Hi Bpti,
>Black 6 crahsed, didn't it??!?!?
>oh, they say it was landing accident.
Black 6 had been planned for static display long before its last flight. In fact, the accident happened on its scheduled last flight.
What happened is that the pilot failed to put the radiator selector on "automatic", but left it in an intermediate position where the thermostatical radiator flap control didn't work. (This was "encouraged" by offset labeling for the correct position, an original Messerschmitt mistake.)
As a result, some way into the display routine the coolant began to boil. The coolant release opening by design was placed so that the pilot would see the steam and have a chance to react. The Black 6 pilot immediately turned in to land, but as he incorrectly thought the steam to be smoke because he perceived the smell of motor oil, he feared the engine would seize any moment.
Accordingly, he came in faster than usual as he anticipated a sudden loss of power and the additional drag created by a standing propeller. (Maybe his immediate turn even meant he even came down with a tailwind, I'm not sure of this now.)
As soon as he had touched down, he realized he was too fast for a safe stop. He was prepared for that and held the aircraft tail-high to avoid the drag, then pulled up at the end of the runway, hopped over the adjacent motorway and put Black 6 down again on the neighbouring field.
All would have been fine if there hadn't been a tractor ploughing the field. With the last bit of speed, Black 6 ran into the ploughed tracks at the far end of the field and overturned :-(
I'd say this proves that good flying can make up for pilot errors, but nothing will save you from bad luck!
Regards,
Henning (HoHun)
