Mid-air collision at Duxford- Mustang lost/ Skyraider damaged!

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

Hell's Teeth! I'm amazed and disgusted at the reaction (or lack of it!) of the 'crowd' of bl**dy anoraks who appeared to be (in the video) the enclosures pre-booked for 'Gold' entry or VIPs etc, with their ill-informed chatter, non-interest in their surroundings, no clue what so f****ng ever of what was what and who was who, and general lack of basic observation skills!!!
Even when the F&R trucks were going out, there was no bl**dy reaction!
 
Sad news at the loss of P51 Big Beautiful doll after a mid air collision with a Skyraider at this years Flying legends airshow.
It had already been an eventfull day with one of the three Fokker tri planes in this years show catching a wing tip in Duxfords grass runway and doing a slow motion nose over and ending up balanced on its airscrew boss the pilot the aircraft was totally uninjured and after rotating the plane to bring the 2 blade prop back inline with the wings she was lowered back on to her under carriage undamaged.
However later in the day after the end of the traditional 50 plane Balbo fly past each group of aicraft peeled to port for the down wind leg along the airfields southern perimeter before finals.
A group containing three aircraft, P51 Big Beautiful Doll one of the two Horsemens P51's at this years show and a Sky raider while carrying out this manouver that the sky raider and Big Beautiful Doll collided the Skyraider loosing 6 feet of starboard wing tip and the P51 most of the tail section The sky Raider went into a dive increasing air speed and managed to complete the circuit and landed safely however Big Beautiful Doll was un-recoverable and the pilot made a very low level bale out at approximatly 200-300ft the canopy deploying successfully and he walked away from the crash (with just a hospital check up being required according to the airfield announcement)
Big Beautifull Doll crashed in a wood and farm area a few hundred yards beyond the end of the airfield.
It is sad to loss of this well know aircraft but it could have been much worse had either of the pilots been killed or injured.
However after any CAA investigation has been concluded one wonders what impact it will have on the future of Duxfords unique signature mass fly past, The Balbo
I have a couple of snaps of the damaged SkyRaider I will put up once post processing is completed.
 
Last edited:
I wasn´t at the airshow yesterday as I flew back home at 1:40 pm but just learned this sad news...Big Beautiful Doll was realy a beuatiful plane. Also my favourite 'February' was in the formation during the accident...
I´m glad the pilot was saved but that P-51 destroyed is really a big loss...I toke few pics of her on Saturday and will post them yet.
 
all abit of a bad show really, The Skyraider broke off formation and seamed to cut the corner, didnt think anything of it and returned my attention to the landing aircraft for a split second before seeing a pieces of wing fall to the ground where i saw a orange shoot open and the Mustang fall to the ground at around a 30 degree angle before disapearing behind the trees in the distance....apparenly into a farmers crop field, didnt hear any explosions or anything though which i thought was alittle odd. The Skyraider pilot then showed some brilliant flying as him managed to land his stricken plane, He was lucky that the alieron on the right wing stayed fixed to remaining wing

Unfortunately this was the end to a wonderful, but eventful weekend of flying. A great loss , but i am sure the memory of the BBD will go on!
Video of the collision

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qME7VefLxFw

The Faited Formation

The Skyrader after the collision




the Remains of BBD-
 
Last edited:
A very sad incident indeed, but let's be thankful nobody was hurt. Sad BBD is lost though. On a side-note it's an example (albeit a very sad, and possibly also a live-saving one in this instance) of what a tough plane the SPAD must have been in it's hey-day
 
Heartbreaking to know another warbird is lost. It makes me really nervous about MAAM's P-61 they are restoring to flight status. We already lost the B-17 Liberty Belle, a Supermarine SeaFire (but should be repairable), and now Big Beautiful Doll. And that's just this year.........
 
seesul said:
Another video, View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_A4xdGFXoE , time 00:50.
Do the warbirds (fighters) have the ejection seat today? I didn´t know it.
The ejection altitude was pretty low. Pilot´s excellent reaction saved his life.
Click to expand...

A1's had ejection seats installed during the Vietnam era. They had a rocket attached to the seat by a sort of bungee strap, a softer kind of ejection than the usual set up.
It shouldn't be that hard to fit such devices to other aircraft. The testing required on each aircraft for FAA approval would probably drive cost out of reach though.
 
Last edited:

This set of pictures makes me think Big Beautiful Doll had an ejection seat too. Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums - View Single Post - Mustang lost at Duxford / Skyraider damaged. No serious injuries
It´s maybe a rule today. Just my guess.
 
I can't see the seat separate from the pilot, it would be big enough to show in those photos.
But he sure gets a good distance from the aircraft for it being upright. Maybe he's just a quick pilot with some very strong legs.
 
Thats a real shame, from the video I cant see who was at fault if anyone. If that happened to me my butt cheeks would act in place of an ejector seat.
 
I checked the ejection seat site listed on this forum. The type of ejection system used on the A1's I was talking about didn't actually use the seat, it jerked the pilot out of his seat by his parachute harness via a bungee strap attached to a rocket. This is all just guessing on my part, but such a system wouldn't be impossible in that Mustang.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Similar threads

M
USAAF aircraft lost through transport sinkings during Battle of the Atlantic?
Replies
2
Views
244
fubar57
P
Skyraider suitable for escort carriers??
Replies
13
Views
1K
EwenS
E
11th Air Force
Replies
7
Views
686
GreenKnight121
Mustang with the early Merlins
Replies
10
Views
448
Shortround6
S
A
Perun: Building the Worst WW2 Air Force
Replies
5
Views
493
Snautzer01
Menu
Log in
Register