Re: P-51B ‘Berlin Express’ to be flown to the UK
Sat Jul 08, 2017 6:44 pm
the airplane was damaged today when the canopy just up and shattered to pieces, damaging the tail. Looks like it will be down and out for awhile. Lucky the pilot didn't have his head removed.
Re: P-51B ‘Berlin Express’ to be flown to the UK
Sat Jul 08, 2017 7:12 pm
Okay, now I'm getting curious ... where are y'all picking up these reports?
Re: P-51B ‘Berlin Express’ to be flown to the UK
Sat Jul 08, 2017 8:09 pm
It has shown up quite a bit on Facebook, Twitter, and the UK airshow forums.
Nick Grey (of The Fighter Collection) was flying the aircraft at the time, and was entering into a display routine that he had already practiced flying in the aircraft earlier this week. According to Nick Grey, he was indicating 360kts (or roughly 414mph) at the time the plexiglass canopy separated. The plexiglass was the only thing that departed - the canopy frames were still attached to the rails. In some photos posted elsewhere, it appears that the right-side of the canopy separated from the framework (roller assembly) which ended up splitting and shattering the canopy into many pieces, all in a split second. Some moderate sized pieces dented the vertical fin and dented and bent portions of both sides of the horizontal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6LmJvCmMhE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZL9ypaoVNw
A photo capturing when it happened: http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=78017
(The suspected "crack" in one of the photos is just a reflection, as you see in many photos of this plane)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/123146806 ... 56/sizes/l
Nick Grey (of The Fighter Collection) was flying the aircraft at the time, and was entering into a display routine that he had already practiced flying in the aircraft earlier this week. According to Nick Grey, he was indicating 360kts (or roughly 414mph) at the time the plexiglass canopy separated. The plexiglass was the only thing that departed - the canopy frames were still attached to the rails. In some photos posted elsewhere, it appears that the right-side of the canopy separated from the framework (roller assembly) which ended up splitting and shattering the canopy into many pieces, all in a split second. Some moderate sized pieces dented the vertical fin and dented and bent portions of both sides of the horizontal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6LmJvCmMhE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZL9ypaoVNw
A photo capturing when it happened: http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=78017
(The suspected "crack" in one of the photos is just a reflection, as you see in many photos of this plane)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/123146806 ... 56/sizes/l
Re: P-51B ‘Berlin Express’ to be flown to the UK
Sat Jul 08, 2017 8:47 pm
Thank you sir. I suspected FB and Twitter might be involved.
About BE ... curses! ... but as long as the pilot and plane are OK, I'm more than OK. It'll get fixed.
About BE ... curses! ... but as long as the pilot and plane are OK, I'm more than OK. It'll get fixed.
Re: P-51B ‘Berlin Express’ to be flown to the UK
Mon Jul 10, 2017 8:42 am
Scott WRG Editor wrote:Thomas_Mac wrote:To get back on topic...who else is excited to see these two displayed together
Tom, mind if I snag this image for the entry for Berlin Express? If it's okay PM me how you want the credit to read.
thanks for the consideration.
Hi Scott, not my photo. Apologies if my post implied otherwise! Found both scouring on Google. Just wanted to illustrate how great those two aircraft look together. Sort of a moot point now since Flying Legends is over
Re: P-51B ‘Berlin Express’ to be flown to the UK
Mon Jul 10, 2017 10:26 am
Thomas_Mac wrote:Scott WRG Editor wrote:Thomas_Mac wrote:To get back on topic...who else is excited to see these two displayed together
Tom, mind if I snag this image for the entry for Berlin Express? If it's okay PM me how you want the credit to read.
thanks for the consideration.
Hi Scott, not my photo. Apologies if my post implied otherwise! Found both scouring on Google. Just wanted to illustrate how great those two aircraft look together. Sort of a moot point now since Flying Legends is over
No worries
Re: P-51B ‘Berlin Express’ to be flown to the UK
Mon Jul 10, 2017 7:35 pm
Nathan wrote:the airplane was damaged today when the canopy just up and shattered to pieces, damaging the tail. Looks like it will be down and out for awhile. Lucky the pilot didn't have his head removed.
Getting a little dramatic are we ? Would not have happened, Looking at the shape of the canopy, I believe what happened to it was the high speed air going over it created low pressure to the point where the plexi failed, so everything went AWAY from the pilot. We lost a canopy section during the flight testing of the P-64 due to low pressure.