discussion Spitfire XIX PS890 has crashed in France

[stona]

Take off did not go as planned.

It won't buff out, but it's a Spitfire, so it will get fixed.

The pilot was not hurt, but I read elsewhere that a woman in the crowd was injured by flying debris, I hope she's okay.

There is an alarming lack of fire/rescue services, they turned up after thirty minutes according to one (French) report. That looks like members of the crowd lifting the aircraft to rescue the pilot, well done to them, but what are they doing in the operational area? Obviously French regulations are somewhat different to ours.

Cheers

Steve

 

[yak face]

Ouch !hopefully all involved are ok , the spit might need a fair bit of work though. From the pictures at the end it looks as if the starboard wing has broken at the root. Maybe he got a wheel down a rabbit hole !

 

[stona]

Maybe he got a wheel down a rabbit hole !

The Griffon Spitfires weren't really designed for rough airfields. Once the tail comes up that Mark has just 2" clearance for the propeller, which clearly wasn't enough in this instance. As the aircraft starts to nose over you can see the pilot apply full up elevator, but too late as the prop strikes the ground.
Cheers
Steve

 

[tr1ckey66]

That's a real shame, these accidents seem to be an all too common occurrence. But I guess there no more common than during war time (probably less so). Still I do hope everyone was ok.
Cheers
P