WIX Archives
How much more dangerous are warbirds?
Posted by no expert on Thu Oct 23, 2003 05:34:47 PM
In reply top Re: Problems facing warbirds movement posted by Scott WRG Editor on Wed Oct 22, 2003 10:17:33 PM
Please let me pre-qualify the below statements with, "I'm not an expert and I wasn't there," but these are my observations with what little I know about the Wildcat incident.
In the Wildcat accident, it sounds like the typical Cessna 150 student pilot baseleg spin. Performing 360 degree turns for spacing while low and slow in the pattern can lead to the typical "bank and yank" type of accident. I don't really view this as a "warbird" accident, just generic pilot error. The Cessna 150 manual has charts showing the effects of bank angle on stall speeds. This should be elementary to any pilot, and any pilot checkout in a new airplane should include a review of this information.
The maximum bank angle not considered aerobatic by the FAA is 60 degrees. What is the stall speed of a Wildcat at a 60 degree bank angle? Probably much higher than a typical B-25 speed in the pattern.
: : Look at the number of GA sorties vs. that of warbird/vin
: ta
: : ge AC and compare the incident/sortie percentages of bot
: h
: : types. Admittedly I have never seen those numbers but I
: 'd
: : be willing to go out on a limb and say they would not b
: e
: : kind to us in the warbird community. We need to improve
: i
: : n ways already pointed out in other follow-ups in this t
: hr
: : ead.