The Vulcan XH558 & General Aviation Thread

[Richie]

Oh dear, too low on entry, too slow on entry, to low on exit, too slow on exit.... aircraft not maintained in accordance with directives.


It was an accident waiting to happen by the looks of it.

[Richie]

The report will be damning for those running legacy engines, and say... Cold War era jet's

You know the sanctions that will be placed on those aircraft now (to prevent the remote possibility of any later issues) will be heavy, and policed to death.

[no1traumanurse]

What a tragedy it hadn't been policed properly. A poorly maintained aircraft in the hands of a pilot not familiar with the type.
Accidents will always happen but.. The paying public expect displays to be performed by highly skilled and experienced pilots, not someone who thought they could give it a go. They also expect the aircraft to be airworthy.
If those requirements cannot be met then shame on all who organise public flying displays and those that participate in them.

[no1traumanurse]

None of the aircraft maintenance stuff had any bearing on the accident at all- it's all by-product which will have serious ramifications for the vintage jet operators for a long time to come.

The report clearly states that the aircraft was not was no longer in compliance with its permit to fly, mandatory airworthiness requirements had not been met. If that is not a maintainance issue, then what is? It doesn't matter that they didn't cause the crash, they are symptomatic of less than stringent checks and compliance.

[no1traumanurse]

If I have got my interpretation wrong please correct me and I will apologise on the forum.

You are basically saying it is ok to fly an aircraft that turns out to be un-flightworthy as long as it doesn't cause a crash?

You are involved in rebuilding Bluebird. The final result will be stronger, more leakproof and from what I can gather, have had all her engine/fuel defects cured. This is being done to present to the paying public a machine in as near original condition as possible, that can run again and under ideal conditions, she should run better than prior to her crash as long as she doesn't exceed speeds that can result in instability.
Naively that is what I thought I was seeing at the airshows I have been to. Aircraft rebuilt and maintained better than when they were pushed off the production line.

I have seen and helped put back together enough damaged humans to have a simplistic view. There are no such things as accidents, people were either doing something stupid or had something stupid done to them. They might not have been aware they were being stupid due to their age or infirmity, but the most accurate diagnostic tool devised, the retrospectoscope, can pinpoint when it all went wrong.
I did say it was a simplistic view, but it holds true in the vast majority of cases.

[conistoncollie]

NO other factor caused that aircraft to hit the ground on the day.

It was airborne - tend to agree with No 1 traumanurse

[conistoncollie]

Presumably then you apply that to the several thousand aircraft that are in the sky at any given moment?!

Only the ones that are not in compliance with their permits to fly

[Piston Broke]

Presumably then you apply that to the several thousand aircraft that are in the sky at any given moment?!

Only the ones that are not in compliance with their permits to fly

Thats like saying a car is unsafe to drive with an expired MOT yes it hasn't got its bit of paper but it could be perfectly safe. all the parts of the report I have read and discussed are things found after the crash and weren't part of the worthiness to fly until after the crash, and things like the ejector seat cartridges didn't effect the flying of the craft. I my opinon all non military craft should have ejector seats disabled as they shouldn't be in dog fights or getting shot down, and that should be the only reason to bang out. There are plenty of planes flying without ejector seats

[Renegadenemo]

It's not about being shot down, lt's because those swept wing aircraft simply won't fly without engine power and may have to be abandoned in the event of engine failure. As l understand it all swept wing aircraft must have a live seat for that reason.

[Piston Broke]

It's not about being shot down, lt's because those swept wing aircraft simply won't fly without engine power and may have to be abandoned in the event of engine failure. As l understand it all swept wing aircraft must have a live seat for that reason.

All the more reason to keep the aircraft maintained. If the engine quits you fall out the sky quicker than if you have standard wings