Re: Planespotting
 

Perhaps he ejected a split second before the crash - obscured behind the ensuing explosion. An ejection at that speed that close to the ground would not be a good thing - hence the injuries.

Sad day :(

Re: Planespotting
 

Another clip from a A27 motorist's dashcam

Re: Planespotting
 

[QUOTE=civilservant;11730645]Perhaps he ejected a split second before the crash - obscured behind the ensuing explosion. An ejection at that speed that close to the ground would not be a good thing - hence the injuries.

/QUOTE]

I don't agree with that.
Hunters T7 & T8 mostly have Martin Baker MK 4 seats.
Minimum height for ejection was zero and max speed 600+ KIAS.
I would guess the speed to be around 380kias.

I'm not sure what mark Hunter was involved.

Re: Planespotting
 

Just because it was designed for that does not mean it functioned that well. We are talking about old tech after all.

Re: Planespotting
 

Under the circumstances it worked remarkably well, as I was shocked that the pilot was found alive at all! :blink:

FWIW There is also a big difference between ejecting at "zero altitude" when the plane is level and the right way up and ejecting close to the ground when the plane is pointing in a different direction.

Re: Planespotting
 

http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-productio...jpg?1384882692


USAF made a documentary in the 60s about the effects of low level ejection ( I think this was around 300 feet). The parachute opening altitude was higher and therefore more survivable for an inverted aircraft than one in an upright wings level dive of 30 degrees.

Re: Planespotting
 

Sad. Few if anyone would expect to be hit by a plane while driving on a highway.



Midair accident in Switzerland at an airshow there, involving light aircraft and killed 1 pilot.

Switzerland air show crash leaves 1 pilot dead - World - CBC News

Re: Planespotting
 

The CAA has grounded all flight ops of Hunters from today UTFN.

Re: Planespotting
 

And also prohibited vertical loops and other agressive acrobatics by historic aircraft at airshows. Fly-pasts only is apparently now the order of the day.

Re: Planespotting
 

Sad but hopefully safer.
The Hunter only retired from military service last year.:(

Re: Planespotting
 

That's technically correct but a bit of a stretch. :sneaky:

The RAF retired it from its primary interceptor role in 1963, entirely from combat service in 1967, and most of the RAF trainers were retired in the 1970s. The final RAF two seater trainers were retired more than twenty years ago. Among the numerous countries that used it, the Lebanese airforce finally retired it from active service in 2014. It also entered service (1954) at a date closer than the Wright Brothers first flight than to today!

Re: Planespotting
 

I saw a report this morning that he did/didn't eject - the explosive charge had partially detonated, indicating that either he tried to eject at the last moment but the ejector did not fully deploy, or he did not try to eject, but that the ejector was partially triggered by the impact with the ground. Either way, the pilot was found 100ft IIRC from the fuselage of the plane.

Re: Planespotting
 

Pulaski, I have to say I’m a bit disturbed by your comment ‘That's technically correct but a bit of a stretch.’

‘A bit of a stretch’ to me insinuates exaggerated, therefore untrue. The Hunter did retire from active military service late 2014, with the Lebanese Air force I seem to remember.

I would have thought that as a retired (British?) military, you would have been proud that a British aircraft served and lasted so well.:(

Re: Planespotting
 

I apologise if I offended you, but on looking into the details of the history of the HH I was surprised how long ago the RAF decommissioned most of them.

I am indeed proud it lasted so long, however when the best airforce in the world considered it to be operationally obsolete more than fifty years ago, and that there have been two generations of replacement strike aircraft (Lightnings and Tornadoes) that have come since, I don't think that characterizing the HH as only taken out of service in 2014 is entirely a fair characterization.

FWIW when I said "technically correct", I was acknowledging that it is true, but yes, it is an exaggeration when there is not a single pilot currently in the RAF who ever flew the HH on a combat mission. In deed it is likely that the youngest surviving RAF combat HH pilot is already in his seventies! The last combat sorties by an HH having been flown in 1967.

Re: Planespotting
 

Back to the theory:

The last video I saw indicated to me that at the bottom of the loop the aircraft was stalling (looks like high speed buffet), perhaps the (sometimes used) 20 degree flap during low speed manoeuvres failed.
Just my theory.