Very sad

[Dave Hadfield]

There never looked to be enough vertical fin surface, to my eye.

[DB2]

There were a number of engineering white papers published by the project, regarding various aspects of the aircraft design. They can be viewed at this link:

http://bugatti100p.aero/the-project/articles-papers/

A very sad end to the project, though.

[bdk]

There never looked to be enough vertical fin surface, to my eye.

Don't forget that the vee-section has a vertical component as well.

[marine air]

Thought the same about the tail. I remember in the 1970's the Beechcraft Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee built up a full scale Travelair 'Mystery Ship' replica. It was gorgeous. One day I noticed a really short set of original wings hanging in one of the hangars. They said, "yeah it had different wings for different races and the shortest for only used for absolute speed." The Hughes H-1 also had two sets of wings.
Maybe what can be learned from this tragedy , and I feel another Bugatti will be built , is on the next attempt maybe an RC replica should be tested. Also , start with very long wings and larger fins and control surfaces, then study and calculate just how small that should actually be. My heartfelt condolences go out to all involved on this attempt.

[Kyleb]

Thought the same about the tail. I remember in the 1970's the Beechcraft Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee built up a full scale Travelair 'Mystery Ship' replica. It was gorgeous. One day I noticed a really short set of original wings hanging in one of the hangars. They said, "yeah it had different wings for different races and the shortest for only used for absolute speed." The Hughes H-1 also had two sets of wings.
Maybe what can be learned from this tragedy , and I feel another Bugatti will be built , is on the next attempt maybe an RC replica should be tested. Also , start with very long wings and larger fins and control surfaces, then study and calculate just how small that should actually be. My heartfelt condolences go out to all involved on this attempt.

Why are you assuming there was a controllability issue? That isn't what I'm led to believe based the eyewitness reports and video I've seen.

[old iron]

Kyleb said:

I feel another Bugatti will be built , is on the next attempt maybe an RC replica should be tested.

Here is some video of the P100 crash -- of the RC model.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD8lj41wOdM

[bdk]

Why are you assuming there was a controllability issue? That isn't what I'm led to believe based the eyewitness reports and video I've seen.

Is it OK to speculate now?

One of the eyewitnesses said it seemed to be climbing shallower than normal. That and the wing drop would suggest a loss of power, getting too slow and a spin entry.

With the myriad of cameras, including one in a trailing helicopter, all this should become apparent if that data is released upon the conclusion of the investigation.

[CAPFlyer]

Didn't they have a problem with the gearbox/clutch arrangement at one point earlier in the testing process? I wonder if something happened with that again after takeoff and there just wasn't enough power available from the still operating engine/prop to keep it flying.

[Kyleb]

Didn't they have a problem with the gearbox/clutch arrangement at one point earlier in the testing process? I wonder if something happened with that again after takeoff and there just wasn't enough power available from the still operating engine/prop to keep it flying.

I dunno anything about their previous issues with the powertrain, but the video I saw and the eyewitness accounts all seemed to point towards a departure stall. The airplane appeared to be at a relatively high AOA and with a low climb rate right from when it lifted off. Some sort of propulsion issue would be at the very top of my list of things to check.