Tiger Moth accident at Brimpton

I have to confess that I have commenced a take off roll with the trim in the full aft position (which is normal for taxi / back taxi).
The result took a moment or two to figure out (for me). The stick force was way too far aft. I realized what was going on and continued the take off.
I was able to overcome the trim by pushing forward with some extra force on the stick to achieve the correct attitude. After reaching a safe altitude I corrected the trim setting.
In the accident report the pilot mentions that a new cushion changed his perspective. I will bear this in mind in my future flying.
My total time in the Tiger is pretty close to the pilot in this incident.
When I started flying the Tiger, I had more than one old timer say ” Just watch out when you get to about a hundred hours or so, that’s when she’ll turn around and bite you in the A$$!”

The bump in the runway may have been contributory. The cushion may have been contributory.
The trim lever could also have moved fully aft upon impact (It is spring loaded aft if it comes off the lock on the “cheese cutter”)
The report states that the pilot is not really sure. Understandable after a trauma such as this.
Like most incidents, there are many factors.

Andy Scott

And maybe a cushion

Accident report confirms the bump on runway started the accident sequence.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5825a22ce5274a255b000020/DH82A_Tiger_Moth_G-ANMY_12-16.pdf

I missed the incident by 2 minutes but heard the backfire/crunch of the collision as I walked along the access lane. Two of my friends who did witness, both described the aircraft hitting a bump, bouncing and hardly climbing away. I would add that there was a cross wind component that built up as the the afternoon heat increased, not saying that it had an influence though.

I went flying yesterday morning, nil wind, tempersture of 24 degrees and the Wonderplane was notably sluggish on take-off. I learnt to fly in Nairobi (altitude of 5,500 feet) and density altitude was always a factor, sometimes reaching 8,000 feet, which made a Cessna 150 puff a bit. Perhaps Sunday’s incident had an element of that in it i.e.first hot day of the year plus light winds with a density altitude of more than the nominal strip height of 210 feet. Just a thought.

Even if this is an extreme shot of a “gust” or a “bump” as some are suggesting, the required reaction would be to get the nose down and get her accelerating.
The Tiger just does not have the power to climb in that attitude. If you get on the back side of the power curve there is no choice but to lower the nose to regain airspeed.
Another clue that would have been apparent in that photo would have been the slats. This machine looks like it has had them removed though.
If the slats were still installed they would give speed indication. They begin to deploy at speeds below 65 MPH or so.
BTW 1700 feet is plenty of strip to reject a takeoff even at sixty MPH or so. The tail skid is quite effective as a brake.
Generally, if a Tiger has a skid, it is not equipped with brakes. Trying to reject a takeoff by using hard braking would put an 82A up on its nose.
When it comes to tailwheel flying, I like the expression that “brakes are for taxi ways”

A

It may have just hit a slight bump in the grass ^^^^^ as above it is only a brief snap shot but may give some clues.Most importantly hope all is well.Aircraft have been having prangs since the day they were invented,human and machinery interaction in a fluctuating 3d environment.

Wow!
Looking at that shot is not what you would want to see when a Tiger has just left the ground. Way too nose high to climb at all.

From a non-pilot laymans point of view; isn’t that literally just a snapshot of the attitude of the aircraft at that second, it could have been a momentary gust that caused the nose to rise at that moment?

Do those that know from experience read anything into the lack of any elevator deflection even at this clearly ‘wrong’ attitude?

I am not setting myself up as an armchair expert, just a possibly naive question.

Wow!
Looking at that shot is not what you would want to see when a Tiger has just left the ground. Way too nose high to climb at all.
The nose is just blocking the “windy” air speed indicator, or we could actually see the air speed.
One of the reasons a Tiger is a good trainer is that it demands good speed control.
It doesn’t climb at sixty and it doesn’t climb at seventy. 66 is the magic number. The closer to that, the better your climb.

Sorry to hear about this incident and I wish a speedy recovery to all injured parties.

Andy Scott

Shot of aeroplane struggling to gain height.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1029691173804711&set=p.1029691173804711&type=3&theater

British built Tiger Moths dont have brakes.

Sorry, but some do….G-AMTV / G-ANJI etc

and what about the SportCruiser?

Dyn Aero MCR01

Moggy

British built Tiger Moths dont have brakes.

Is that long enough for an accelerate to take off speed, cut engine and brake to a full stop in a Tiger Moth?

About 535 m or 1755 ft.

Did I miss something or does that ‘safety notice’ keep ALL display flying 150m away and 150m up in all circumstances? That’s going to affect things at Old Warden.

How long is the grass strip at Brimpton?

Not directly related to this incident, but new CAA guidelines doing the rounds this afternoon http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/modalapplication.aspx?catid=1&pagetype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=7418

the only solution to all of this:

ban pilots over 25
ban planes older than 5 years
ban grass strip operations
ban people from driving without crash helmets
ban everything
apply bubble wrap to everyone

then we will all be safe, until something else happens