Hawker Hunter

[Denis]

[NannyFerret]

Your panning is really good, Dennis. I can even see the pilots face.

Nice one

[JohnP]

I agree with Nanny...

[JHFoto]

Very good shot, nice one..............

[JamWheel]

Nice shot, Denis - good sharpness and some ground in the shot for context.

If this is cropped it might be worth moving the frame to the right slightly so you put less room behind the aircraft than in front to give it more room to 'fly into' - but this is only a minor observation on a great photo.

[Clicker]

What a really good photo Denis... the more I look at it the better it gets....I suspect that James' comment about moving the crop is valid but I agree with him also that it does not detract from what is a really  fine image .... and it is a beautiful aircraft too..

[Denis]

If this is cropped it might be worth moving the frame to the right slightly

Sadly I was too busy 'panning' and didnt lead enough to give it more room

[colinb]

The Hunter has to be one of the 'prettiest' flying war machines? - nicely taken Denis

[Denis]

Sad to say it was this very aircraft that crashed and took the lives of at least seven at Shoreham today. Terrible terrible news.

[Clicker]

It really brings home to us ...the fragile hold one has on life.  My sister was filming the other week at the air show when  a  plane crashed during the display...she was profoundly affected.  Thought provoking stuff Denis .....thanks for sharing .

 

[ChrisLumix]

Sad to say it was this very aircraft that crashed and took the lives of at least seven at Shoreham today. Terrible terrible news.

Yes, awful. And yet, they're saying today that the pilot survived. HOW??

[Denis]

If you entered the loop too low, and in an effort to clear the ground you would pull up the nose. Without sufficient air speed the wings would lose lift.  The aircraft would then go into a high sped stall. With more height it may have been possible to have kept the nose down a little longer to justify the amount of stick input to raise the nose and clear the ground.

The fact that all photographic evidence shows the aircraft to be in a nose high attitude (stall conditions applying) when it hit, suggesting that the cockpit area would be relatively intact.

I'm not a pilot but do understand a little about the theory of flight, but that in no way makes me an expert on the causes of a crash. It is hard to answer a question like this without relying on a little armchair knowledge. I know no one involved in this incident but I really do feel....upset, for want of a better word over this, and the possible repercussions of this terrible accident that I fear will affect the way airshows are conducted in future.

[Guest Ron]

I agree Dennis, I too have a basic understanding of flight but only armchair knowledge. From the footage I have seen it would appear that the loop was started from very low level which is only going to bring the aircraft back to the same low level or as happened in this case a situation where the pilot is pulling trying to raise the nose of the aircraft but bleeding off speed and stalling.

A very sad accident in which I think 11 people have lost their lives and I agree that repercussions could apply to future airshows.

Ron

[JohnP]

I regularly used to attend the annual airshow at RAF Brawdy in West Wales, I was there on the 24th July 1986 when a USAF F4 Phantom crashed into the sea at nearby Newgale killing both crew. I remember seeing something fall off the aircraft and a circular cloud of vapour as the aircraft made a right to left pass along the line of the runway, it then turned 180 degres and went towards the sea. There was two loud bangs as the ejector were deployed but by then the aircraft had lost too much height and went down into the sea. The base was then used for search and rescue and 202 Squadron's Sea King helicopters were based there, one was dispatched within seconds but there was nothing they could do for both crew. It was very upsetting and I will never forget that sad day.

[AshWeb]

A very sad accident but we must allow the experts to make their thorough investigation in the days and weeks to come and not speculate too much about the cause.  Whether it was pilot error or a technical malfunction we must remember that there were people in those cars and a person in the cockpit; a machine can be replaced but a person is gone forever.  I was at Coventry airport some years ago when the Gloucester Meteor went down and it's a horrible feeling.

People have always been drawn to airshows to see up close, and also hear, the aircraft and witness the skill of the pilots; those who go accept that these are inherently dangerous events and accidents can/will/do happen despite the best efforts to keep them as safe as possible.  Lessons have had to be learnt where necessary and the airshows of today are now very highly regulated as a result of a series of accidents going back to the 1950's - One in particular was an aircraft flying directly towards the crowd (I think he may have been trying to go supersonic over the crowd) broke up in mid air and the engine carried on, landing in the crowd and killing many people. From then on aircraft must always display parallel to and turn away from the crowd, and a host of other regulations which have kept airshows relatively safe for all.  Whether we now get further regulations remains to be seen.

[Denis]

I very much agree with what you are saying, I only wanted to try and answer Chris's question of how it was possible for the pilot to have got out by trying to describe the attitude of the aircraft in question. I would certainly never speculate on the causes of any crash. That is what the AAIB will have to answer

[ChrisLumix]

Thanks Denis. It's just when you see pictures of the fireball resulting from the crash, you just assume that everyone on the aircraft must have been killed immediately. It's a pity that the safety features in such an aircraft aren't also used in cars.