SU-25 Frogfoot Mid-Air

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I went to the original YouTube post and the OP stated he now believes these aircraft did not make contact.

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There does seem to be something coming off the left wing. The Su25 does have speedbrakes at the wing tip IIRC. I'm wondering if that's the point of failure
 
Also not a pilot, but could the pilot of the trail SU-25 gotten into the jet wash/turbulence of the lead aircraft, jinked to the right a little (engine exhaust trail indicates this) and then overcorrected back to the left, loosing lift on his wings? If he did have speedbrake failure that would exacerbate the possible loss of lift.

Jim
 
Also not a pilot, but could the pilot of the trail SU-25 gotten into the jet wash/turbulence of the lead aircraft, jinked to the right a little (engine exhaust trail indicates this) and then overcorrected back to the left, loosing lift on his wings? If he did have speedbrake failure that would exacerbate the possible loss of lift.

Jim
The jet wash/ wake turbulence is very unlikely. Both aircraft operate at the same weight and are both pretty robust and heavy. Even if the trail aircraft got into jet wash or wake turbulence, he should have easily powered out of it.
 
The jet wash/ wake turbulence is very unlikely. Both aircraft operate at the same weight and are both pretty robust and heavy. Even if the trail aircraft got into jet wash or wake turbulence, he should have easily powered out of it.

And because the planes are relatively compact, the wake turbulence is not a big swathe of air. It's a far cry from a MITO with 250-ton bombers carving flower-petals into the sky trying to avoid WT that's 200' across for one single vector.
 
And because the planes are relatively compact, the wake turbulence is not a big swathe of air. It's a far cry from a MITO with 250-ton bombers carving flower-petals into the sky trying to avoid WT that's 200' across for one single vector.
A friend of a friend was flying a C-152 into John Wayne airport about 25 years ago and got behind a B757, the worse commercial airliner for producing "dirty air." The 152 got tossed into a complete roll. The 152 driver pressed on after the un-commanded maneuver landed without incident but was asked to call the tower. Poor guy thought he was in trouble but it turned out the folks in the tower saw the whole thing and wanted to make sure he was OK.
 
A friend of a friend was flying a C-152 into John Wayne airport about 25 years ago and got behind a B757, the worse commercial airliner for producing "dirty air." The 152 got tossed into a complete roll. The 152 driver pressed on after the un-commanded maneuver landed without incident but was asked to call the tower. Poor guy thought he was in trouble but it turned out the folks in the tower saw the whole thing and wanted to make sure he was OK.

I've read either about that incident or one like it, again involving a -757. Those big planes move a lot of air.

On the other hand, an Su-25 is designed for low-and-slow and I'd think the pilot would be trained to be sensitive to air conditions (updrafts etc).

I bet the next inspection on that -152 happened pretty soon.
 
I've read either about that incident or one like it, again involving a -757. Those big planes move a lot of air.

On the other hand, an Su-25 is designed for low-and-slow and I'd think the pilot would be trained to be sensitive to air conditions (updrafts etc).

I bet the next inspection on that -152 happened pretty soon.
Actually the plane had no damage! When it got sucked in the wake, the guy flying it kept the nose up and just followed through with the roll
 
Taking a look at the grainy footage magnified showing the wing break of the crashed aircraft, that's a bit further in from the wing tip, which suggests severe structural failure, enough to have ripped the spars apart. Perhaps previous combat damage that went unnoticed from a past sortie? Either way, it failed in flight with aerodynamic loading imposed on it.

As for the narrator questioning the airfield location, it could be Saki, a bit further down the Crimean Peninsula, where the Russian Navy's strike aircraft regiments are nominally based. Saki was recently subject to explosions that destroyed Su-24s and Su-30 aircraft in their bunkers, of course. Saki was also the home base of the Yak-38 Forger units and apart from those few examples that ended up in museums, the miserable lot were scrapped on site.
 
Damn, your post reminded me of this tragic crash of two Beauforts. As a firmly grounded civilian I can only think this is poorly planned or executed formation flying.


I thought of this clip as well, seen it a few times. Yes - totally correct
 
When I watch it I'm surprised the first Beaufort to crash wasn't able to recover. It looks like a wing tip hit. So I wonder if the pilot was caught off guard.
Possibly - when you fly in formation, especially at higher speeds, things happen very quickly so coordination during the flight is important. One of the most challenging things I've done was learning to fly in formation, especially in the L29/L39.

I'm sure BiffF15 BiffF15 might have a great perspective on this.
 
When I watch it I'm surprised the first Beaufort to crash wasn't able to recover. It looks like a wing tip hit. So I wonder if the pilot was caught off guard.

He was thrown to port, into the very wing that likely suffered damage to control surfaces. Drag on the damaged wing is going decrease its lift, only making recovery harder. He was far too low to recover from both the damage and the yank on his aircraft's stability combined.

That's my non-flyer opinion.
 

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