Geriatric pilots dangerous?

[Dan Thomas]

Is it reasonable to think that Steve Wittman could have survived the flutter incident triggered by the aileron fabric coming loose if he had been younger (say, 85) and sharper?

As I understood it, the fabric came loose on the wing itself, and the wing fluttered and tore off the airplane. Even an immortal young guy wouldn't get away with that.

It was, IIRC, a result of mixing different systems where the finish loosened the adhesive bonding the fabric to the ply surface of the wing.

Dan

 

[RotorAndWing]

Is it reasonable to think that Steve Wittman could have survived the flutter incident triggered by the aileron fabric coming loose if he had been younger (say, 85) and sharper?

Maybe he should have followed accepted practices in fabric recovering? Oh wait a minute, it was an experimental airplane, no need to be bothered with that....

 

[Henning]

As I understood it, the fabric came loose on the wing itself, and the wing fluttered and tore off the airplane. Even an immortal young guy wouldn't get away with that.

It was, IIRC, a result of mixing different systems where the finish loosened the adhesive bonding the fabric to the ply surface of the wing.

Dan

Yikes, sound like if he was sharper he would have checked on system compatibility.