What just happened at Reno?

[Fearless Tower]

Could a missing trim tab cause that much control problem?

At the right (or wrong speed depending on how you look at it) yes......it is called flutter.

[BigGrey]

I got home after being out of town all week and was floored when the first thing on my screen after getting online was the tragic events at Reno. After watching 177 fly over and around my house multiple times daily the previous week, I really wanted to see great results.
My thoughts and prayers to everyone who suffered a loss or injuries in this.
I don't think speculation about this event helps anyone or anything.

Les

[bluehawk15]

I think discussion about such things does help others. I don't feel we are attempting to lay blame, but to explore the possibilities of what might have gone wrong to cause the incident. At least for me, this helps to mentally plan the action that I may need to take, should something similar happen to me!

[Ploesti]

Well here's one write up of many more to come I'm sure, but I do give credit to the responses to the article.
Jimmy Leeward had as much class, control and airmanship as anyone young or old. Discussion? good, speculation? not so much, compassion? essential.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... eadly.html

[rwdfresno]

A very sad situation indeed... My condolences got out to all those affected by this.

As unfortunate as this year’s events have been, I think that a call for a "stand-down" for the remainder of the season seems like an impetuous proposal. There certainly no evidence that there is some sort of a systemic issue that is leading to all of these events. Granted, it is time to look at each of these incidents and learn what we can about them, but grounding aircraft or stopping airshows isn't likely to solve many problems. I hope that calmer heads prevail.

I also hope that this doesn't see an end to air racing. The unfortunate truth is that there are certain dangers for participants and spectators. This isn't exclusive to air racing. The truth is though that likely more spectators have died or been injured watching professional soccer games in the past 75 years than spectators at air racing events. There have been several events in the past several years in motorsports where race cars, monster trucks, motorcycles, etc. have gone into crowds. It is a horrible tragedy in each and every case.

Under no circumstances would I want to trivialize the pain that these tragedies bring to those involved, my heart goes out to them. I hope we learn lessons from each and every one of these events, but let's keep them flying, keep them being displayed to the public, and stop thinking we can save people from harm by abating their activities.

Ryan

[exhaustgases]

I'm in tears, I just heard about this tonight driving home from work. Condolences to all involved.

[Xray]

Terrible news, I won't be looking to watch any footage of this.
Airshows survived the mass carnage in Germany some years back, they'll survive this. Of course, air races are unique in their own right, vs a typical show ,,, And if anything, I would think the FAA will mandate the crowd line be placed further back and/or regulate if anyone at all should be in proximity to areas where they turn.

[agent86]

went every year since 2004 missed this year,glad i did.feel for people from other countries that came to see it.it's a great show,but dangerous for all.glad I wasnt there

[agent86]

I also have issues at the chino airshow as they are doing aerobatics in 70 year old planes.flying,ok but loops ,rollls,etc always worry me.maybe i'm wrong,but they need to be pampered.however,the Reno racers are built to do it and the FAA doesnt mess around.its easy to see how this can happen at Reno.I just hope it doesnt mean the end.its the best airshow in the world.everybody here needs to go.WWII fighters ,with superchargers pumped way past wartime pressures blazing at about 100 feet at 500 miles an hour.ya gotta see it to believe it.sorry for the casualties.scares me about the future of the races

[JDK]

Terrible news. Best hopes that the losses stay as minimal close to the numbers being reported now.

Airshows survived the mass carnage in Germany some years back, they'll survive this.

Not so. The 1988 Ramstein accident put an effective halt on airshows in Germany and a major restriction to airshows on Continental Europe for many years - you could say, quite reasonably, that the embryonic European (excluding the UK) warbird scene was crippled and put back about a decade as a result.

Last edited by JDK on Sat Sep 17, 2011 2:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

[JDK]

The Beast article is factually inaccurate on a number of points. However regarding responding to that and discussing general and comparative incidents, opinion and views PLEASE be aware that this is an open forum available to anyone and comments can be picked up by media and used against vintage aviation and air racing. If you are any doubt about the advisability of posting - just don't.

[wingman1]

WoW prayers going out for everbody.

[fotobass]

In the photos being circulated on Yahoo, one seriously bothers me, and it is the pic BEFORE the pic that has been shown here, it shows a side view of 'Ghost' alledgedly just seconds before impact...and I gotta ask...WHERE is the pilot? ALL I see in that pic is plexiglass, no hint of a helmet or anyone in the cockpit...and comparing it with other photos of 'Ghost' on takeoff and in the air, you can ALWAYS see the pilot/Leeward in the plexiglass.....can someone smarter than me post that photo up here for folks to see?

Just putting it out there....

Mark

It's a doctored up static side view of the airplane. You'll notice that it's viewed perfectly down the wing line. Not an authentic photo of the incident.

I went back and looked at that image, and it's credited to AP, and captioned as something shot turing the incident. If you're right, Randy (and I'm NOT questioning your expertise here), then either Yahoo tied the caption to the wrong image, or the AP shooter's in some major trouble.

[tex-fan]

5:20 am: Fox news and CNN morning reports are saying 3 killed. Mr Leeward and 2 on the ground.

[airnutz]

oops