National Championship Air Races

[skyboltone]

I've been at the races all week. All areas pass. Wow. I was stunned that Voodoo beat Strega in the unlimited final. How would you like to spend several million a year preparing an unlimited airplane only to be LAPPED by the winner in the final. That was the fate of about four of the airplanes that made the Gold round.


Yeah! The Fastest Race in Motor Sports!!

Dan

[Structo]

I was wondering if they would do the races again after the tragic accident.
Did they change the rules or spectator area?

[Reeltarded]

The loudest thing that ever happened. Wish I could have heard it!

[skyboltone]

They changed the course layout to move the turns so that less energy is directed at the crowd. The turn that Jimmy Leeward was in when Galloping Ghost came apart is now about a mile further away from the stands.

The sound is glorious, fantastic, wonderful and unbelievably pleasant.
http://reports.airrace.org/

Check out the speeds on here. The winner of the Sport Class lapped the field during a six lap heat. Sport Class is airplanes like Glassair (out of business) Lancair, Thunder Mustang, or even one off homebuilts. Still, we're talking well over a hundred thousand to build one that will get lapped during the heats. Big money to enter the winner's circle.

Dan

[Structo]

Glad to hear they addressed the safety issues but just like air shows, you do have to be aware of the risks.

Did they ever come out with the official investigation results from Jimmy Leeward's crash?

[HeeBGB]

From Wiki "He died at the 2011 Reno Air Races in a crash that killed him and 10 others; an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board blamed Leeward for "'operating at the edge of the envelope' without fully reporting and testing modifications to his plane.'"

Glad to hear they addressed the safety issues but just like air shows, you do have to be aware of the risks.

Did they ever come out with the official investigation results from Jimmy Leeward's crash?

[skyboltone]

The more nuts and bolts explanation is that the elevator trim tab came loose at a speed that he had not flown before and forced the elevator into a full up position. He most likely passed out well before the airplane went out of control.

I have a friend who lost several fingers and got a small nut embedded in his arm as a result of the crash. He was 20' or so from the epicenter of the crash. He's very grateful that he survived. A bunch of his friends seated in the box with him lost their lives.

Dan

[vibratoking]

Actually, Leeward put a screw through one of the elevator trim tabs to fix it in place...leaving him with only one that was operable. The lock nuts on the operable tab were something like 40 years old and failed, which caused the failure of the only trim that was available. Also, the wing span was shortened by 6 feet or so, which made the elevator trim even more necesary. And he pushed the airplane like 50 knots faster than his previous max air speed. All this was viewed by the NTSB as a crash caused by a pilot running at the edge of good aviation practice.

I heard there were some lawsuits , but I didn't hear the outcome.

[Structo]

Yeah I remember seeing pictures of the trim tab in question and also the shortened wings.

Terrible day for all concerned.