Bushmaster Replica crash in California

[Brett]

ANN is reporting the Ford Trimotor Bushmaster replica crashed at Fullerton, injuring the two crew.

Was this the one for sale recently through Courtesy?

Brett

[Dave D]

I just saw the whole thing on Good Morning America. They nosed it right into a parking area. I guess they are reporting that two females that were sitting in their vehicle "car" are being treated for minor injuries and that the pilot and co-pilot are both in critical condition in a local hospital. The co-pilot I guess was thrown from the aircraft and sitting down the street still strapped in his seat. A gentleman attending the airshow said that the "Pilots should be thought of as heros, because they missed the crowd." They said that it was coming right for the crowd and they were able to add some power to get her up and away. The people said it was so close they could feel the rush of air from the motors. My prayers and thoughts are with the pilots and those involved. It is sad to lose a Ford-Tri-Motor. The plane looks pretty bad from what I saw to say the least.

Dave D.

[marine air]

YOU CAN FLY FARTHER ON GAS THAN YOU CAN ON BRAINS!!!!


I'll bet the Bushmaster had triple engine fuel starvation because no one wanted to buy fuel. THis is the reason many of the CAF aircraft are gone. Everyone wants to flyor ride in these great old airplanes, but nobody wants to pony up the bucks for the avgas.

On another note, the Bushmaster 6000 is not a replica Ford tri-master. The Ford Tri-master was highly valued into the 1970's in the bush country for it's cheap operating costs and load carrying capability in the rugged areas of the bush country. THey were so well liked someone bought the rights and tried to put them back into production with upgraded engines, avionics,etc.(think Navion, Ercoupe, Citabria,etc.) It was meant as an attempt to produce a commercial aircraft and there was not some sentimental attempt to replicate Ford's exact models of the 1920's .

… we are talking of the Bushmaster 2000 and For Tri-motor, to be exact.

[Tulio]

Man, these technological wonders never cease to amaze me!

The accident took place yesterday, and the NTSB has already determined that the three engines quit due to fuel starvation!

I used to think that accident investigations took a little while longer, but I was certainly mistaken.


Saludos,


Tulio

[Dave D]

Sorry Guys.... Bushmaster, not Ford-Tri-Motor


Dave D

[Jeffrey]

A gentleman attending the airshow said that the "Pilots should be thought of as heros, because they missed the crowd." They said that it was coming right for the crowd and they were able to add some power to get her up and away. Dave D.

That does not sound like fuel starvation to me unless they knew exactly the right time and place to throw some fuel at the engines. or very good timing on behalf of the poor fuel starved engines to try and help the pilots avoid the crowd like that.

[krlang]

As listed in the preliminary accident list today:

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 750RW Make/Model: BU20 Description: BUSHMASTER 2000
Date: 09/25/2004 Time: 2018

Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Serious Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
City: FULLERTON State: CA Country: US

DESCRIPTION
ACFT DEPARTED RUNWAY 24 WEST OF TAXIWAY CHARLIE, PULLED UP TO CLIMB TO
AVOID RAMP PERSONNEL, AND CRASHED INTO A VEHICLE SOUTH OF TOWER ONTO
AVENUE, ACFT WAS DESTROYED, FULLERTON, CA

[Roger Cain]

On another note, the Bushmaster 6000 is not a replica Ford tri-master. The Ford Tri-master was highly valued into the 1970's in the bush country for it's cheap operating costs and load carrying capability in the rugged areas of the bush country. THey were so well liked someone bought the rights and tried to put them back into production with upgraded engines, avionics,etc.(think Navion, Ercoupe, Citabria,etc.) It was meant as an attempt to produce a commercial aircraft and there was not some sentimental attempt to replicate Ford's exact models of the 1920's .

Actually called the Bushmaster 2000 (no relation to the year), the plane was designed by Bill Stout (the orginal Tri-motor designer), with the exclusive rights to use the original Ford Tri-Motor blueprints, flight test data, etc. from Henry Ford II in early 1954. With out going into long details, the first production model was called the "Hayden Bushmaster 15-AT. While it took some time for the company to be incorporated, Aircraft Hydroforming Bushmaster never got going and only two planes were ever finished. This is just a small piece of information from William T. Larkins 'Ford Tri-Motor' book that covers the plane from start to the current survivors, 1926-1992.

[Cindy]

I was bummed when I heard about it yesterday - I have .5 right seat in that plane - logged and everything. I was glad that Bud wasn't flying - he's the guy I flew with, but sorry to hear about the other two

[bdk]

YOU CAN FLY FARTHER ON GAS THAN YOU CAN ON BRAINS!!!!

I'll bet the Bushmaster had triple engine fuel starvation because no one wanted to buy fuel. THis is the reason many of the CAF aircraft are gone. Everyone wants to flyor ride in these great old airplanes, but nobody wants to pony up the bucks for the avgas.

On another note, the Bushmaster 6000 is not a replica Ford tri-master.

What a know it all...

Local reports are that the aircraft was on a maintenance test flight PRIOR to selling rides at the airshow. That is why only the essential crew was on board.

Both pilots are in critical but stable condition with severe burns.

From the video it appeared that the aircraft yawed to the left (#1 engine failure?) on the takeoff roll, continued into the air, then entered a left hand spin on departure.

So Bud wasn't flying Cindy?

Hey was this a CAF plane? What's the deal with them crashing something every 3 months? Too old? Poor judgement? Poor Maintenence? Very sad; this should never happen.


Chris

[Roger Cain]

No, it wasn't a CAF plane, nor was it ever military, although a contract had been hoped for with a 27-seat version of the Bushmaster.

Also, at least in Northern CA, this plane did quite well at air shows selling rides at about $40 a pop, well worth the money spent; I enjoyed my ride.............Roger

[JohnH]

What's funny is you would think if the left engine failed you could see the prop slowing down, but on the video this isn't evident. And if it was fuel starvation everything would have quit but didn't. The eyewitness on the news tonight said none of the engines were sputtering. I too have a bit of right seat time in this airplane, the first I ever flew. I've always enjoyed seeing it at airshows so this is a total shame but I'm glad nobody was killed, which seems like a total miracle looking at the way it went down.

John

[Scott Rose]

With what I saw on the video and combined with the NTSB prelim report would it be likely that when the pilot pulled up to avoid the ramp personel that the aircraft stalled? I'm not a pilot but it looks like it stalled, dropped the port wing and crashed to the ground.

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BTW, speculating on the cause of the crash is fine but I would ask you all to refrain from making derogatory comments regarding the skills of the aircrew. We weren't there and we don't have any evidence yet. Attributing blame on pilot error and/or fuel starvation is premature and hurtful to the families of these crewmen so please refrain from doing so.

Last edited by Scott Rose on Tue Sep 28, 2004 7:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.