Huge Aviation Loss

[roger9344]

It is indeed fortunate that the crew all got out safely. The loss of the aircraft is a tragedy. I had the good fortune to be able to board and tour that airplane almost five years ago. At the time I thought of all those who flew such a flimsy machine into harms way, over and over again. Their legacy lives on. It was nice to be able to introduce my wife and daughter to a bit of our history.

[Walkwolf]

What a huge loss. Such a shame..............!

As said, it's good that there were no casualties. With the threat
of explosion, it would not have been such a good idea
for the crew to try to fight the flames.

[sitges1990]

Ditto to the crew getting off safe and sound. Those photos of the once beautiful burned ship make me physically ill. Thanks for the encouraging information Big Ned, took some of the sting out of this horrendous loss.

Jay

[Berthier92]

i wouldn't want to be one of the ground crew, who patched up the fuel hose after its leaks in the last airshow. provided that it was that which caused it. but the aerial photo seems to show that thats where the fire began. we'll find out once the Investigations are over. Keep up the posts. post any new information here

[gabor42]

Hi Everybody,

I love these old wartime planes and I am very-very sad when I hear such bad news. I have visited the Duxford Air Show in 2001 and 2002, and was good to see these machines in the air and hear their sounds.
But! So many veteran planes crashed or damaged in the last years (P-63 Kincobra, Mosquito, many Spitfires and P-51s, Hurricane, etc…) that in my opinion, should be forced to the ground them, and moved into a museum FINALLY!
I want to see them in the future too. Not just in pictures!

Please, please, please

[Berthier92]

Hi Everybody,

I love these old wartime planes and I am very-very sad when I hear such bad news. I have visited the Duxford Air Show in 2001 and 2002, and was good to see these machines in the air and hear their sounds.
But! So many veteran planes crashed or damaged in the last years (P-63 Kincobra, Mosquito, many Spitfires and P-51s, Hurricane, etc…) that in my opinion, should be forced to the ground them, and moved into a museum FINALLY!
I want to see them in the future too. Not just in pictures!

Please, please, please

I realise what you mean gabor42, It is a shame to see such things occur, maybe in the next ten years it should happen. and replicas should only be allowed to fly, This video made me cringe of the '96 P-38 Lightning crash :
YouTube - ‪P-38 Crash‬‏

[Bill T]

Hi Everybody,

I love these old wartime planes and I am very-very sad when I hear such bad news. I have visited the Duxford Air Show in 2001 and 2002, and was good to see these machines in the air and hear their sounds.
But! So many veteran planes crashed or damaged in the last years (P-63 Kincobra, Mosquito, many Spitfires and P-51s, Hurricane, etc…) that in my opinion, should be forced to the ground them, and moved into a museum FINALLY!
I want to see them in the future too. Not just in pictures!

Please, please, please

Im in full agreement with you. Yes, it is nice to fly them around the country to show the real life history to people at air shows/etc. BUT...if they were permanently grounded in one place, then the people who really truly have the desire to go see them, still could without any risk to a beautiful piece of US/ww2 history. History of this nature should be preserved to the best of our capability IMO. Who knows, maybe some good will come out of this and preservation of historical aircraft/similar will be taken more carefully.

[davejb]

Although its a nice idea, it defeats the object of living history, true its a terrible shame when these fabulous aircraft have accidents, but where do you draw the line, should military vehicles become static displays, they have accidents, catch fire, engine siezes, the amount of preparation taken and the expert mechanical knowledge used on these aircraft is second to none, extra parts are not easy to come by therefore they are made to original tolerances from, more often than not ,stronger materials than originally used, there will always be unforeseen accidents, some caused my mechanical failure, which can happen in any aircraft or sometimes pilot error due to overstressing the airframe which happened in wartime as well ,the accident that involved the B17 was apparently caused by a failure to correct a problem with the fuel line on one engine, the fault lies with the entire crew both flight and ground personel, the main attraction of these historic birds is to see them as they were, in the air, the sound, the smell. The aviation authorities have more stringent regulations concerning the airworthiness of historic aircraft than any other and i would submit that there are more static displays of wartime aircraft than those that fly, i for one would be extremely upset if they ceased to fly and would miss the sight of the Battle of Britain memorial aircraft that fly over my house regularly and the younger generation should also be given the opportunity to see these in the air. I see your point and concern in this matter but the enthusiasts who keep them flying will certainly have a different view bearing in mind the amount of money spent annually on keeping them in the air

[Berthier92]

to dabejb. i see your argument there. but say an engine seizes or the military vehicle crashes. most can be easily repaired. an aircraft however, unlike, say an armoured car is constructed much differently.if an armoured car crashes, there may be a few bends or breaks in the steel structure which can easily be fixed and spare parts can be found. An aircraft however is built out of a kind of alumminium structure which sacrifices some strength for a reduction of weight. if an aircraft crashes heavily, your lucky to find all the parts afterwards. i mean look at the video i linked earlier on this thread of a P-38 crashing. at the moment of impact, the aircraft just disintergrates into itself. hence i belive, some sacrifices are for the better, and that original ww1-ww2 aircraft should remain grounded.

[gabor42]

To dabejb

What does it mean, that you wrote „there are more static displays of wartime aircraft than those that fly...”?
Does it mean that „let’s fly with them until the last example crashed or damaged”?
I work at an Archeological Museum here in Hungary. For example we have thousands of dishes, many of them 4000 or 6000 years old. After all we do not use them for dinner set. Instead of it, we exhibit them to those people who would like to see them.
Sure, the owners of these planes spend thousands dollars to keep these birds in flying condition. They have rights to destroy, or damage them since these planes their owns. Uhhh…
What will I say to my children in 15 years? When I will want to show these birds? Sorry, my dear. No one have been left.
Instead of flying these living legends, rich men should replicas have built and original ones should be sent to rest to a museum.

I think Poland gives the perfect solution. They have the only one PZL P-11c fighter in flying condition. But they do not fly with it, because they anxious about it. On Air Shows, they roll it from the hangar, start its’ engine, run it for a time… Visitors and enthusiats can hear it and see it.
It is a very clever idea!

I am a real plane crazy. I have been doing historical researching about RAF WWII pilots for more than 20 years. As I have mentioned I LOVE these planes and was elevating moments when I heard the sound of Rolls-Royce Merlins in the air. But if there is only a handful of examples of these planes to this generation, they should move them into a hangar and follow Poles’proceedings.

Here is a link where you can see why the younger generation will not be able to hear the engine sound of a Mosquito. This was the last example.

YouTube - ‪Mosquito crash‬‏


Here is an P-63 Kingcobra

YouTube - ‪P-63 Kingcobra Crash‬‏



A Spitfire

YouTube - ‪supermarine splitfire wrong timing landing‬‏


A Hawker Hurricane

YouTube - ‪HAWKER HURRICANE CRASH AT SHOREHAM AIRSHOW 2007‬‏