Spitfire gear collapse at Bremgarten Germany 3 May 2012

[slinky]

From the Scramble messageboard. Hopefully Achim Meier, CEO of MeierMotors was unhurt. Has anyone heard what happened and how he is? The bird has only flown a few times since restoration....


http://forum.scramble.nl/viewtopic.php?p=573185

[Chappie]

Ouch. Hope Meier is okay. She'll fly again I'm sure.

Saw the mention of the German flag on the tail that is required by German law. Could it be carried under the horizontal stab?


Chappie

[Wildchild]

If he didn't shut off the engine it needs to be rebuilt

[JDK]

Unfortunate.

If he didn't shut off the engine it needs to be rebuilt

Not necessarily. Most Spitfires (past the early marks) including this one, have 'Jablo' type compressed wooden blades, which incidentally reduce the chance of shock-loading the engine.

It'll be expensive, but is hardly unprecedented.

[Vital Spark]

I hope the damage is relatively minimal and she can be repaired and airborne again in short order. Just goes to show that these birds don't stop being thoroughbreds when they become old ladies.

[PbyCat-Guy]

Ouch. Hope Meier is okay. She'll fly again I'm sure.

Saw the mention of the German flag on the tail that is required by German law. Could it be carried under the horizontal stab?


Chappie

Maybe it's a "captured" version. Hope it's back in the air soon

[happymeal]

From a german newspaper article, it is not a gear collapse, but a deliberated belly landing, well prepared (all fuel burned off by extended flyning time) owing to a stuck landing gear leg. Also, same article mentioned pilote is 59 years old. Achim i younger than that I believe !

[bdk]

Shipping cost for new blades shouldn't be much at least since they are made in Germany. Looks like everything turned out as well as could be expected.

[lmritger]

The blades don't look nearly as shattered as one might expect from such a forced landing; I wonder if he killed the engine and dead-sticked it in to avoid said shock-loading of the engine?

Whatever the case, it looks to be a superb piece of piloting to get it down in such decent shape.

Lynn

[aerovet]

I'm proud to see our forum quoted here, although the reason why is
Let's hope this bird is back in the air in no time !!

Met vriendelijke groeten / with kind regards

Gert Jan Mentink
Dutch Aviation Society
Scramble magazine warbirds editor
warbirds at scramble.nl

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[redvanner]

From a german newspaper article, it is not a gear collapse, but a deliberated belly landing, well prepared (all fuel burned off by extended flyning time) owing to a stuck landing gear leg. Also, same article mentioned pilote is 59 years old. Achim i younger than that I believe !

Ouch. Hope Meier is okay. She'll fly again I'm sure.

Saw the mention of the German flag on the tail that is required by German law. Could it be carried under the horizontal stab?


Chappie

In a German R/C forum it was said that Achim Meier was not the pilot that day, but a British pilot named Clive. I strongly believe it to be Clive Davidson, as he piloted aircraft of Air Fighter Academy Heringsdorf before. I saw him perform a perfect display at Breitscheid airshow 2010 in their Yak 9 D-FAFA.

Michael

[Mike Halbrook]

I'm impressed with how little evident damage there seems to be to this airframe. I have many pictures of Spits that ended up on their bellies. None quite like this. The lower nose cowl, the flaps, the ground around the aircraft, there just is no visible "trauma". It may take longer to properly inspect this aircraft than it does to fix it.