Another Navy Wings article...

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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#121 Post by FD2 » Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:12 am

Another danger winching was the development of an unintended, pilot induced, swing on the person being winched. A Sea King from 819 Squadron at Prestwick, like the one in GG's photo but painted dark blue back in the 1970s, went out to the west of Machrihanish to winch a staff officer from a submarine. He had spent the day in the boat, travelling out from Faslane and now needed to return to base as the sub was off on a trip somewhere. There was a heavy sea running and the sub was rolling with the large swell coming in from the west but the wind from the north. The handling pilot followed the roll of the sub's conning tower instead of holding the aircraft steady and the staff officer swung so far that he actually bounced off the port sponson (the winch is on the starboard side). Suitable apologies were made and the uninjured but still quite excited man was returned to Faslane. Unfortunately the aircraft captain didn't know that the staff officer was a friend of the 819 Squadron Boss, who was away on leave that day and the matter was forgotten after the debrief, or so he thought. When the victim staff officer and Boss next met a week or two later he recited his adventure with great gusto and not a little exaggeration. There followed a noisy interview without coffee for the crew concerned, which on that occasion did not include me!

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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#122 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Mar 27, 2021 8:57 am

Poor crew, literally plucked by the fickle pendulum of fate FD2!
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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#123 Post by Pontius Navigator » Sat Mar 27, 2021 9:32 am

FD2 wrote:
Sat Mar 27, 2021 2:41 am
PN: I think that might have been the S92?


S-92-Bristow-SAR.jpg
That's the one.

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Navy Wings Sea Fury crashes...

#124 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Wed Apr 28, 2021 4:41 pm

Oh dear...the Navy Wings Sea Fury has augured in! At least nobody was seriously injured. The aircraft on the other hand... :(

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-56920390
The plane made a "precautionary forced landing" in a field next to the naval base on Wednesday afternoon.

Navy Wings, which operates the Sea Fury T.20 plane, said the pilots were safe and well but had been taken to Yeovil District Hospital as a precaution.

The crash happened following a problem with the engine during a routine training flight, the Navy Wings spokesperson added.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Both the Civil Aviation Authority and Air Accident Investigation Branch have been informed.

In July 2014 the Sea Fury crashed at RNAS Culdrose Air Day.

The Sea Fury was taking part in the aerobatic display in Cornwall when the plane lost power and crashed on to the runway.

The pilot walked away uninjured but the 1944 fighter - one of only three or four in the UK - was badly damaged.

It took three years and £350,000 to restore the plane and get it back in the air.
Sea Fury.JPG
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The Sea Fury

#125 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Wed Apr 28, 2021 4:49 pm

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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#126 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Wed Apr 28, 2021 5:52 pm

It seems that the Bristol Centaurus ‘power egg’ parted company with the fuselage during the crash today...

Here is an example of the Bristol Hercules power egg...

Hercules power egg.JPG
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It doesn't look like a hopeless write off but it will take a lot of time and money to rebuild.
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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#127 Post by Boac » Wed Apr 28, 2021 6:36 pm

It doesn't look like a hopeless write off but it will take a lot of time and money to rebuild.

Noname.jpg
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Hmm. Perhaps a rain check on that? Maybe BoJo could pay for it? Have it painted gold while we are there? :))

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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#128 Post by PHXPhlyer » Wed Apr 28, 2021 8:41 pm

As long as the data plate exists it will probably be rebuilt.

PP

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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#129 Post by CharlieOneSix » Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:37 pm

As a Navy Wings supporter I could weep at this news. The Sea Vixen cannot be brought back to flying status after its wheels up landing as there aren't the £2M+ funds to do that. Now there is the disaster of this latest accident. On 23 April the Navy Wings charity took ownership of those historic aircraft operated by them but owned by the Royal Navy. This couldn't have happened at a worse time, just 5 days later. At least we still have a Sea Fury, the FB.11.
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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#130 Post by FD2 » Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:55 pm

This is really sad news. Three years and a third of a million to get it back in the air again after the wheel(s) up at Culdrose. Here's a clearer photo - I think they were lucky to get out alive.

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More Sea Fury stuff

#131 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Thu Apr 29, 2021 1:16 am

In this most recent accident they were very lucky that a fire didn't break out.

It is interesting to note that the engine nacelle (power "egg") broke away. It was this accidental separation feature (the "egg" having been designed specifically for easy engine replacement and swapping) in high impact or deceleration accidents in operational circumstances, coupled with the fuselage's tough build that saved many pilots methinks, The same feature is purposely designed into modern F1 and Indianapolis cars (and road going supercars) for safety reasons, to ensure that the inertia of the relatively heavy power train does not cause it to breach/crush the passenger shell (all according to F=MA where reducing the mass of the part with the passengers (as the engine breaks away), while keeping the same deceleration/acceleration, results in a lower force overall in the part containing the fragile human(s)).

https://navalairhistory.com/2015/09/07/ ... lustrious/
The aircraft (which evidently has been fitted with the cowling from another aircraft, given the different demarcation line of the camouflage) has struck the first barrier and is about to hit the second. Somehow, the Sea Fury flipped inverted (possibly as a result of the torque of the airscrew hitting the deck) between the first and second barriers, spilling fuel when the Bristol Centaurus ‘power egg’ broke away, which quickly caught fire.

