P51 Mustang into the crowd at the Reno Races just now

[skorpion]

BS statement.  It's a highly modified race plane....nothing to do with history.

i wasnt talking about the plane. human life is unreplaceable.

might wanna read my post that i put up before you replied...

[Bodhi]

Jimmy Leeward was a good friend to the warbird community and one of the "good guys".  I am sad beyond what words can describe.  I last chatted with Jimmy in Colorado Springs back in March or April.  It was a good talk and as always, I enjoyed his company immensely. 

Jimmy wasn't known as "Smiling Jimmy" for nothing.  I will definitely miss him.

[PFactorDave]

This is truly horrific.  One of my greatest fears is to be in a crippled aircraft, diving for the ground, with no hope of recovery.  I can only imagine how awful it would be to die like that.  My prayers to the family of the pilot and those injured on the ground.

[spammer]

It's a hunk of metal now, but it was a piece of art before it hit the ground. It looked like it might be pilot error, maybe a medical condition, Stroke, Heart attack, We'll never know. The owners of these planes are getting old and will not be replaced. It's sad, and says a lot about the US of today.

Maybe he was flying over the 30 HR a week limit imposed by the Unions and fell asleep. No, the pilot was an owner operator and was jacked up to the Hilt and racing hard, Making his investment stand out for the fans.

Very sad day.

I hope HB was at home.

[camnite]

this might just end the air races. sad thing to lose a life, no matter the conditions.

[Golfer]

It's a hunk of metal now, but it was a piece of art before it hit the ground. It looked like it might be pilot error, maybe a medical condition, Stroke, Heart attack, We'll never know. The owners of these planes are getting old and will not be replaced. It's sad, and says a lot about the US of today.

Maybe he was flying over the 30 HR a week limit imposed by the Unions and fell asleep. No, the pilot was an owner operator and was jacked up to the Hilt and racing hard, Making his investment stand out for the fans.

Very sad day.

I hope HB was at home.

HB is fine.

Your other statements are foolish, ill informed and completely baseless with regard to reality.

[Golfer]

I'm told from those that were there that something came off the airplane before control was lost.  Perhaps the elevator trim tab.  Supposedly also he declared an emergency earlier on but which heat and why wasn't made clear to me.  That isn't uncommon for abnormalities of any sort when racing.

If the elevator trim tab goes, then it's not inconceivable that as it looked in a couple different videos, pitch authority could be lost and without it pushing against the pull force a huge elevator deflection for that airspeed could be encountered.  The video angles I've seen show an abrupt pitch up and an attempt at recovery by rolling the aircraft.  What control authority was lost, how much G force and any number of other things should have been recorded via the real time telemetry which this aircraft had I understand.  That is a huge help to determining the cause, though not much consolation for those killed, hurt and affected in this.

This man wasn't "hot dogging" for anyone.  No Reno racer does.  I don't think you'd find anyone more experienced as a Racer than Mr. Leeward and the information available points to a seemingly unrecoverable mechanical failure.  That's all I have to say.  Tailwinds.

[spammer]

Foolish?

Glad you responded, that post was for you.

Not to make light of this situation, the pilot died doing what he loved and invested his time and money in.

I'm happy he passed doing what he loved. I feel for the fans that got hurt, but, they know their attending an event with airplanes racing overhead.

Name calling... Is that all you got?

Take it easy on me me Golfer, I'm outta practice.

I Fabricate the metal for several aircrafts and take offense when it called a hunk of metal. We would never send a pilot up in a hunk of metal.

[cattb]

Theres some pictures coming out on Yahoo news, couple of the plane before it crashed.

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/air-race-crash-in-reno-1316226189-slideshow/#

[Golfer]

This photo speaks volumes.



Take notice of the elevator.

[spammer]

I see it.

Mechanical failure.

Apology to Golfer.

[Wolfala]

This photo speaks volumes.

(Image removed from quote.)

Take notice of the elevator.

Christ, you can even see the flutter in the frame from the trim tab.

[icepac]

another piece of unreplaceable history lost. 

ive heard hundreds were injured aswell, this isnt looking good. not one bit.

More planes have been restored because of air racing than any other reason.

There are more flying p51s now than there were 20 years ago.

[skorpion]

More planes have been restored because of air racing than any other reason.

There are more flying p51s now than there were 20 years ago.

im not talking about the damn plane guys!!! im talking about jimmy! who cares about the plane?! if jimmy had survived, somehow along with all the others, then its just a lost plane. easily replaceable!

[saggs]

Also this photo:



Notice the tailwheel came down suggesting high G forces, and no helmet is visible.  Perhaps he blacked out from the plane pitching up violently after the trim tab separated.

Aside from the speculation, what a terrible day for all involved. There was a local fatal crash here yesterday too.