Stearman busts off U/C leg at Lundy Island fly-In 4 Aug 2024

Again correct equipment & good crew.

Correct equipment & good crew.

Its always been that way marked, some of the rocks are already there deep in the ground others have been added and all are painted white. Wholly agree about forward viz in tail draggers, but the second Stearman to arrive demonstrated a master class in how to do it

The fly in organisers do a great job and clearly state LAND AT YOUR OWN RISK….! They are in no way responsible for any damage to aircraft caused by poor airmanship etc. Its not as if Lundy’s runway is that narrow, the accident aircraft came in too far to the left. Rather then throw away the approach to have another go he carried on with dire results. All other 36 aircraft managed to land OK, weather wise you could hardly ask for a better day with 12 to 15 knots pretty much down the strip…! I know where the blame lies here…

It strikes me as abject foolishness to mark the edge of a runway with huge rocks which will wreck any aircraft which touches them, as shown by the Stearman.  Many aircraft, biplanes especially , have no close/forward view in the flare,  you land judging by peripheral vision and really, it was not the most suitable aircraft for this strip.  I have flown in to Lundy in a 150 HP Super Cub, and with  effective flaps, the whole process is reasonably benign, with a good view at all times.

However, if  you host a public event, and invite people to land, it is your duty to minmise risk, and the runway could have been marked with bright plastic markers pinnned to the ground. Of course the downside of this is that the organisers or Landmark Trust will probably metaphorically shrug, and and say, well if it is all going to be a problem, we just won’t do it. 

Which is a shame. 

I landed just after the incident. A complete headache for recovering, and as others have said it will cost a fortune. Good opportunity for an RAF Chinook exercise to recover it to an airfield on the mainland where repairs can be made.

I’ve landed on Lundy four times, its a strip that takes absolutely no prisoners or accepts poor landing technique and handling. The runway is marked by large painted white rocks its one of these that caught the Stearmans port U/C wiping it off. In addition to the U/C damage the port lower wing is twisted and fabric punctured.

The runway is wide enough and if the pilot was not happy with his positioning on final he should have gone around.

A very expensive and to my mind avoidable mistake

J Boyle. … reminds me of the time a Flight Operations department asked me to go to Kirkwall from Edinburgh by train.

A friend had an engine failure in his antique biplane enroute to a fly-in some 1500 miles from home.

With the help of a friend, who was also at the event, they too the wings off, went to a DIY store to make wooden wing cradles and used discarded fire hose as slings. 

Put everything in the back of a large rental truck and drove it home.

The insurance company paid the bills.

The friend who helped the aircraft owner, had a similar event when flying a newly restored antique to the same event a couple of years before.

He was flying over the mountains of Western Montana when the engine failed..or lost most of its powrr.

He landed at a fortuitously close small airport. Remarkably, it had an available hanger available for the winter.  He called a friend who picked him up in his Bench Baron, and returned with a truck and all the tools and stand to remove the engine. 

One home, he sent the engine out for another rebuild and several months later, replaced the engine and flew home.

So, lesson learned: Have friends.

Many thanks- reg typo ammended

If it’s the joy riding one that you put the link to, you have got the reg number a bit transposed 

To get it down to the jetty, unless the track is now considerably wider than it was 30-odd years ago, would require a lot of dismantling.

I hadn’t considered a helicopter but despite the obvious high cost, it could well be the most practical and economical  solution.

Edit to add, a lot of man-handling would be required too. There’s a Land-Rover on the island – and that’s about it.

The prop and  presumably engine seems undamaged. In Alaska, where they have ways of somehow making good damaged aircraft, they would do a temporary field repair and fly her out.

Otherwise, a nightmare for the insurers. A heicopter might get the job done cheaper/quicker than manhandling down to the jetty, and putting on the MS Oldenburg, which has little room for deck cargo.

It’s going to take some getting out of there. Will be very interesting to see how it gets done, it may not be Spitfire money but I can’t imagine a Stearman will be left in the weeds.

Having been to Lundy Island once, over 30 years ago, it’s difficult to think of a worse place to be stranded in the southern British Isles.

I think I’ve seen that there’s now a jetty, which there wasn’t then, so that should help a bit – but not much.