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P-51 goes down in Reno

Jailtime

Jailtime

Standin' on a corner
Nasty crash at a Reno air show - http://news.yahoo.com/official-plane-problems-may-caused-nv-crash-025851048.html. Thoughts and prayers go out to all those who lost loved ones or were injured.

Just don't have much time to get away when you see a plane go out of control at 500+ MPH. I 'spose that's the risk you take when you go to an air show. Most of those aircraft at shows are old, and if you want the thrill of being close to them, you're pretty much counting on those planes not breaking.
 
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Sad to see Jimmy Leeward leave us in such a way. He was a dedicated pilot, and it was his skill, training & experience that kept a horrible crash from being even more horrific.

From video I've seen, it looks like an elevator trim tab came off, causing a violent pitch-up. At around 500 MPH at the altitudes they're flying at, you only have a couple of seconds to do what needs to be done. It appears Jimmy was able to maneuver the aircraft towards the runway & away from most of the crowd.

RIP, Mr. Leeward.
 
IMHO, I'm getting damn tired of all the (pardon my french) F***heads, second-guessing Jimmy Leeward's age. If the FAA hadn't CERTIFIED him to be in that plane, he wouldn't have been in it. And they don't sandbag those certifications for age preferences, either...

He did everything he could have done, given the failure. Pretty much anyone, Yeager himself included IN HIS PRIME (1940s-50s), probably would have also augered in under such a happenstance. Many test pilots of that era did, when those same type things happened to them, and they were mostly in their 20s and 30s...

Also, those who want to second-guess the maintenance... again, if the FAA hadn't CERTIFIED the plane itself, it wouldn't have been up there. It's tragic when a random failure takes place... but we have NO evidence to show any sort of maintenance problems with that plane. And Jimmy Leeward had a bit of a rep, as being a stickler for getting things right, or he wouldn't have been up there in the first place...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
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