing.

Interestingly, I have never seen a photo od Strega showing this distortion...



Judging from the prop pitch, he's on it right here. But then again Strega's paint scheme would prolly' hid any oil canning.

[AlisoBob]

Wow.... just got this is a email from my "Reno Group" .....


These three photos below were taken with a 400mm telephoto lens over a period of roughly four seconds. To interpret them, you have to bear in mind the first was taken looking forward away from the grandstands, and the third was shot essentially over the shoulder, but with the camera held almost vertical. The airplane is not flying horizontal, but is coming down at, give or take, an 80 degree angle. In other words almost straight down. After the last shot, if I were to lower the camera to the horizon, it would have been pointed back behind me at the grandstands. I was trying to track the airplane and, of course, was also running through the range of emotions from “he’s going to be killed” to “I’m going to be killed.”

In the event, it hit just behind our box row, and several boxes down to the left. I will never forget watching it arc around toward me while filling the viewfinder. Could I have yelled for people to duck? Honestly, my own realization came so late, if I had taken the time to yell before dropping off the seat I would not have made it to the ground in time.




I watched the whole thing happen through the viewfinder of my camera. From the time I spotted Jimmy’s pull up out of the corner of my eye, I swung the camera over and captured a total of thirteen images. The camera records the time of day with each photo, but only in whole seconds. I have no idea if the camera’s time of day is accurate or not. I’m merely using it to timeline the incident.

By the time I captured my first three shot burst, the aircraft was inverted and heading – apparently in level flight – over the grandstands. The first photo was recorded at 28:58 (minutes/seconds past the hour). There is then a two second gap as I refocused. If the camera is working at its exact rated shutter speed, the next sequence of ten consecutive shots should cover exactly two seconds. According to the time stamps, the elapsed time for the second ten shots was from 29:00 to 29:02.

It hardly matters how exact the times are. The real point is to illustrate how little time passed from loss of control to impact. The last photo I took of another aircraft before spotting the pitch up was at 28:54. I would say from pitch up to impact was on the order of nine seconds. Folks have been quoted in the press saying they think he tried to maneuver to avoid the crowd. I think he spent that little time just trying to gain control, much less head in a specific direction.



Time Dilation

By the time I started shooting the second string, of photos, my mental state had gone from “he’s in trouble,” meaning the aircraft shouldn’t have rolled and turned, to “he’s in trouble,” meaning I think there’s a better than even chance he will crash behind the grandstands. From this point on I’m using words to try and represent what was likely only emotions in my head.

Watching through a camera viewfinder, the scene has a slow strobe effect. Also, the telephoto lens is making it all seem that much closer. “He’s heading down and is going to hit the grandstands.” This was followed by a realization he’s tucking under, and slowly turning toward me. My final sensation was of “fast…angry sound…coming… HERE!”

The Box Seats

Reno’s box seats are ten by ten foot sections demarcated by steel uprights holding aluminum poles with fabric draped over them. They put ten plastic folding chairs in each box. There are three rows of boxes separated by about twenty feet. It’s typical rental company stuff. The boxes are located in front of the bleachers on a thick asphalt hardstand, which is used for heavy aircraft parking. It’s a tough surface. I was sitting on a chair at the front left of our box, which was located in the front row of boxes. As the Ghost came over my left shoulder, I swiveled on the seat to try and keep it in the frame. By the time of my last photo, I was swiveled a little over 90 degrees to the left, and was holding the camera at an odd angle pointing almost straight up.

Impact

While still shooting, survival instinct kicked in. The very last photo is a complete blur because I had already started to swivel back the other way. With no time to move, I simply slipped off the chair and ducked down, turning my back to the aircraft and closed my eyes.

I absolutely knew this was going to be a huge impact, and close enough to very thoroughly kill me. I did not think all these specific thoughts, I’m merely trying to put words to how I felt. There was no perceivable time between squatting down and the crash.

A pulse of what felt like liquid and sand struck me from behind. Something made several small scratches on my right calf. At the same time another object passed between my legs and left multiple shallow cuts just above the inside of my left ankle. Then nothing…silence. It was over. I heard a couple screams just before the impact, but do not recall hearing anything specific after. The impact was not loud, and other than the blast of material against my back, there had obviously not been any form of fiery explosion, so I stood up.

The boxes are all adjoining, so you are in close proximity to your neighbors. I looked at my hosts Ken and Nancy who were sitting one in front of the other on the far side of our box. They looked pretty beat up, but not without any obvious major injuries. I turned and looked into the box on my left. Two people had been sitting together at the right front of their box, virtually shoulder to shoulder with me. They were both lying face down and unconscious.

There was a disabled boy in a power chair who had been sitting toward the back left corner of their booth. He and the chair had been blown across the back of the booth. There was a large piece of aircraft structure wrapped around the side of the chair. He was on the ground, also unconscious. The tail gear from the Mustang, and several pieces of twisted aluminum were sitting in the middle of their box

Looking to the back of our box, a man was kneeling and holding his hand over a large heavily bleeding head wound. There is no point in describing other things I saw over to my left. There have been plenty of graphic descriptions quoted in the press.
Galloping Ghost impacted just behind the front row of box seats. It had just passed vertical in its dive, so the bulk of the debris scattered over the hardstand in front of us. It hit at high speed and completely shattered. Other than the tail wheel, I could see no other identifiable parts.




The person on the ground is one of the two who were right next to me. Every surface facing the crash was coated with oil, water, dirt, and biological material. I really don’t want to go any further than that in terms of what the scene was like. I threw all my clothes, including shoes and socks, in a trash bin and went back to the hotel in my boxer shorts and a sweater I had in the back of my truck.

I was the least injured person in my vicinity. Why, I don’t know. The whole scenario keeps running over and over in my head like an 8-track tape. Normally, I’m not easily affected by things, but this one is definitely going to be running around in my head for life.


Its weird... I have the exact memory , especially the SOUND coming down. Its a sound I will never forget.... but I remember the crash sound VERY DIFFERENTLY .... like a cement mixer truck, tossed off the Empire State building.... and the sould it would make when it hit.

Perhaps he was so close, his ears could not percieve the loudness of it all.....

I'm glad I did not see, what he saw moments afterwards. I read the obituary of the boy he describes as being in the "power chair". It was a 23 year old kid from AZ with C/P, or Muscular Distophy... he and his Father came to Reno for a "Father / Son" weekend.... The Dad surrived.

Somehow I think it would have been better if he hadn't....

x 491

[Rhino89523]

I think it might have been better if he didn't survive too, like a last Father and Son event. I'm glad he left out some of the detail. I am sad that all this happened but I hope it is not the end of the event.

Just a sad series of events.

[Tharrell]

I noticed he was not visible in the cockpit in some early photos after the crash.
A possible scenario is being reported that possibly his seat collapsed.
The tail wheel was also deployed which is not normal.
Here are some pics and a video.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/20/ph ... latestnews