Couple of things;
First, the original plan was for them to land in "trail" just as they did the day before and have done countless times in the past. Not a formation landing. At OSH, the Reno racers do a right hand patern on runway 36 and after the "race" is over they simply join the RH down wind and land in trail. Seldom do "Big" Warbirds (P40, P47, P51, Corsair...) land in formation simply because of the obvious lack of foreward visibility during landing.
Second, what is not visible on the video is the trafic in front of the formation. The first airplane to land was the Sea Fury. Then came the 2 Mustangs involved in the accident. Each airplanes landed on opposite sides of the runway and should have remained in sequence.
What remains unclear (to me anyway) is the actual reason the A model P51 caught the D model. A very experienced US naval aviator friend of mine who saw the accident (I did not witness it for myself as I was sitting in my CJ waiting to takeoff for our portion of the show) said the Sea Fury slowed down to clear the runway, which may have caused the D model to slow down more then the A pilot expected, or perhaps the A model just carried too much airspeed.
In any case, the separation was much shorter then the original plan with dire results.
From my position, the first hint something went wrong was seeing the third P51, the Corsair and the Tigercat crosing overhead runway 09/27 with the gear extended. Then came the announce that the show was suspended.
A sad day in deed.
F
A bad day at Oshkosh....
Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, lilfssister, North Shore, I WAS Birddog
I agree with you, a certain standard needs to be kept for people flying formations at airshows, for the safety of all involved. You've probably said before and I've forgotten, but what'd you fly at airshows? I'm just a curious person, lol.
Thats interesting about the different requirements for flying formation airshows. I had often wondered why American airshows could have mass formations of anything and everything, but Canadian shows had significantly fewer. The Canadian way makes sense, if I were flying formations at airshows or anywhere I'd want to know who I was flying with, and know how they fly etc. Maybe this will bring about a change in the American policy?
Thats interesting about the different requirements for flying formation airshows. I had often wondered why American airshows could have mass formations of anything and everything, but Canadian shows had significantly fewer. The Canadian way makes sense, if I were flying formations at airshows or anywhere I'd want to know who I was flying with, and know how they fly etc. Maybe this will bring about a change in the American policy?
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fougapilot
- Rank 7
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Greg,
Actually, you got it backward. To fly formation in a Canadian airshow, one only needs an airplane. No formation qualification currently exists in the CARs. However, to fly formation in a US airshow, you need a formation qualification card (either issued by FAST or ICAS). Furthermore, to race at Reno (which both pilots involved in the colision did every year) one needs to be formation AND aerobatic qualified in the type of airplane one plans to fly in the race.
The only reason we see "mass" formations at US airshow and not Canadian ones is simply because we don't have enough airplanes in Canada.
I fly a CJ6A. There are roughly 250 of them in North America and only 20ish in Canada. Difficult for any Canadian to fly cross country just for an airshow. I would love to have gone to Abbostford, but just the ga$ to fly from Montreal would consume 50% of my yearly budget.
Facts are simple; formation flying is a risky business. It can and has been done safely for many years and will continue to be done safely for many to come.
Unfortunately, you just can't take all the risk out of anything.
F
Actually, you got it backward. To fly formation in a Canadian airshow, one only needs an airplane. No formation qualification currently exists in the CARs. However, to fly formation in a US airshow, you need a formation qualification card (either issued by FAST or ICAS). Furthermore, to race at Reno (which both pilots involved in the colision did every year) one needs to be formation AND aerobatic qualified in the type of airplane one plans to fly in the race.
The only reason we see "mass" formations at US airshow and not Canadian ones is simply because we don't have enough airplanes in Canada.
I fly a CJ6A. There are roughly 250 of them in North America and only 20ish in Canada. Difficult for any Canadian to fly cross country just for an airshow. I would love to have gone to Abbostford, but just the ga$ to fly from Montreal would consume 50% of my yearly budget.
Facts are simple; formation flying is a risky business. It can and has been done safely for many years and will continue to be done safely for many to come.
Unfortunately, you just can't take all the risk out of anything.
F
Correct. CAR 623.06:To fly formation in a Canadian airshow, one only needs an airplane. No formation qualification currently exists in the CARs
http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/Regse ... m#623d1_06
requires only documentable experience as follows:
As Dan points out though, there really aren't many airshows or airshow pilots in Canada. The airshows are all down south.(d) to conduct formation non-aerobatic manoeuvres:
(i) as pilot-in-command of the aircraft, be experienced in flying in formation in the aircraft intended for the flight,
(ii) in a formation flight of four aircraft or less, have practiced the non-aerobatic manoeuvres with the other members of the formation within the previous 30 days prior to the air show,
(iii) in any formation larger than four aircraft:
(A) have flown the formation’s proposed sequences at an authorized air show in Canada or the U.S., within the 15 days prior to the air show, or
(B) have practiced the proposed sequences within 15 days prior to the air show, and
(iv) have attended, in addition to the briefing referred to in section 623.09, a briefing or review conducted by the formation leader
P.S. A friend of mine raced a Sea Fury in Gold Unlimited at Reno and he said that the qualification would be pretty simple for any airshow pilot who was experienced at formation aerobatics. Apparently most of the rich guys have the most difficulty with the simple 2 point roll.
