Mustang Lost Ailerons in Dive - Anyone Else?

[Vraciu]

People are telling me this is impossible.  Just wondering.....


Nose down after a 190 in a P-51D both my ailerons ripped off.  I was in high speed buffet but totally controllable in pitch and I did not roll or yaw at all.  Heard some groaning and then both ailerons departed.  People on 200 said they have never seen that happen.

Just wondering if anyone else has seen this?

If yes, what speed?

[Traveler]

Yes, You did it, It's always fun to bait a high nme on your 6 to dive in on you, put the nose down and cut the throttle.  As you slow and appear to move down below their nose , they push over into even a stepper dive.  Most often losing control at some point.   

[Vudu15]

I saw a 51 that ripped its wings off once in a dive and I was shocked, I was in my Brewster and 51 dove on me from alt he had 5-10K on me and so I  nosed straight down got it up to 500 mph or so and cut hard left, Now I'm not sure what the pony pilot did but the next time I saw him it was just a fuselage flying by headed for earth at mach 3.

[Tinkles]

I saw a 51 that ripped its wings off once in a dive and I was shocked, I was in my Brewster and 51 dove on me from alt he had 5-10K on me and so I  nosed straight down got it up to 500 mph or so and cut hard left, Now I'm not sure what the pony pilot did but the next time I saw him it was just a fuselage flying by headed for earth at mach 3.

If you are going over a certain speed and just snap the stick (or if you have a sensitive joystick) then you can easily rip the wings off. I did this when I first started playing  

In your example it sounds like the p51 going so fast tried to get the shot without repositioning himself or slowing down (probably no time for the latter), so he ended up ripping his wings off.

[Vraciu]

Yes, You did it, It's always fun to bait a high nme on your 6 to dive in on you, put the nose down and cut the throttle.  As you slow and appear to move down below their nose , they push over into even a stepper dive.  Most often losing control at some point.   

But I had control.

My ailerons came off.   I didn't do anything other than slowly pitch up.  TINK TINK.  GONE.

[FLS]

Every aircraft has a do not exceed speed which you apparently exceeded. 

I've broken wings on a P-51 but I don't recall just losing ailerons either.  I've gone over 600 without anything breaking. Unless you have film for HTC there's no way to know what actually caused your crash. Stress damage is cumulative and pitching up does add stress. There may be gun damage or flak damage that isn't visible.

[Vraciu]

Every aircraft has a do not exceed speed which you apparently exceeded. 

I've broken wings on a P-51 but I don't recall just losing ailerons either.  I've gone over 600 without anything breaking. Unless you have film for HTC there's no way to know what actually caused your crash. Stress damage is cumulative and pitching up does add stress. There may be gun damage or flak damage that isn't visible.

Not disputing it, generally.

I didn't save the film as I landed okay with rudder only.   But.......................... ..  Just seemed odd after the fact based on lots of input...

[Randy1]

Could be too you were being chased by another plane you did not see with tracers off.

[Traveler]

But I had control.

My ailerons came off.   I didn't do anything other than slowly pitch up.  TINK TINK.  GONE.

right, must be a cheat, couldn't have been You.  Accept the facts as presented.  You were in a dive,   parts of your airframe came off.   Do you happen to have film?

[Sunka]

I lost my wings in a  low G dive with minimal speed,i sent the video in the HTC and they seemed to ignore it.

[Traveler]

I lost my wings in a  low G dive with minimal speed,i sent the video in the HTC and they seemed to ignore it.

What exactly is a low G dive?  Does that mean you can do a High G dive?     Do you mean that you performed a low G pull out from a dive?

[katanaso]

I've done the same.

I've also ripped a wing off of a P-38.  I didn't think that was possible.     

http://www.fingerpicked.com/AcesHigh/films/38j/p38rippedwing.ahf

[FLS]

Not disputing it, generally.

I didn't save the film as I landed okay with rudder only.   But.......................... ..  Just seemed odd after the fact based on lots of input...

It's unusual in that losing wings is more common than just ailerons but damage from excessive speed is normal. It could be the length of time you were in high speed buffet caused cumulative damage that broke your ailerons and if you had pulled more G you would have lost the wings too. Without film all we can do is guess.

[Ack-Ack]

I've done the same.

I've also ripped a wing off of a P-38.  I didn't think that was possible.     

http://www.fingerpicked.com/AcesHigh/films/38j/p38rippedwing.ahf

I've ripped the wings off a P-38 once, was fully loaded with ordnance and pulled too many Gs pulling out of a high speed dive.  Only time it's happened.

ack-ack

[Oldman731]

What exactly is a low G dive?  Does that mean you can do a High G dive?   

Of course.  Push the nose forward gently and you'll be in a zero-G dive.  Push a bit more and you'll start to accrue negative-Gs.  Start the dive by rolling on your back first, then keep pulling the same way and you'll experience the same range of choices.

- oldman