Galveston, Nice DAy for the Airshow

[Bill Greenwood]

Thanks for all the good wishes. No one was hurt, no injuries at all.
The aiplanes have a lot of damage. The Hurricane vertical tail and part of the left wing and one hole in the rear fuselage, tailwheel strut broken off. . No damage to prop or gear, or front 2/3 of the fuselageor canopy.
My plane has more damage, 2 prop blades broken, one nicked, damage to both main gear, slight dent in right wing edge, likely where it hit the Hurri tail.
Left wing damaged as well as flaps. No damage to underside, tailwheel is intact, and fuselage, cowlings and canopies.
As you can imagine any accident is sad, but it is particualrly so for me to damage my airplane and doing so by hiiting the Hurricane, which are two of the most historic and beautiful planes here. The Hurricane was a decade long restoration by QG Aviation the shop that maintained my plane for the 25 yers I have owned it. Ray Middleton was here and he and John expertly got the planes off the runway.
Many people woukld like to know what happened. I just don't know if it is wise to write anything now. I will say the other pilot was very forthcoming and straighforward and polite afterward .Everyone here has been very nice and supportive..

[Robbie Stuart]

Thanks Bill. I was really hoping you would post something, just to know you are ok. Glad for no injuries to you or the Hurri pilot.
My Best Wishes
Robbie

[308WK Crew Member]

So sad, but I'm glad that everyone is all right, thats the main thing.

[daveymac82c]

Thank you for the update Bill.

- David

[67N20]

After lurking at this site for 9 months and learning more about warbirds thru it than the other 50+ years of my life. I almost feel I "know" some of the people here personally including Mr. Greenwood. I decided to register and comment about what I saw in Galveston yesterday.
I was taking pictures as the WWII fighters were landing after their flight demo, trying to get the tire smoke at the moment of touchdown. Both the Hurricane and Spitfire touched down directly in front of me and I started looking for the next plane to land and for some reason looked to the left
and noticed the Hurricane was barely moving on the runway with the Spitfire
rapidly approaching it. As I was getting my camera to my eye the contact occured so the first picture I got was just after the contact.
In my non-pilot opinion it appeared to me that the Hurricane had slowed down much quicker than Mr. Greenwood anticipated and by the time he saw where it was he could not do anything to avoid the indident.

[Taylor Stevenson]

What a rough day! Glad you're alright, Bill.

[Ztex]

Dang! So sorry to see this.

Glad Bill and the Hurri pilot are safe and sound.

[muddyboots]

In my non-pilot opinion

Pilot or not I think it is probably inappropriate for us to speculate as to what happened until the Pros From Dover speak their bit. Let's try not to cloud the issue or insult the pilots of two beautiful warplanes, both of whom knew what they were doing and are fully aware of Murphy's Law. These are not Ford Pintos. They are highly tempermental antigue fighter aircraft, both of which require a deft hand and solid concentration to handle. That both pilots walked away unharmed was as good as it gets.

Bill, I'm damned glad to hear you are both alright. Like I said, if there is anything I can do...you know where to find me.

[Cripes A Mighty]

Hope everything turns out ok for you Bill! What a shame but I am truly happy that no one was injured.

[warbird1]

Wow, so sad to hear what happened! I'm just glad that it didn't turn out more serious, like it could have. Planes can be repaired and ressurected, pilots can not. Bill, it's probably best you don't speak about what happened, for both legal reasons and possible FAA repurcussion reasons. It's never a good idea to speak out about an accident in a public manner right after an incident happens. We'll all find out what transpired much later after the NTSB finishes it's investigation. I'm just glad that the collision didn't happen while flying!

[Jack Cook]

What a darn shame but glad all are OK.
Check in with us Bill when you have a moment
and are up to it.

[Bill Greenwood]

Steve, I guess two people can hear or have the same event and have two different interpretations of it. Personally I enjoyed visiting with you at Sun N Fun. I don't consider it harping to ask what a pilots background or experience is in a plane one is about to ride in. Frankly I consider it wise, would you wnat ot go to a Dr,. for instance that you had never inquired about? I belive asking a question is not the same as harping, but don't have a dictionary handy. I wish you had mention your feelings at the time, we could have talked about it or I could have easily skipped the ride. WIX members and others have asked about what it is like ot ride in a or fly a plane, Mustang or otherwise. I beleive somone on WIX asked "Anybody at Sun N Fun"? My pirep was to give public interest, apparently you saw it as a critisism of your friend. I don't believe I wrote any negative words, I only wrote what saw on airspeeds same as I wrote about the noise or cockpit environment. Some pilots may prefer a higher approach speed than others, or as you say posssibly to go around. I also am not sure what your post or mine previous one has to do with Galveston, anymore than the part about riding in the Chipmunk. If you feel the answer to the problem at GLS is to make a wheel landing at a higher speed I disagree. Both the factory test pilot as well as the Battle of Britain pilots recomend 3 pt landings in this type of plane. A Mustang may be different.

[Bill Greenwood]

Steve,

Last edited by Bill Greenwood on Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Fouga23]

Aircraft are replaceable! Glad you (and the other pilot) are OK, Bill!

[muddyboots]

Yea OV-1, that twin engine thing that sounds like the oil was drainied and the bearings are about to sieze. Or like a giant dentist drill. I guess every plane has its fans.

I have always loved this biord. I did a story on it at Osan Air Base in South Korea back when there were only two squadrons left, one in Georgia and one in Korea. It was the ride of my life, sliding in and out of hills and squrreling around over the DMZ staring down at the NK's as they stared up at us. I never really thought about what it soudns like as much as what it can DO. And that was to save a lot of grunts backsides back in the day...