Family Friend Crashed His TR9 Spitfire On Landing. Again.
Dec 3, 2009 | 05:26 PM
#1
Thread Starter
| The black sheep of the family.
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,322
Family Friend Crashed His TR9 Spitfire On Landing. Again.
Second time in a year. Same thing happened both times. Came down to hard, hit the runway, bounced and the undercarriage gave way.
He said when landing the thing, you can only see the ground out the side, engine obscures all the view, so it's darn hard to judge.
Wonder how many crashed in similar way during WWII, the pilots weren't
exactly experienced, and it was obviously a problem.
He said when landing the thing, you can only see the ground out the side, engine obscures all the view, so it's darn hard to judge.
Wonder how many crashed in similar way during WWII, the pilots weren't
exactly experienced, and it was obviously a problem.
Dec 3, 2009 | 05:31 PM
#2
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Posts: 5,659
From: Plano, TX
That sucks, he made it on the news, too- WWII Spitfire fighter plane in second crash | Stuff.co.nz
Dec 3, 2009 | 05:58 PM
#5
Teamspeed's Florida Ambassador
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 5,085
From: Mayamee
That's a very rare plane. He's lucky to own one, and lucky it wasn't more serious. You need to build a LOT of tail dragger time before flying one of these. They are tough to land. One should start with a basic bi plane and move onto something like a T6 before going to one of those.
During WWII (from what I understand) there were many crashes on landing in spitfires, much less in P-51's, but the one that was tricky and often dangerous to land was the ME-109. Many pilots killed themselves on landing in those ME's.
You should ask your family friend for more pictures of the spitfire. What other airplanes does he own??? I would love to see pictures.
During WWII (from what I understand) there were many crashes on landing in spitfires, much less in P-51's, but the one that was tricky and often dangerous to land was the ME-109. Many pilots killed themselves on landing in those ME's.
You should ask your family friend for more pictures of the spitfire. What other airplanes does he own??? I would love to see pictures.
Dec 3, 2009 | 06:09 PM
#6
Thread Starter
| The black sheep of the family.
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,322
That's a very rare plane. He's lucky to own one, and lucky it wasn't more serious. You need to build a LOT of tail dragger time before flying one of these. They are tough to land. One should start with a basic bi plane and move onto something like a T6 before going to one of those.
During WWII (from what I understand) there were many crashes on landing in spitfires, much less in P-51's, but the one that was tricky and often dangerous to land was the ME-109. Many pilots killed themselves on landing in those ME's.
You should ask your family friend for more pictures of the spitfire. What other airplanes does he own??? I would love to see pictures.
During WWII (from what I understand) there were many crashes on landing in spitfires, much less in P-51's, but the one that was tricky and often dangerous to land was the ME-109. Many pilots killed themselves on landing in those ME's.
You should ask your family friend for more pictures of the spitfire. What other airplanes does he own??? I would love to see pictures.
Hes an incredibly experienced pilot, does stunt shoes etc, i think the winds were changing when he was landing or something. He flies it pretty often so hes no rookie.
Dec 4, 2009 | 08:01 AM
#10
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From: 51.933° N, 4.583° E
I remember reading many years ago in an aviation mag that landing and taking off in the Spitfire is a b*tch because it 'leans' back so much. Apparently until the wings generate enough lift to get the tail horizontal the only way to see the ground is by looking out sideways.
Must be a pretty expensive repair too huh.
Must be a pretty expensive repair too huh.
