Giant Scale B-17 Flying Fortress CRASHES INTO SAFETY BARRIER ON TAKEOFF!!
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
- I shot this really scary video a while ago at the Arizona Electric Festival back in February, 2023. THANK GOODNESS this plane went into the safety barrier as many people could have been hurt, or even WORSE!
Background: I had just finished shooting video of Bob Ruff's vintage Byron F-16 (which can be seen in the background) and was standing basically on the numeral "2" painted on the ground when I heard the B-17 throttle up and swung quickly around and caught this amazing video. It had been stated by someone that I was on the flight line, which technically is true, but I most definitely wasn't on the runway. I was on the "safe side" of the broad white paint line which denotes the runway. Thank goodness that the safety net caught the plane!!
The pilot made a VERY poor choice in attempting the takeoff, and he even actually INCREASED THE THROTTLE after it became very clear there was a major issue in asymmetric thrust, P-factor, and general uncontrollability.. You can even see the pilot had FULL RIGHT RUDDER, and STILL firewalled it!
Wow...just wow. I hope this video stands as testimony to doing a thorough preflight before flying ANY RC model airplane, and, if the plane isn't responding properly....ABORT THE TAKEOFF!
Model Specs: This was an American Eagle Kits B-17 that spanned over 10 feet in wingspan and reportedly (by the owner Jerry Neuberger) weighed in at 43 pounds. Was powered by 4 Scorpion motors, with each motor being powered by one 5s 5,000 mAh battery, tucked into each of the nacelles. Folks have already noticed the distinct LACK of dihedral in the wings, even though the American Eagle kit photos show a distinct and very pronounced dihedral, so one has to wonder what exactly was going on there??
In fact, I'm thinking that the part that you can see flying off behind the bomber in slow motion was one of the battery covers off of one of the nacelles...
Thanks for watching everyone, I'm looking forward to all your comments and please don't forget to hit the "Like" (thumbs up button); it's free and helps the channel in the algorithms!
Holy crap! Dude that was coming right at you! So glad no one was hit. So many things I'm thinking right now. First, it looks like he was way late on the rudder. I see that he put in full right rudder, but after the plane takes a turn under torque...that is too late. You have to be feeding in right rudder as you increase the throttle so you don't get behind it. Second, once it goes that bad...remove the issue. Chop the throttles so the torque goes away, then steer it away from the crowd with the tail wheel. Worse case it hits the barrier at idle with less speed, and people have more time to move. You have to abort when it goes that bad. I'm not trying to trash the pilot, but this is why we debrief honestly...pride or not.
Adam, I absolutely cannot say it better myself, and very glad for your insight and comments! NOW you can see why I was a bit out of breath when I called you right after it happened. I was still trying to decompress. I had just finished with shooting Bob Ruff's Byron F-16 when this happened. I was literally standing by the number "2" painted on the ground when it happened! Thank God nobody got hurt....
You can see something fly off during the initial takeoff roll. You can also see the pilot trying to correct immediately with full right rudder. Glad no one was hurt, especially with four spinning props capable of doing some real damage. Looks like the barrier did the trick…similar to how chaps can save you from a chain saw.
That is one DAMN lucky Byron F-16! I myself was walking by between the pilot stations next to the thing when it hit. If it had gone BETWEEN the openings it would have plowed me down! I remember being a little dizzy after that moment. Weak in the knees. GUYS- when your airplane is spinning out of control on the takeoff roll remember to cut the throttle!
Indeed my friend, indeed!!!
😳😬Holy Smoke! That was unbelievable! Glad nobody was hurt. Be safe, John.
Thanks Ute! It got my heart racing for sure my brother 😳😮!!
Did he set it up with counter rotating props ??? I just got one of these , but not finished building it yet 😳👍🏻✌🏻🖖🏻
I'm not sure about that my friend, but it sure couldn't have hurt! All the best to you on your build!
That hurts to watch.
Glad everyone was ok.
Sounded like pilot never got out of the throttle and was in trouble when tail went up.
