How to tell if you're too low at the bottom of your loop...

[lmritger]

You broadside a car with your undercarriage, knocking the car clear into a field, rip off your undercarriage, and wind up upside down and knocked silly in a destroyed airplane.

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090713-20553.html

The family in that car must be the luckiest people in the whole world right now- this could have ended VERY badly for all concerned.

Lynn

[Ztex]

A passing biker who witnessed the accident was treated for shock

[mlenoch]

Similar thing happened to a Mustang friend many years ago. The small airfield had its perimeter road closed for a fly-in by the local police. A drunken driver drove around the barriers and the police, when the Mustang was inbound. On final, one gear leg hit the roof of the pickup truck. The 'concerned' pilot flew away to his home base.....no damage fortunately. The pickup had a big dent in the roof and smashed windshield. The driver demanded the pilot be arrested........up until the police smelled booze on his breath! (No, Matt, it wasn't me....either in the plane or pickup!! Budda-bing!)
VL

[Matt Gunsch]

Maybe the mustang driver wanted to copy the guy that lands a J-3 on the platform on top of a truck..................

[mazdaP5]

You broadside a car with your undercarriage, knocking the car clear into a field, rip off your undercarriage, and wind up upside down and knocked silly in a destroyed airplane.

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090713-20553.html

The family in that car must be the luckiest people in the whole world right now- this could have ended VERY badly for all concerned.

Lynn

I think I'm luckier, in that a plane didn't crash into me.

[Holedigger]

Hello Geico, you're not gonna believe this but.....click...hello, hello?

[warbirdcrew]

Video and article here:

http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/2009/07/14/sportflieger-zu-tief/video-flugzeug-rammt-auto-grossostheim.html

Sorry the narration and article are in German only

[Dudley Henriques]

You broadside a car with your undercarriage, knocking the car clear into a field, rip off your undercarriage, and wind up upside down and knocked silly in a destroyed airplane.

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090713-20553.html

The family in that car must be the luckiest people in the whole world right now- this could have ended VERY badly for all concerned.

Lynn

The best way (and the ONLY way BTW) to tell if you're too low at the bottom of your loop is to know your apex altitude/airspeed gate and go through that gate at the right parameters )
Dudley Henriques

[HogDriver44]

Actually, there was no "loop" involved. It was a series of snap-rolls on a vertical down-line that evolved into what looked like an inadvertent spin rotation, and a VERY low recovery.

Here's another link to the video:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsi ... 150807.stm

[Dudley Henriques]

Actually, there was no "loop" involved. It was a series of snap-rolls on a vertical down-line that evolved into what looked like an inadvertent spin rotation, and a VERY low recovery.

Here's another link to the video:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsi ... 150807.stm

Continuous snaps on the vertical down line can be an issue for sure.

It's an interesting clip. with any initial safety debrief on the incident I'd still be concentrating on the high gate exit parameter however, along with a close look at any omission for density altitude.
Looked like a bunt entry to me setting up for the snaps. Looked like a slight lateral stick hesitation going into the last snap, but the real culprit here appears to be the yard of stick after that last snap pulling the airplane right into high speed stall.
He looked to me to be absolutely behind max CL in his recovery attempt which of course will nail you every time.
Just no substitute for knowing your high gates when working an aircraft in this environment.
The good part seems to be that no one was killed. In the low altitude vertical recovery business you seldom get second chance to do it right.
Dudley Henriques