The figure visible just to the left of the flames braved the inferno to rescue the pilot and won an award for gallantry.
SF2.JPG
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Remarkably, in view of the violence of the crash, the successfully extracted pilot appears completely unharmed, and is seen making his escape in the third image from the sequence as the rescue and fire crews close in.
Another case where the engine broke away. The pilot survived here as well.

SF1.JPG
SF1.JPG (37.61 KiB) Viewed 582 times
Motor racing anecdote 2 - Racing boss Paul Morgan was killed in his Sea Fury in a relatively low speed tip over and inversion because there was nobody around to lift the aircraft and release him quickly. Those blokes on the carrier deck were critical to pilots' survival and were very brave too (see incident above).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1751570.stm
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Re: Another Navy Sea Fury...

#132 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Thu Apr 29, 2021 1:34 am

One last one from me on the Navy Sea Fury...
PAUL BEAVER FRAeS sheds new light on a classic air combat encounter from the Korean War in 1952 - where Royal Navy Sea Fury piston-engine fighters shot down a North Korean MiG-15 jet. But was the correct pilot credited for the kill?
https://www.aerosociety.com/news/sea-fu ... rue-story/

SeaFuryMig.JPG
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Ref the crash -Apropos the financial and historical consequences of this accident, they are dire, but nonetheless there are other good aircraft to be preserved, so I urge people to contribute to the cause of aircraft preservation here.
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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#133 Post by FD2 » Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:11 am

I hope someone hasn't screwed up the change of details on the insurance policies...

Excuse the drift - this happened when an aircraft flying from a local airfield crashed in a field a few miles away. They either had an engine failure and caught power lines on the way down or caught power lines and crashed in a field. The front end has not separated on this aircraft but amazingly they both survived. https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/ ... to-paddock

Tent Pegged.png
Back on topic - when I was about 6 we lived near the naval air station at Lee on Solent. The circuit was usually very busy with Sea Furies and Fireflies and an inspiring sight for a small boy. I still remember the distinctive smell as they did their mag checks next to the threshold followed by take off power and the wind blew across to where I was sitting on the 'Beware of Low Flying Aircraft' sign. The Historic Flight and now Navy Wings have had a really bad run of luck with the Centaurus engine.

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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#134 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:45 am

Resuming drift for a few seconds... That light aircraft crash that FD2 posted, shows/demonstrates a progressive crumpling of the engine compartment thus reducing the A in F = MA. Smaller A means smaller F, meaning a higher chance of survival. The fact that the aircraft is light means smaller M, thus also increasing the chance of survival. Nothing really amazing about these things, all down to the maths of physics and probability, as FD2, knows, I am sure. :)

Some attribute these things to miracles, I say that the laws of physics, maths, chance and probability are miracles and good luck to them! ;)))

PS- I am willing to bet the seat belts in that light aircraft weren't of the simple car type so beloved of more modern aircraft. The harness type are so much better and increase the chances of survival too!

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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#135 Post by Boac » Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:19 am

Back to Sea Furies: I suspect any large 'lump' like a twin bank radial bolted on the front of a crash site would tend to 'break off'. Apart from the shock loading this one may well be 'useable'.

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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#136 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:47 am

Boac wrote:
Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:19 am
Back to Sea Furies: I suspect any large 'lump' like a twin bank radial bolted on the front of a crash site would tend to 'break off'. Apart from the shock loading this one may well be 'useable'.
My hope as well. It cost them over £200,000 to refurbish the engine that failed yesterday. To completely lose that engine would be a very expensive calamity indeed.
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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#137 Post by ian16th » Thu Apr 29, 2021 12:04 pm

Cynicism improves with age

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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#138 Post by Ex-Ascot » Thu Apr 29, 2021 1:12 pm

That 'aint going to fly again. Amazing the crew got out. What do they mean with 'precautionary forced landing'. They had lost the donk it was a 'forced landing'. Do we know why it didn't work out? Was it like the last one where there was presumably no hydraulics to lower the gear? Can you crank the gear down? May be no time.

A great shame.
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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#139 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Thu Apr 29, 2021 2:47 pm

Is is amazing what can be restored without having to do a Trigger's old broom trick vide.

https://www.northnorfolknews.co.uk/news ... sh-1632516
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Re: Another Navy Wings article...

#140 Post by G-CPTN » Thu Apr 29, 2021 2:58 pm

Both engines failed shortly after take-off.

I wonder why?

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