The orange fence definitely did it's job....😢
Thanks for checking in and yes, it sounds like the pilot just kept it nailed. I suspect he was trying to get airborne, but thankfully the safety barrier caught it. Could have been much worse...
Looks like it just missed what appears to be a byron f16?
What is b17 wingspan?
You are correct, that was a Byron F-16. The B-17 spanned in at a little over 10 feet in wingspan. Thanks for checking in my friend!
Operational losses are expected to be 3 % during high-intensity daylight strategic campaigns... Looks like the crew survived... love your work man..
Thanks my friend, all the best to you!!
Very scary, John. Veeery scary. Looking at your footage before the impact, at 2 mins 2 seconds, the whole port wing is hanging down as can be seen comparing the wings to the horizontal stab. Also, the port wing looks angled downwards. This model was doomed. Glad the only thing that was injured was someone's pride.
Thanks so much for checking in Gina, and glad you noticed the port wing as well! I agree, this model was doomed from the start. A proper pre-flight would definitely have provided better odds, the pilot's skill notwithstanding. And YES, I was very very scared indeed! It took some time to decompress for sure. The field was actually shut down for about 20-30 mins afterward to allow for the clean-up of debris, repair of the fencing (which was largely destroyed), and a general blast on the loudspeakers about safety protocol. Just glad I still had cat-like reflexes and managed to scamper out of the way at a good clip! Cheers my friends!
So I have this exact kit and even have video of it flying on my RUclips channel of my 10 year old flying it as an electric. Mine was a full fiberglass kit and didn't have any dihedral in the wing either but didn't effect the way it flew. Firstly I can tell you from experience from flying the model that yaw control from the rudder is almost non existence. The full scale was the same way as I sat behind the pilot flying the Midras Maiden and asked if the rudder had any authority at slow speed. He said no , they use throttle splitting to yaw . The other thing with all 4 motors turning the same way is the p factor . I found nailing the throttle is the quickest way to ground loop a b17 but a long slow at first addition of power until the vertical is tracking then it will fly. I had one of my dubro tires fly apart on takeoff and got stuck between the wheel and strut and cause it to yaw that badly too. Unless you have flown a 50 pound b17 , you just don't realize how much effort goes into flying this model from roll out to full stop.
Thank you so much John for your comments and for checking in. Your insight is a valuable look into this model. No dihedral? Curious as the factory pictures I looked at showed quite a bit, and the full scale had some as well. Strange. Anyway, thanks again for commenting my friend!!
Dang...glad you and everyone else is fine . Ease the power on and chop it if your not tracking the center line.
Thanks Rodger! I totally agree, if she's not tracking straight, chop the throttle. Better to start over on the takeoff run, no shame in that game...
Glad you and the rest are okay. People losing models in the fog, flyaways because they rely on SAFE...and insufficient skills are the nails in the coffin of a hobby under siege. More rules won't solve this. More brains/thinking about risks to others will. 😊. Thank goodness you can skedaddle John ✌️
I completely agree with you my friend, all good and valid points good sir 😉😁
Rudder looked ineffective against those 4 motors at full power at slow speed! Sorry for your loss...
I completely agree with you my friend, and I'm just happy that nobody got hurt! All the best and thanks for checking in!
Jeeeezzzzz. Pilot seemed to not be equiped for the job. Jabbing full power is a bad move. Glad youre ok man. If that had lifted off it was coming straight for you. Mannnn
RIGHT? That pilot was in way above his pay grade with that one. Super glad it didn't get airborne, I'd have to hit the deck for sure!!!
@@JustwingitRC yeah thats scary. Glad you were ok. I would have been shaken up too. That could have been really really bad
@@hechtspeed Thanks brother!!
Never a Dull moment, Sorry for the Owners loss,, Good thing nobody got Knee Capped 🙏
I agree Harold, sometimes going to a fly-in can be hazardous to your health!! Cheers my friend!
Had some near misses back in the day. Thankfully no bad endings. Some of these machines can carry a lot of energy. I’ve seen many a pilot trying to control something their skills aren’t up to. Not saying this is the case here but it didn’t look like he knew what to do and just kept going.
