P-51 Crashes !!

[ZYouL8R]

He could have very well had a gray-out, or possibly even a brief Gloc (G-induced loss of consciousness). The trim tabs on many aircraft are somewhat insignificant in size. On that particular plane, they are comparatively enormous in comparison to the size of the flight control surface they are on. The loss or even partial failure of that almost certainly would throw the plane into a sudden, violent and barely (if at all) controllable corkscrew at the kind of speed he was travelling.

Losing the trim tab itself has no affect on the flyability of a plane. It's what happens to the elevator when you lose the trim tab. The only thing the trim tab does is keeps the elevator at a certain angle to relieve control pressures for a certain airspeed.

At 450KIAS, the nose down trim would be substantial. So that means the elevator is at a pretty extreme (relatively) down angle and the trim tab is keeping it in place. Now imagine losing the trim tab at that point. The elevator would violently go from down to at a minimum, aligned into the wind. This would make the aircraft pitch up violently. The instantaneous G would be enough to make a 70-year old G-loc IMO.

[helosailor]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=609_1316412521

This is a view I don't think has been posted yet. Completely shows you what happened. Damn he hit the ground hauling ass. Seems like the plane pitched up when the trim tab broke free and It seems (to me) that the pilot might not have been conscious, could very well have just been the absence of the trim tab that cause him to corkscrew and appear to pull up. Fast forward to 3:00.

He could have very well had a gray-out, or possibly even a brief Gloc (G-induced loss of consciousness). The trim tabs on many aircraft are somewhat insignificant in size. On that particular plane, they are comparatively enormous in comparison to the size of the flight control surface they are on. The loss or even partial failure of that almost certainly would throw the plane into a sudden, violent and barely (if at all) controllable corkscrew at the kind of speed he was travelling.

[CJ]

I don't even hear what I would presume would be his throttle being cut, sounded like he was wide open when he impacted.

[CJ]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=609_1316412521

This is a view I don't think has been posted yet. Completely shows you what happened. Damn he hit the ground hauling ass. Seems like the plane pitched up when the trim tab broke free and It seems (to me) that the pilot might not have been conscious, could very well have just been the absence of the trim tab that cause him to corkscrew and appear to pull up. Fast forward to 3:00.

Yep, Danny and I were almost at this airshow on our trip, the day that this happened. When we were in Carson City we found out it was going on, but logistics just didn't work to backtrack once we were in Bonneville, so we headed south instead. Pretty nuts. I think Danny even has a brochure from the show that we got at the motel we were staying at.

[Randy]

My cousin and Uncle were literally 100 feet from the crash. They hit the deck right before impact. A woman was killed 20 feet from them. Terrible situation.

might have been my aunt.... in-laws side. husband was hurt badly but survived.

[Somewhere in Time]

My cousin and Uncle were literally 100 feet from the crash. They hit the deck right before impact. A woman was killed 20 feet from them. Terrible situation.

[46Tbird]

I was wanting to drive back to Reno after Bonneville but there just wasn't going to be enough time. I'm REALLY glad we didn't make it. RIP

[CJ]

I'm amazed at how it cratered an air field tarmac. That is insane.

[dmh165638]

Current count is 7 people. I feel for their families, but it could have been much much worse. By 50 feet even.

Absolutely! His trajectory minimized loss of life. Image if he hit that spot heading in the direction of the grandstand and the plane didn't disintegrate into a million small fragments. He could have taken out the entire grandstand area easily.

[Captain Crawfish]

You can plainly see people getting bowled over by debris.

thats what i was looking for. man that thing dropped like a brick! RIP

[stevo]

Also remember, this was a highly modified race plane built on the chassis of a WWII p51 fighter, it may have had the equivalent of a race car fuel cell in it.

The evaporative cooling system might have actually help to prevent flames.

Stevo

[helosailor]

Can anyone explain why there was no fire?

I'm thinking the sheer force of the impact must have been like a high explosive. Explosives have been used for a long time to extinguish stubborn class B fires (like oil well fires) because it forces all of the oxygen away from the fire.
With the speed of the aircraft and the totality of the destruction, that looks to be the kind of effect that took place.

x2
Do the older planes run on some different kind of fuel?

Still a form of Avgas (gasoline). Not sure what kind of octane they're running though.

[krazy kris]

Can anyone explain why there was no fire?

x2
Do the older planes run on some different kind of fuel?

[SS Junk]

Can anyone explain why there was no fire?