BE-2 down. Pilot safe

[bentwaters81tfw]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8689705/Light-aircraft-crashes-aerodrome-Northamptonshire-emergency-crews-rush-help-pilot.html

[Julien]

 

Glad the pilot survived, looking at that must have gone in hard

[spruecutter96]

As previously stated, very glad the pilot got out with only minor injuries. Looking at the image taken just before the crash, it could have been so much more serious.

 

Chris.  

[Coors54]

19 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8689705/Light-aircraft-crashes-aerodrome-Northamptonshire-emergency-crews-rush-help-pilot.html

I despair at the standard of writing and reporting in that "paper", and don't get me started on the website and it's incredibly intrusive adverts.....

 

Hurumph..

 

Very glad that the pilot is okay.

 

Dave

[bentwaters81tfw]

6 minutes ago, Coors54 said:

I despair at the standard of writing and reporting in that "paper", and don't get me started on the website and it's incredibly intrusive adverts.....

 

Hurumph..

 

Very glad that the pilot is okay.

 

Dave

I know. Their only saving grace is that they tend to be first with any breaking stories. Website ads get killed with AdBlocker or uBlock Origin.

[malpaso]

Glad the pilot is okay. Loved the BE-2 ever since BBC Wings in the 70s.

 

Even the Mail can’t be blamed for the other owner describing WW1 aircraft as tough as old boots AND incredibly fragile in one interview!!

[lasermonkey]

I saw some footage over at PPrune of the BE-2 spinning in. It's not pleasant to watch and incredible that the pilot survived with relatively minor injuries. 

[Simon Cornes]

Yes, I saw video footage on Facebook earlier today. Just tried to find it because I thought he was spinning - not spiral dive - and, looking at the still shot as he was coming down and then the aircraft on the ground, the elevator is obviously okay but not much 'up' was applied, but I didn't see any 'out spin' rudder applied either so maybe he'd got it straight but a touch too low. Of course I don't know how well a BE 2 recovers from a spin, a lot of early machines wouldn't so that may be the case here and so I would speculate that he slowed it down too much and stalled then spun and didn't have the height  to recover. But he was extremely lucky to get away with it anyway. He must have had an angel with him today, that's for sure! I wish him a speedy recovery and to back in the saddle soon. All being well the BE2 will be rebuilt to.

[noelh]

It was Matthew Boddington. Very experienced on type. He had a very lucky escape. But those early aeroplanes tend to absorb the impact and collapse around the pilot in a crash. That and the slow speed of the impact. You can't tell from the video but he may just have about recovered from the spin and mushed in at low rate of descent.

 

It's been said of the Piper Cub that it can "barely kill you!'. Same with the Be2 it seems.

 

No doubt he'll tell his story in due course.

 

That photo in Julien's post reminds me of a similar photo of a Tiger Moth just about to hit hard but with a similar result for the pilot. When he later returned to the flying club someone had pinned a copy of the photo onto the notice board with a speech bubble of his thoughts at impact. 'If this doesn't kill me. The Chief Instructor will.' Lucky he had a sense of humour. 

Edited September 4, 2020 by noelh

[Mike]

Pilot safe Aircraft badly banged up  Hope they can get them both flying again soon 🙏

[colin]

5 minutes ago, noelh said:

It was Matthew Boddington. Very experienced on type. He had a very lucky escape. But those early aeroplanes tend to absorb the impact and collapse around the pilot in a crash. That and the slow speed of the impact. You can't tell from the video but he may just have about recovered from the spin and mushed in at low rate of descent.

 

 

Who would have thought they'd worked out crumple zones all those years ago a 😉

Very luckey man, someone was looking out for him that day

[JohnT]

Yep. Super news that the pilot is ok. Pity about the plane. 
 

As my late uncle - a motor engineer - was won’t to say “cars fix people don’t”. Rather lose the plane and save the pilot. Enough cash thrown at the plane and it’s back in the air

 

Looked like it could have been a bad one

[Truro Model Builder]

Lucky man. He was flying from the rear cockpit. I wonder if that might have helped him.

[noelh]

On 9/5/2020 at 1:38 PM, Truro Model Builder said:

Lucky man. He was flying from the rear cockpit. I wonder if that might have helped him.

It might have. The early  version of BE2 was flown from the rear cockpit leaving the poor Observer surrounded by struts and wires. Later versions reversed that. 

[Work In Progress]

On 9/3/2020 at 6:38 PM, Simon Cornes said:

Of course I don't know how well a BE 2 recovers from a spin, a lot of early machines wouldn't so that may be the case here and All being well the BE2 will be rebuilt to.

 

9 hours ago, noelh said:

It might have. The early  version of BE2 was flown from the rear cockpit leaving the poor Observer surrounded by struts and wires. Later versions reversed that. 

 

All of this is fair comment about actual BE2s, but this aircraft is not a BE2. It is mostly Tiger Moth, reconfigured to superficially resemble a BE2. 

TVAL in New Zealand did some actual BE2 replicas, correct scale and structure, correct engine configurations, and they are VERY different beasts from this.

 

This is not in any way to denigrate it: it was originally built within the available modest budget for a film project in the late 60s and did its job very well, and the recent restoration was a very worthwhile project. But actual BE2 aerodynamic, structural and operating characteristics do not read across to it at all.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Work In Progress