Thanks for the comments Dave, and I would agree, the pilot was definitely in over his head and it's fortunate things didn't end worse than they did. All the best to you!
John on time with the quick step. Jeff in LA USA
Yessir, and not a moment too soon!!
Classic loss of prop situation here I feel. Either that or the yaw was stuck hard left, I think it was the first one. This sucks, such a beautiful model, one of my faves of all time. A great model to fly, if you can get it off the ground 😂😂. Glad to see everyone was safe though
Thanks for checking in my friend, it's a miracle that nobody got hurt 👍👍
Was the barrier... safe?
Thankfully yes! They had to shut the field down for about 20-30 mins to clean up the debris and make repairs to the safety barrier.
Did the pilots make it out okay?
Thankfully, everyone walked away from this one...😉👍
Unfortunately the port waist gunner didn't survive.
There should be some sort of control parameters that every pilot should have to pass before they're allowed to fly Large scale birds. Basic direct control on the ground is paramount to safety just as it is in the air.
Absolutely agree with you 100%!
So i timed it and that happened in 3 seconds from hitting the throttle not a lot of time to react and he did chop the throttle. That's the sketch of a big plane especially multi engine. Thank god it didn't go airborne that would have been horrible catch fence did its job. Definitely a butt puckering moment
I absolutely agree with your comments Roy, and YES, it likely would have been worse if it got airborne!! The catch net did it's job for sure, thank goodness!
Kind of like the very old pilot that crashed the real B17 with engine loss. To slow to react. Then the 70 year old pilot crashed galloping ghost while in service p51 pilots were age limited because of physical fitness. Plenty of old guys crash models. It happens
Yes....
Full throttle. All the time. What could possibly go wrong?
Indeed Jonathan, indeed...
Why does that B-17 have a flat wing. Guy needs to learn to use rudder
@@stevejones6294 For some weird reason the builder built it flat. The plane should actually have a bit of dihedral at least according to the company website and other pictures. Hmmm....
SOM many that should not be allowed to fly alone or have stayed on that high winged trainer. Sad waste and dangerous on top of that.
Yessir...
Looks like a lot of right rudder, which would explain why it veered right, and crashed into into the fence.
Yes, a lot of right rudder after it starts to veer left. Do you believe that it should have been left rudder?
@@captainaxle438 Say what, let off the right rudder after correcting the yaw? The yaw was only just beginning to be corrected when it hit the fence.
@@captainaxle438 I know I am in the Southern Hemisphere but take another look, it starts turning LEFT towards the fence and RIGHT rudder is then given.
There is some confusion because at first glance it appears the bomber was taking off from left to right and the right rudder is turning into the fence. This impression is caused by the plane ending up sitting facing the right and from the camera shaking during crash. But actually if you study it the plane was taking off from left to right and the right rudder was trying to turn it away from the fence. The ground loop was in full effect beyond the point of recovery. Sorry about my confusion.
@@captainaxle438 I'm confused, it appears that it was taking off from left to right? It appears the right rudder is turning it into the fence?
I don't have to study what is bleeding obvious, the plane is taking off from right to left, it starts to turn left towards the fence, the pilot inputs right rudder whereby it commences to straighten but too late and the left wing hits the fence spinning it around. Not a ground loop. Look at 0:01 plus and minus where it can clearly be seen swing left with right rudder being applied.
Perhaps you should watch it again.
RC pilots need to be tested for competence when planes are that big and heavy, you would not let a senile pensioner fly the real thing so with these,
You know, I actually agree with you! Once past a certain size and weight, the pilot and plane should be checked out by staff prior to flying...
hi John! Next time a better video please 😆 Luckily no one hurt 👍🏼
Hah! Thanks my friend 😁👍😎
Yard Sale!
For sure!
Holy cow just listen to the motors. Not all running at the same rpm. Idiot or very inexperienced pilot does not know when to abort a takeoff. Starts veering off course.... shut it down. Where is the preflight video? Needs to be banned for a while to get his attention. This is not some little toy. 60 years in rc by the way.
Thanks for checking in brother and I agree! The guy who was operating this model was definitely in way over his head. Not a toy indeed....