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WW2 P-51 Mustang crashes at UK airshow

Falcon1Falcon1 Elite Ranger
in Zocalo v2.0
I only found out yesterday that "Big Beautiful Doll" crashed during the Flying Legends airshow at Duxford here in the UK. A survivor from the war, she was on manoeuvres with another Mustang and a Skyraider when the raider clipped it from behind, taking a chunk out of its own wing. The raider recovered from an initially worrying dive and landed ok but the Mustang stalled and the pilot had to bail out. Thankfully both pilots were not injured.

Sad to see such a great plane get lost in this way. I saw her fly at Duxford back in 2009 and she was indeed beautiful. Going to be a long restoration project...

Here's a vid of the incident: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xctYWSuwoYA[/url]

Comments

  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    I heard about that last week on the BBC. The loss of the plane is sad, but it's a good thing the pilots made it out safely.
  • SpiritOneSpiritOne Magneto ABQ NM
    oh man that is awful. absolutely beautiful aircraft.
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    I heard about it on the news, tho I didn't realise it was BBD that had crashed. Back when I used to play flightsims a lot, BBD was the P-51 I always flew
  • Falcon1Falcon1 Elite Ranger
    Yes both pilots did very well to recover as best they could. Apparently the raider impact cut the rear control lines so the Mustang pilot did very good to control her and get it away from the crowds, parked planes, museum/hangers and the stupid motorway at the end of the airfield (they cut the runway short to build it so the Concorde that lives there can never take off again... :mad:).

    I managed to get some nice shots of her back in 2009 and also of the Skyraider that did the damage, nice to have them.

    There was also an incident with a German WW1 triplane. Ended up on its nose whilst running along the grass. Think it suffered minor damage. All happening at Duxford this year!
  • MessiahMessiah Failed Experiment
    Another angle: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HAOVgrHCk0&feature=related[/url]
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    One of these days I'll finally get down to Duxford....
  • Falcon1Falcon1 Elite Ranger
    Quite a few different angles emerging. Well with the amount of enthusiasts there with crazy expensive camera gear, footage wasn't going to be a problem.

    Its worth it mate. If you go the day before the main show its much quieter and you get to wander the different hangers without the huge crowds. And on show day they charge 50p to walk inside Concorde... its free the day before. The cheek! :D
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    [QUOTE=Falcon1;193156]There was also an incident with a German WW1 triplane. Ended up on its nose whilst running along the grass. Think it suffered minor damage. All happening at Duxford this year![/QUOTE]

    Those old WW1 planes are just like that, though. The put their nose in at the slightest excuse. :D
  • SeafroggysSeafroggys Ranger
    WW1 aircraft were slow enough not to suffer that badly from crashes....they also had a ridiculously low stall speed as well.
  • Falcon1Falcon1 Elite Ranger
    I read an account of that incident and it sounded funny. Plane bobs along the grass, disappears behind a group of parked planes, noise, puff of dust, bang, no plane came out the other side :D
  • sinclairsinclair Ranger
    And now another P-51 has crashed into the crowd in airshow held in US...
    Sadly there were three death casulties plus 58 injured.

    Youtube video (requires log-in: [url]http://youtu.be/Ybgd0EfxWCI[/url] ), seems like it came down almost vertically.
  • MessiahMessiah Failed Experiment
    Oh no. :(
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    Sounds like a pretty horrific crash for all concerned :(
  • Falcon1Falcon1 Elite Ranger
    Terrible crash. Last I saw 9 people had died :(
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