oscar wipe out

[Ollie]

Oh surely.

But see, the guy who taught me how to fly tail wheel did a check at the same time on a Mustang II homebuilt.

The owner had never flown a tail wheel and that little plane is tricky I heard. So they went on the runway and rolled up and down it, lifting the tail, getting a feel for the rudders, gyroscopic precession, etc...

And when he was comfortable with it, they took off!

I can't say I'm against that. I mean, you don't start on two wheels with a bike. You have to learn with the wee wheels on each side, then you go solo!

All it takes is a second and a brake hanging up or a strong gust of wind and you make a nice ball out of what once was a plane.

[dj51d]

All it takes is a second and a brake hanging up or a strong gust of wind and you make a nice ball out of what once was a plane.

How is it any different if this were to happen on a fast taxi or take-off/roll out?

[bdk]

How is it any different if this were to happen on a fast taxi or take-off/roll out?

This debate has no right answer- just like the question, "Which is better, a wheel landing or a full stall landing?"

My opinion is that if you do sufficient ground running and a little ramp taxi, you should find out everything you need to know. The problem as I see it is that you run a risk doing a high speed taxi since you must apply power, then cut the power to stop. The power reduction causes a change in torque, p-factor, and gyroscopic procession at a time of poor controllability when you are between flying and taxiing. On landing, this is the same speed that a groundloop is most likely to initiate. Usually you transition through this region of poor controllability rather quickly, but on a high speed taxi you are making a power change right at that time.

To recap, in a high speed taxi you nearly have enough speed to have good aerodynamic control- but the tail is low and the rudder can be blanked by the fuselage. Then you make a drastic power change. Because of the speed you are light on the wheels so braking is poor or inconsitant, and you generally don't brake at high speed in a taildragger anyhow.

On a completely new (never flown before) design, it might be a good idea to get the tail up soon to ensure you have sufficent down elevator. With insufficent up elevator (or a too forward CG) you would have trouble getting off the ground. That is far better than if you are approaching takeoff speed and you can't get the tail off the ground. This could be as a result of an incorrect stabilizer incidence or a too far aft CG, both bad news from an aircraft stability/controllability standpoint.

[Mike]

They used to have a superb and unique airworthy Macchi Veltro in Italy.

Until they decided to do high-speed taxi trials in it.

Now they've managed to straighten the remains out enough to make a static display

[Ollie]

I'm with Dan on this one.

Say you don't do any fast taxiing. You line up, apply the power to take-off then the right hand brake jams and you end up in the ditch.

Eh.

Word from Mr Champlain is the Oscar is badly damaged and may not be repaired....

[Mike]

An interesting comment, in the light of the recent thread in which it was claimed that any unsold ones would be scrapped.

That Me262 was badly damaged also and it has already returned to the air. Now I understand that none of us have seen the pictures but I think if this stops them, then it will be a real shame.

[bdk]

Say you don't do any fast taxiing. You line up, apply the power to take-off then the right hand brake jams and you end up in the ditch.

Isn't this the same thing that would occur in a high speed taxi situation?

[Ollie]

Yes, my point, exactly.

It's like a circular argument : might be damned if you do, might be damned if you don't.

I guess we could go on and on and on and on with it.

[HarvardIV]

Maybe the gear doesn't lock down, or hydraulic pressure was too low. Maybe it hit a rock. Maybe a blow out. Maybe the brakes. Maybe the rudder is too sensitive. Maybe the ailerons were backwards. Maybe the seat was adjusted badly, and maybe he had to slam on the brakes. Maybe he had to bail out??

Chris

[Jeffrey]

yeah harvard and maybe since it is a type of aircraft that has NOT been flown in decades... perhaps it just up and surprised the pilot by being a bit misadjusted and got away from him.

either way, we can make guesses from now till eternity and it won't change 4 things.

1, we do not know what caused it.

2, the plane is damaged.

3, the plane needed some sort of testing before being flown without any previous on type experience, even by an extremely competant test pilot.

4, without even more funds being spent on what is effectively an experimental aircraft type, it'll just be a mess for some-one years from now to try and figure out, if it survives.

[DaveM2]

Word from Mr Champlain is the Oscar is badly damaged and may not be repaired....

No insurance ?

Dave

[setter]

Hi

Well if it's not going to be repaired then why not auction it - I am sure there are a lot of people that would like to have a go at repairing this thing if the price was right.

Regards
John P