# Sopwith Triplane Crash 29th June 2014



## mauld (Jun 29, 2014)

_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBYC3aI9_OY_


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## vikingBerserker (Jun 29, 2014)

Yikes, what happened, did the engine conk?


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## Njaco (Jun 29, 2014)

Fence post too high - dastardly bastards!!


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## Capt. Vick (Jun 29, 2014)

That's all for this year...


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## Njaco (Jun 29, 2014)

I had to put on mute - the background dude was cutting the cheese too loud!


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## nuuumannn (Jun 29, 2014)

I reckon with the puff of smoke just as he was descending, he realised that he was a little too low and engaged the blip switch to gain a bit of power. His sink rate was probably too great.


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## Frantish (Jun 29, 2014)

Great to see nothing serious, but it will take a while to fix it up right.
Pilot error?

Real rotary engine?? Looks like.


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## GrauGeist (Jun 30, 2014)

He was certainly cutting it close to those fence posts. I was trying to listen to the engine but there was another engine nearby drowning it out (and the people talking near the camera)...but it did look like he realised he was settling to quickly and tried to get the R's up...

Good to see minimal damage and that he was safe.


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## nuuumannn (Jun 30, 2014)

Yep, its a real rotary, so on landing there was no power to the engine, so it would have been windmilling. To control the rate of descent the blip switch is engaged, which powers up the engine and provides some sort of response as these engines could not be throttled.


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## GrauGeist (Jun 30, 2014)

Right...so if there was a microphone in the cockpit, it would have heard something like:
"ok...uh oh...sh!t...oh sh!t...sh!t sh!t SH!T..."


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## Capt. Vick (Jun 30, 2014)

Njaco said:


> I had to put on mute - the background dude was cutting the cheese too loud!



Dude, I heard that also! Hahahaha Thought I was hearing things!


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## Gnomey (Jun 30, 2014)

Yeah he was annoying. Glad to hear both the pilot and the plane (too an extent) are OK.


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## pbehn (Jun 30, 2014)

Hard to believe that was once the forefront of aviation, slightest contact and not only does the undercart collapse the whole plane shudders


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## GrauGeist (Jun 30, 2014)

pbehn said:


> Hard to believe that was once the forefront of aviation, slightest contact and not only does the undercart collapse the whole plane shudders


Same can be said for the early days of automobiles, as well.

Especially in the world of auto-racing...


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## pbehn (Jun 30, 2014)

GrauGeist said:


> Same can be said for the early days of automobiles, as well.
> 
> Especially in the world of auto-racing...
> 
> View attachment 266214



Basically the same happened to Graeme Hill and more tragically Giles Villeneuve


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## GrauGeist (Jun 30, 2014)

Aircraft (and of course, automobiles) have become so safe and reliable in this modern age, that people take it for granted.

It wasn't that long ago, that to fly an aircraft (or drive a car) required a combination of mechanical know-how and a good deal of skill. And of course, there was a good deal risk in their operation.


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## pbehn (Jun 30, 2014)

GrauGeist said:


> Aircraft (and of course, automobiles) have become so safe and reliable in this modern age, that people take it for granted.
> 
> It wasn't that long ago, that to fly an aircraft (or drive a car) required a combination of mechanical know-how and a good deal of skill. And of course, there was a good deal risk in their operation.


I remember my childhood when it seemed a weekly occurance that either a F1 star or motorcycling star died at a circuit or a pop star or group died in a private plane crash that apart from the routine pop star deaths from drug overdoses and car crashes...Hey the 60s and 70s were great wernt they?


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## Milosh (Jun 30, 2014)

The Shuttleworths Collections Sopwith Triplane replica had an unfortunate accident while landing at Old Warden Aerodrome during 2014's Military Pageant Air Show. The pilot Dodge Bailey was unhurt in the incident. After a complete assessment of the damage the aircraft will be repaired and back in the air as soon as possible.

What a shame. He was slipping it crossways on 03 rather than the usual runway approach due to some crosswinds. Contrary to the report above it looks like a new cowl, Engine Rebuild, landing gear, and most of the top wing ( appears all the ribs and the false ribs between are crushed)

Sopwith Triplane Crash 29th June 2014


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## GrauGeist (Jun 30, 2014)

True, I recall that many musicians or personalities died in plane accidents when I was a kid. Several racecar drivers died in motorsports (especially in drag racing) during those times, too.

