Stearman incident on nat news

[Bill Greenwood]

I was watching the national news , I think it was CNN perhaps, and there was a shot of a Stearman landing and immediately flipping over forward. It was a publicity event, may have been by the Smithsonian, and there were several Stearmans giving rides to reporters, and I think landing at National airport. The touchdown seemed pretty normal, just some wind to correct for in the flare, but it was a wheel landing, and perhaps the brakes were on. Almost as soon as the plane was on the ground, with nothing looking amiss, not even a bounce, the tail came up and went right over the nose, completely inverted.. You can see the elevator is pretty flat, no back stick or up elevator at all. It was really low impact, neither pilot or passenger were hurt, didn't appear to even be shaken as they climbed out and walked around. The media passenger still had his video camera and was filming after climbing out. It happened very quickly, and the plane seemed to have very little damage. Glad no injuries. The plane looked good,and appeared to be supported by on the tail fin.

[Jerry O'Neill]

Video shows the nose begin to go over as the wheels smoke.
Looks like brakes either locked or were applied too strongly.
At least no one was hurt.
Jerry

[airnutz]

Looks like brakes either locked or were applied too strongly.

...or the brakes weren't unlocked prior to landing as Obergrafter suggested in one of the other
2 threads already begun highlighting this unfortunate incident. Ditto, glad no one is hurt..pity
for their bird, tho...

[Pogmusic]

Why would you lock the breaks? Even in retractable gear aircraft you simply tap the breaks to keep them from spinning in the wheel well. Am I missing something here?

[snj-5]

Here's the view from inside the cockpit:

http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2010/100608stearman.html

Bela P. Havasreti

[Bill Greenwood]

Just a guess from what I saw on tv as I can't get those videos to work on my computer.
Just before the flare, the pilot makes some large corrections as it seems there was some wind gust, maybe from the right. He gets the wings level and makes a nice touchdown, seems to be in good control and straight down the center of runway. . But he may be ready or expecting to need rudder corrections right away, so that he has his feet on the pedals and just after touchdown he pushes the pedals and accidentally hits the brakes, ( not breaks), which locks up the wheels and over the tail goes. What doesn't fit, is if there is a right crosswind, then the pilot would use left rudder pedal, not both. The tv I saw does not seem to show this, rather it shows as if both brakes were on, not just the left one. There doesn't seem to be any swerve to one side before the tail rises. It is all very straight and smooth, looks like a pretty normal landing at first. I also didn't see the rudder moving after touchdown before the tail rises. As for as I can see the elevator is about level and never changes, never any up elevator.
Other guess is the pilot was really trying to brake right away to stop short, maybe to make a turnoff. Unlikely to do it that aggressively though. One thing about stopping short, once it is inverted the ground roll is real short. Tapping the brakes to stop the wheels is normally only done after takeoff on retractible landing gear, not fixed like this.
Other guesses might be the passenger had his feet on the pedals and hit the brakes. Unlikely, but possible, if the pilot did not emphasize for the passenger to stay clear, and also the passenger might have been bracing his feet to lift up some and use his camera. Not likely, most non pilot passengers are reluctant to touch anything.
The other guess is some mechanical problem, like a brake return valve sticking, or parking brake on if there is one, again not very likely, and it would not happen without some person's input just on its own while in cruise flight.

[Bluedharma]

Here is another link.
Wow! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmYH9dEhFvs
Ouch!

[gunnyperdue]

Watch the video from the helmet cam.... the Washington Post reporter rises above the canopy just before landing to get a better view... there is nothing in the front seat for a person to brace their feet on... except the rudders, with brakes on top of them... I think it is the jerk reporter.... you be the judge http://tinyurl.com/23do4ou

gunny

[bdk]

Warning: Two threads on the same subject!

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=36429

[N3Njeff]

That sucks even if it is a stearman. I am no "stearman expert" but I do believe they have a parking brake. That would really suck if that was the cause.

[Nathan]

I find it interesting the pilot seemed very calm. Kudos to the pilot for being so calm. I also agree the brakes were locked(no expert here) but in the video you can see the white smoke coming from the brakes after he touches down. Two point landing so the tail wheel can't be an issue.

Sad to see though..

[flyride]

No parking brake in mine. Every new passenger gets the "don't touch the pedals" speech. I can fix most anything a passenger can do in the forward cockpit, but if he or she stands on the brakes, there's nothing that can be done about it.

That sucks even if it is a stearman. I am no "stearman expert" but I do believe they have a parking brake. That would really suck if that was the cause.

[Bill Greenwood]

It looks like blue smoke off the left tire as soon as it touches down, not sure if there is any off the right tire. Hard to believe the pilot would be holding that much pedal pressure as he touched down, even in a left crosswind, and the rudder seems pretty straight. I haven't flown a Stearman in some time, but doubt if the brakes are that touchy, you probably have to make a real push.
It seems unlikely that it would be the passenger on the brake, but that explanation may be as good as any now. He may have been clear of the controls at first, but when the pilot made the correction for the wind just before the flare, the passenger may have braced himself on the pedals.

[Pogmusic]

I just got off the phone with a friend who knows the pilot. I know, not first hand; but.........
He intimated that the passenger was using the rudder pedals to push himself up for better pictures. He probably didn't even realize he was doing it.... Just a rumor from a friend.

[Pogo]

That's just unreal. I'm with Nathan, I was mightily impressed with the pilot's reaction - or lack thereof? Cool as a friggin' cucumber, almost as if he expected it.

BTW Nathan, Gene K lives near me, I pass his house often. But I don't have any autographs! Very cool, I enjoyed your post.