One less airworthy Sea Fury… (pilot OK)AUGUST 2008

thanks for the answer to that mr triplane thats a question that ive always wanted answering but never wanted to ask,you will no doubt remember that ours (and i use the term ours loosely) broke in the same place

Interesting point ,there- at Waddington G-FURY separated behind the cockpit, as did the Navy two-seater (albeit after embracing a tree) , and these Reno photos show similar airframe trauma. Perhaps the fuselage comes apart at this point for disassembly.

No reflection on the abilities of the pilot but I think there is a large element of luck in the outcome of such an arrival. Certainly you have to present the machine to the ground as staight and level as you can manage, but beyond that you are only along for the ride, and how it slides, or tumbles or breaks up is mainly in the lap of the Gods,

There is a transport joint just behind the cockpit, thats where they always brake;)

Just read that this aircraft is now under repair at Nelson Ezell’s shop in Texas-good news!

From what I heard is that they were test flying post repair (jug and carburetor change) and the engine quit while on downwind. He managed to set down on the dirt road but anywhere other than the runway at Reno is very rough. Both gear were ripped and he was fortunate not to overturn.

Interesting point ,there- at Waddington G-FURY separated behind the cockpit, as did the Navy two-seater (albeit after embracing a tree) , and these Reno photos show similar airframe trauma. Perhaps the fuselage comes apart at this point for disassembly.

No reflection on the abilities of the pilot but I think there is a large element of luck in the outcome of such an arrival. Certainly you have to present the machine to the ground as staight and level as you can manage, but beyond that you are only along for the ride, and how it slides, or tumbles or breaks up is mainly in the lap of the Gods,

its well away from the UK red tops so there will be no slow news day headlines about “ancient aircraft plunging from the skies”……

Indeed – I was pleasantly surprised at the non-sensational tone of the report, with just the one brief reference to previous safety problems at Reno.

Bad news if you are a Sea Fury fan, but hurrah that the pilot is in one piece.

Adrian

Lucky man, I was under the impression that, for some reason, Sea Furies were not the best of aircraft to make an emergency landing in, remember Spencer Flak’s bad landing, the RN 2 seaters argument with the trees and the incident with the RN Fury when the pilot was instructed to aim it out to sea and abandon ship.

Hi Pete,

Not sure the Furies are any worse in these circumstances than any other high-performance warbird type are they?

The RN two seater had an argument with a tree or two after landing gear-up and veering off to one side whilst sliding to a halt IIRC – not sure that any other type would have done any better in those circumstances?

The RN Fury that was dropped in the sea was down to an undercarriage failure IIRC- one leg wouldn’t operate, so pilot was left with one main gear up, and one down – in that situation a force landing was deemed too dangerous. Though maybe a ” both wheel’s up” option was possible – I can’t remember…

Don’t know the detailled circumstances on this latest incident, but if it was loss of power late in the approach, then the outcome was probably more a functions of the type of terrain than any fault of the Fury design. Had the pilot already had the gear down and had smooth tarmac beneath then maybe the plane would simply have touched down early and rolled to a stop completely unscathed. With gear up over endless tarmac I suspect it might have slid to a halt with minimal damage – but with scrubby desert beneath I guess the outcome was never likely to be good – again, would any other heavy WW2 piston-engined fighter have fared any better in exactly the same circumstances (i.e. similar level of pilot ability/experience, same gear selection, engine failure at same point in the approach, and same scrubland beneath….)?

I don’t know, and I don’t calim to be an expert, but I’m not sure the Fury is inherently any worse than any other type in the same class?

I think the fact that the pilot(s?) walked away from this one, after an engine failure on approach over such terrain, is testament to his skill, and to the robustness of the airframe.

Lucky man, I was under the impression that, for some reason, Sea Furies were not the best of aircraft to make an emergency landing in, remember Spencer Flak’s bad landing, the RN 2 seaters argument with the trees and the incident with the RN Fury when the pilot was instructed to aim it out to sea and abandon ship.

Have TFC made an offer for this one yet, they could have a right old production line going.

That looks pretty borked… 🙁

A few more pics…

http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=J7&Dato=20080820&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=808200802&Ref=PH&SectionCat=NEWS18

good news the pilot is OK, and its well away from the UK red tops so there will be no slow news day headlines about “ancient aircraft plunging from the skies”……

it will be rebuilt – in time no doubt….

Ouch! Glad the pilot got out OK. Looks to me like the fuselage has broken in two behind the aft cockpit, though? :confused:

A sorry sight, but glad to hear the pilot walked away. Here’s hoping atleast some of this machine will fly again.

Lets hope this is the only airframe to spread itself across the Reno landscape this year.

The aircraft involved N51SF had been G-BCOV of Doug Arnold and Mike Stow back in the 70/80’s, then it had the proper engine and was an ex target tug from Germany. I remember Neil Williams flying it.
At least the pilot was OK and the aircraft will no doubt recover, given time and money.

Richard

Tough luck –

I wonder if they want to sell the canopies…..:rolleyes:

Ouch…Thats a bad one…yeah I second that I,m glad the pilots Ok..

Thats a shame and a great loss. Brings a tear to my eye when something like this happerns.

Glad everyones ok