Warbird Information Exchange

If they would have let the crowd do that during Charlie Hillard's accident at Sun-N-Fun, he would still be alive today.[/quote]

My Stepdad and I were ground crew for the late Jimmy Rossi on his Mig-17 and scheduled to perform that day shortly after Charlie got done with his routine so we were in the performers area getting ready when he landed and flipped over... Jimmy, Dad & I jumped in the car and hauled butt out to the Fury followed by Charlie's crewchief who I believe his name was JJ... I took a piece of broken canopy plexiglass and try to start digging the ground away by the cockpit and was making progress when several Lakeland Police Officers drove up and told us to get away from the a/c and let the professionals handle it... The "professionals" hadn't even arrived on seen yet so I tried to keep digging while Jimmy & JJ were trying to convience the officers to help us get Charlie out instead of stopping us... It had rained alot in the days leading up to the airshow that year so the ground was very wet and soft - so the next thing I see is the "professionals" coming down the parallel taxi way with a military crane and then the unthinkable happened - he turned off the asphalt and cut across the grass at which time he went about 8-10 feet and sunk to the axles... The next thing I see is the officers have JJ in handcuffs and putting him in the back of a cruiser and they are heading towards Jimmy, Dad and I threatening the same thing if we didn't stop... Finally emergency crews arrived and started to lift the a/c with a crane and JJ is freaking out because they are trying to lift it from a point where the tail would break off - so I finally convinced the officer to let JJ out of the car so he could show them how to lift it correctly which they did... Unfortunately to much time went by and Charlie suffocated from having his head pinned forward... Just like the people who ran out to help the pilot of the Spitfire - when I was digging by the cockpit - I never once even thought to myself - I wonder if this is going to catch fire or blow up ? I applaud these folks for jumping into a dangerous situation to help and have thought many times over the years about "what if" - those officers would have just helped us... Whatever happened with this Spitfire accident I'm just thankful the pilot is still with us and as so many have said - with time and money we will see this beautiful Spitfire back in the air one day...
Mike

What a feeling of total helplessness that must have been for all of you.....and the loss of a good friend.....

_________________
Civis Aerius Sum

I am a citizen of the Air

Wow! Was there ever an investigation into the events that took place post-crash?

I'm honestly not sure - but I do know that I was never approached and asked any questions or asked to give a statement about the events as they happened - and neither were my Dad or Jimmy Rossi...

Sad for the Spitfire, Glad pilot is O.K.
Is this the Spitfire restored by Fighter Re-builders with the Shackleton engine, cut down props, custom made spinner , & painted PR Blue at one time ?

_________________
WWI & WWII Warbird Fan.

Yes it is. It had been donated to Ed Maloney (from the King of Siam) back in '62, and eventually Steve Hinton set about having the aircraft rebuilt to beat the piston-engine climb speed record, first flying in 2002, with the Shackleton engine, counter-rotating props, and clipped wings. The record was never broken, and by 2005 the aircraft had arrived in France with the then new (and current) owner, Christophe Jacquard. By this time the stock wingtips were refitted, and although the aircraft had been repainted, it remained in the PR blue paint scheme. It operated for some years like this until after the 2008 season, and it emerged in 2009 having had a correct-variant Griffon/prop setup installed and the aircraft repainted into the original markings it had when serving with the RAF in South East Asia. The aircraft was damaged a couple years ago (I don't recall the details), and it had been nice to see it flying again.

PS890 is a Photo Recce PR XIX painted in the markings of a Mk XIV fighter of 152 Squadron RAF.

While in the Far East it served with 81 Squadron RAF

PeterA

My Stepdad and I were ground crew for the late Jimmy Rossi on his Mig-17 and scheduled to perform that day shortly after Charlie got done with his routine so we were in the performers area getting ready when he landed and flipped over... Jimmy, Dad & I jumped in the car and hauled butt out to the Fury followed by Charlie's crewchief who I believe his name was JJ... I took a piece of broken canopy plexiglass and try to start digging the ground away by the cockpit and was making progress when several Lakeland Police Officers drove up and told us to get away from the a/c and let the professionals handle it... The "professionals" hadn't even arrived on seen yet so I tried to keep digging while Jimmy & JJ were trying to convience the officers to help us get Charlie out instead of stopping us... It had rained alot in the days leading up to the airshow that year so the ground was very wet and soft - so the next thing I see is the "professionals" coming down the parallel taxi way with a military crane and then the unthinkable happened - he turned off the asphalt and cut across the grass at which time he went about 8-10 feet and sunk to the axles... The next thing I see is the officers have JJ in handcuffs and putting him in the back of a cruiser and they are heading towards Jimmy, Dad and I threatening the same thing if we didn't stop... Finally emergency crews arrived and started to lift the a/c with a crane and JJ is freaking out because they are trying to lift it from a point where the tail would break off - so I finally convinced the officer to let JJ out of the car so he could show them how to lift it correctly which they did... Unfortunately to much time went by and Charlie suffocated from having his head pinned forward... Just like the people who ran out to help the pilot of the Spitfire - when I was digging by the cockpit - I never once even thought to myself - I wonder if this is going to catch fire or blow up ? I applaud these folks for jumping into a dangerous situation to help and have thought many times over the years about "what if" - those officers would have just helped us... Whatever happened with this Spitfire accident I'm just thankful the pilot is still with us and as so many have said - with time and money we will see this beautiful Spitfire back in the air one day...
Mike[/quote]

The entire response for Charlie's accident was a farce. Same as for Eddie Andreini.

Thank you, John T. & Peter A. Maybe we'll see her again in PR Blue some Day. Wonder where the Shack. Engine & Blade/Spinner set up is ? Maybe, could be temp. installed as part of next restoration (?)

_________________
WWI & WWII Warbird Fan.

I had the privilege of seeing PS890 fly at Chino prior to leaving these shores and it was awesome to say the least. Although admittedly I was not a big fan of the particular shade of blue that PoF chose for her! Looked much better in the shade Jacquard chose while he operated the aircraft in its PRU scheme. (and with the stock wing tips as well) I would love to see it put back together with the Shack engine and prop combination and finished in a prototype scheme with yellow under surfaces. Not sure if any of the MK.XIV airframes tested post-war with the contra prop set up were so painted but it would at the very least be representative of a scheme that was common to test airframes. No doubt it would also look spectacular put back to original XIX specs and painted in it's previous guise as shown in PeterA's picture. While I am uncertain of what configuration PS890 will be in when she reappears, I am certain that we have not seen the last of her.

Perhaps worth mentioning ...on the PR Mk XIX there is no conventional cockpit door. It is a pressurised cockpit.

PeterA

Image by:- Solène MONGIN

Very informative talk of flying the Spitfire by Dave Southwood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAlmtSSuIb4

It must have been absolutely terrifying for the pilot to be trapped in the cockpit knowing their was at the very least risk of fire if the airplane were not on fire already. Personally I think the actions of the spectators in lifting the Spit to free the pilot was the only sensible course given the circumstances. Kudos to them. I would bet that the pilot feels the same way.

Oof. How did the Plexiglass on the broken canopy turn opaque like that?

_________________

All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Residue from the fire extinguishers.