Langley AFB. Possible crash a few minutes ago.

FlightmechH3

FlightmechH3

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FlightmechH3
Sounds like a crash while preparing for an airshow. Unknown what aircraft was involved.

This is a heads up.
 
I doubt there was any stall or spin. Rob was too capable and experienced. Best to wait for the official report.
 
Velocity173 said:
Didn’t he have both the most US and international unlimited aerobatic titles ever?
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More US titles than anyone else by a factor of 5. Has not won the world title, but finished second several times. But an incredibly skilled pilot by anyone's standards.
 
Ed Haywood said:
More US titles than anyone else by a factor of 5. Has not won the world title, but finished second several times. But an incredibly skilled pilot by anyone's standards.
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It is an inherently dangerous game they are playing …
 
kyleb said:
That is hard to grasp unless there was something else in play.
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There may very well have been, but it does sound like an approach to landing accident.

Base CO on the local news here stated the accident happened while the aircraft was on 'final approach'. Elsewhere, I have heard he was doing an overhead break and somewhere between the break and final he crashed.
 
Ed Haywood said:
If by "game" you mean "flying" then yes.
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Yeah, flying has a level of risk that we accept because we can't stand the thought of being ground-bound. Because of this accident and the kind of work I do, I've had a lot of conversations with friends today. The average pilot accepts some risk, an airshow pilot takes a lot more risk, and as a photographer flying in formation, I have more risk than the average pilot too. I wouldn't change a thing though. I do everything I can to stay safe, but we all know things go wrong.

I was friends with Jim Leroy and when he crashed it took quite a toll on me... shook me to my core. If an amazing pilot like Jim can make a mistake that costs him his life, how can I ever feel safe? But when we'd sit around talking, he'd acknowledge that he was walking on the edge, but he'd always say the view was amazing.

RIP Rob. It won't be the same not seeing you at Oshkosh this year.
 
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flyingcheesehead said:
On an airplane that's rated for ±14G? You'd practically have to saw it off.
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As I recall of the report back then, the engine mounts broke of the composite frame at about 8G, the CG shift then induced a high G load overstressing the wing and part of it broke of. MX Aircraft then did some changes to the engine mounting. Hard to believe there is any relevance to this accident.
Horrible loss for the aerobatics community.
 
Spinka said:
As I recall of the report back then, the engine mounts broke of the composite frame at about 8G, the CG shift then induced a high G load overstressing the wing and part of it broke of. MX Aircraft then did some changes to the engine mounting. Hard to believe there is any relevance to this accident.
Horrible loss for the aerobatics community.
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According to the video above, the engine and prop on that previous accident actually hit the wing as well, so it wasn't just overstressing it. Kinda literally did chop it off!
 
flyingcheesehead said:
According to the video above, the engine and prop on that previous accident actually hit the wing as well, so it wasn't just overstressing it. Kinda literally did chop it off!
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Yes, that was a theory at some point, however the official accident report from french BEA states:
" The investigation showed that the right upper reinforcement securing the engine mount to the fuselage broke during a recovery of approximately 8 g. This failure generated excessive stresses in the other three reinforcements, which broke instantly under overload, causing the firewall to tear. The engine and its mounting thus separated from the airframe. Under the effect of the engine loss, the aircraft's center of gravity shifted instantly beyond the aft limit, and the aircraft pitched up abruptly, still relying on the elevator to perform the recovery. The right wing then broke at mid-span under the effect of abnormally high forces."

I believe the engine broke off to the left and the right wing broke.
 
Hard to believe a guy like that could go out from anything other than a broken airplane. Always disturbing when we lose super accomplished pilots like this.
 
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