In the early days, it was commonplace to see serious injuries and fatalities but in this day and age, to see a professional driver die in a wreck is almost unthinkable (but, as we've seen, still can happen)

As far as the early vehicles go, I owned and restored a 1919 Metz "Express" truck in the 1980's. In order to start it, I had to set the points (lever found in the center of the steering wheel), adjust the throttle (lever also found in the center of the steering wheel), set the choke (found on the dashboard), make sure the gearbox was disengaged, make sure the parking brake was set. After all that, I switched on the magneto, then took the crank handle to the front, flipped the little cover to one side and inserted the crank into the opening, until it seated in the crown socket. Then, turning it slightly backwards to catch the notches, I positioned myself so that if it "kicked back" while cranking and/or if the crank-handle was off the centerline and caught in the crown socket, it wouldn't shatter my arm or wrist. If all went well, the engine's rotation would "eject" the crank-handle's end from the crown socket and then the fun began.

Driving the Metz was sometimes a harrowing experience, because the leather-lined brakes would over-heat easily, especially on a grade where the gearbox wouldn't hold it back. The straight linkage stearing was also a joy if the tire got "stuck" in a groove of the pavement or ran over a pothole, because it would try and violently spin the steering wheel, so you had to watch the road ahead of you like a hawk! Changing between gears without a syncro was a game of skill and nerves and driving it in the evening was not advisable, as the acetylene headlamps (while looking extremely cool) put out little workable light (remember, watching the road for obstacles?) and then the braking under speed...oh yes, this was good for serious stress. At top-speed (total insanity at 35 miles an hour) it took roughly 90+ feet to bring it to a full stop. Braking distances decreased as the speed decreased, for example: at 25 miles an hour, it took about 80 feet, at 20mph, about 70...in otherwords; the brakes sucked. Bad. 

There were a few gauges to indicate what was going on, but the most important gauge, the temperature gauge, was on the radiator cap. When the ball started to rise towards the top of the little window, you knew it was overheating. When the cap blew off and the steam water (which was the temperature of hot lava) blew back on you, you also knew it was overheating.

But in this day and age, little 16 year old girls can climb into thier cute little car with the customizable interiors, dock their iPhone and press a button to start the car. There are no gauges (because no one looks at them anyway), there are no settings or procedures. They just get in and go. Seatbelts, ABS, safety glass, a million airbags, crumple-zones, gas-shock bumper mounts and polyurethane bumpers all make these modern cars safer than ever.


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## pbehn (Jun 30, 2014)

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GrauGeist said:


> But in this day and age, little 16 year old girls can climb into thier cute little car with the customizable interiors, dock their iPhone and press a button to start the car. There are no gauges (because no one looks at them anyway), there are no settings or procedures. They just get in and go. Seatbelts, ABS, safety glass, a million airbags, crumple-zones, gas-shock bumper mounts and polyurethane bumpers all make these modern cars safer than ever.



In my motorcycling lifetime Yamaha produced a bike where the gear change cylinder didnt have a stop on it (I think it was the 350cc YR5 2 stroke) when you got to 6th gear if you changed up again it went to first gear.....with predictable results.

However I have had an Audi A5 with all (or most) of the safety gizmos I must say that my experience of it and driving in Germany is that there are too many, drivers feel too safe and invulnerable. It is only when they hit something that they realise everything has a limit. When you see someone ploughing along on snow at 100MPH because he has snow tyres and ABS you know what I mean.


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## nuuumannn (Jun 30, 2014)

> slightest contact and not only does the undercart collapse the whole plane shudders



The thing is, those aircraft were structurally relatively simple compared to modern stressed skin aircraft and repairs to aircraft that suffered this kind of accident - which happened quite often, could be made relatively quickly so the aircraft could be put into the air as soon as practicable. As well as engine strip maintenance knowldge, pilots learned basic wood working and fabric repair skills and carried repair kits around with them so they could make rudimentary fixes on the gorund away from their home bases. This meant they could make a quick flight to the nearest base where a more thorough repair could be made.


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## Milosh (Jun 30, 2014)

> drivers feel too safe and invulnerable



Not just only in Germany pbehn.


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## bobbysocks (Jul 1, 2014)

Njaco said:


> I had to put on mute - the background dude was cutting the cheese too loud!



in keeping with the ww1 theme the guy was recreating a gas attack....yeah i know i am grabbing my coat now...


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## vikingBerserker (Jul 1, 2014)

LMAO


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## gumbyk (Jul 1, 2014)

pbehn said:


> Hard to believe that was once the forefront of aviation, slightest contact and not only does the undercart collapse the whole plane shudders



I would guess that most modern light aircraft would suffer the same fate if they hit a fence-post on landing, with more damage resulting.


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## Airframes (Jul 2, 2014)

gumbyk said:


> I would guess that most modern light aircraft would suffer the same fate if they hit a fence-post on landing, with more damage resulting.


Yes, they would. I was on Fire Crew duty at the departure end of the grass runway at my Club, one day many moons ago, when a Tobago touched down just short of the numbers (at the wrong end), bounced, hit a fence post and the wooden cross rail, and wiped off the nose wheel and one main leg before touching down for good.


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