Warbird Information Exchange

Neal, more good info, I am not a expert on Reno, but I do know the name Boland. And of course, if John was not a "tinkerer", maybe he's have owned a nice Cessna and there would have been no Tsunami


I was told that the cause of the accident was that when John lowered the flaps to land, only one went down so it rolled over and there was nothing he could do to save it, at that low altitude. I have watched Skip fly , at Osh and in Canada and he is very good, as well as being a test pilot and Nam combat pilot. I guess there is a chance that he might have been able to catch it and get the flaps back up before crashing, but that is a big "if" and a small chance. I think flaps on 51, Spit, T-6 are interconnected so you don't get the asymetrical deployment.

I hope she finds good home in a museum. I guess Reno doesn't have an on site museum like Indy does.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

The flaps were not part of the original Boland design. The wing loading was such that they were not really needed. They were added later and used some Yak-11 components. I don't think Skip used the flaps much because they would not extend very symmetrically. I think one of the (under strength) flap rods buckled and caused the loss of control.

My understanding was that the airplane was from the start a bit challenging for Sandberg to fly, and thus the addition of the flaps. In addition there was a problem with the ASI, which was one reason Skip did not want Jack to try to fly the airplane the rest of the way home. He apparently tried to lower the flaps at too high an actual speed, which contributed to the failure.

All my recollections, by the way, are at best second hand memories of conversations long ago. I was not involved with the aiplane and have no first hand knowledge...

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Neal Nurmi

---Wingman Photo---

Attached is the accident report. Most of those directly involved have stated that a "split" flap condition occurred causing the roll.
http://www.rebuildtsunami.org/jrs_ntsb_report%209_25_91.pdf

We removed the fuselage from the storage trailer last week and have been studying and planning the work. We have begun CAD work on fittings and hope to start machining them soon.
I believe Sharon plans to post photos soon on the Tsunami site.
http://www.RebuildTsunami.org


Pirate Lex
http://www.BrewsterCorsair.com

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An ego is no match for gravity.

Photos of Tsunami's fuselage being removed from long term storage have been posted on the site at the bottom of the page. The fuselage consists of three sections, engine, mid and tail. The separation of the mid/tail is at the headrest. The tail section appears to be repairable. More to come.

I hope this will inspire those who would like to help in any way, with parts, raw material, labor or even money.

Thanks,
Pirate Lex
http://www.rebuildtsunami.org/jrs_fund_raising.html

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An ego is no match for gravity.

Thanks for the heads-up on the pics & project, Lex.

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Wow, this is great news!! I was a big Tsunami fan. I still have an autogrpahed litho, hat, and jacket from way back when. I can't wait to see this fly.


Chappie

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Brrring. Dispersal? TWO SECTIONS SCRAMBLE!!