Spitfire incident at Goodwood (July 18 2018)

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Member for

14 years 10 months

Posts: 249

Just heard that one of the Boultbee two seater Spitfires suffered a crosswind landing mishap at Goodwood on Monday. Apparently the runway was closed until it got craned off yesterday. Looks like both undercarriage legs torn off. Does anyone have more info? I assume pilot & passenger are OK as we haven't heard otherwise. No doubt there will be another 'should these old aircraft still be flying' media feeding frenzy?!

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Member for

19 years

Posts: 2,656

No doubt there will be another 'should these old aircraft still be flying' media feeding frenzy?!

If you hadn't mentioned it here, the press probably wouldn't have found out about it. :D

Brian

Member for

14 years 10 months

Posts: 249

Pretty sure the press don't read this forum. If they did, they might at least get some of their stories factually correct!

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15 years 2 months

Posts: 176

Taxiing rather than landing.... I do hope "Monday's Experts" keep shtum

Member for

19 years 2 months

Posts: 1,317

Is there more than one 2 seater based at Goodwood?

Member for

13 years 6 months

Posts: 629

That's funny! The guy who posts that it was a "crosswind landing mishap" goes on to snipe at the media for not getting their stories "factually correct." And then it turns out that the incident involved taxiing rather than landing. Let's hope the media doesn't need him as an expert witness. "Taxiing, landing, parking, short final...it's all the same thing, innit?"

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8 years 7 months

Posts: 427

Any one know which aircraft? Any images floating around?

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20 years 7 months

Posts: 18,353

Nothing reported on the Two-Seat Spitfire page - that's usually on the ball with Spitfire trainer info.

Member for

18 years 10 months

Posts: 4,796

So it was a cross-wind taxiing incident? ;)

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 2,435

“Nothing reported on the Two-Seat Spitfire page - that's usually on the ball with Spitfire trainer info.“

It is, for restoration news and promoting flights.

Member for

14 years

Posts: 1,788

I think there are two, two-seater Spitfires based at Goodwood. Maybe someone can confirm?

Member for

17 years

Posts: 1,037

There is only one based two seater at Goodwood, SM520. PT462 and PV202 both visit to boost capacity when needed. The accident machine is SM520.

FB

Member for

21 years

Posts: 2,108

Crikey.....ripping both legs off while just taxiing is quite a feat..........caught out by adverse ground conditions (rut developed from cracked earth?) as a result of the long dry spell maybe?

Member for

20 years

Posts: 3,902

A bit of fact massaging here I suspect. When does the high speed run out of the landing morph into taxiing ? Three seconds after touchdown, or when you get to 15mph ? Who can say. You need a lot of energy to bust off or bend the legs, and that would not be expected at conventional taxiing speeds.

The Facebook page probably has ongoing contact with the Spit operators, and may well have been asked to keep a lid on things.

Anyway, frustrating for the operators, vexing for the pilot, expensive for the insurers but not a big deal, as these two-seaters usually seem to jump back on their legs in short order. IF the reported fact are true, then SM520 joins the not very exclusive club of two-seat Spits which have ended up on their bellies, which is virtually all of them !

Given the intensity of operations, the known fragility of the U/C, perhaps a slightly more aft C of G in the twin-seaters, this sort of incident is to be expected once in a while.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 8,464

Ripping off both legs? Or them folding neatly into the wings. I know of only one case where the former happened whilst taxying, which was down to substandard pintle studs. I *think* it was Mark Hanna; I know it was ML417, in France.

Its usually the legs coming off the locks for some reason.

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24 years 2 months

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Didn't G-TRIX have pintle stud failure following landing at Goodwood some years ago.

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18 years 3 months

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"Pretty sure the press don't read this forum. If they did, they might at least get some of their stories factually correct!"

Interestingly I've just looked at the forum members on line (btm front page) and we have a member; "dailymirror" I'm sure there's no connection...…..

Member for

20 years

Posts: 4,561

There was a recent mishap with a different warbird firm recently who imposed an immediate blackout on photos/reporting etc - I guess the same thing has happened here - any negative publicity with Spitfire Operator A might cause punters to pick Spitfire Operator B....

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20 years

Posts: 3,902

Quite understandable, but pretty optimistic to think you can 'quarantene' events these days.

Being on an airfield helps, as it is a contained environment.

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14 years 5 months

Posts: 590

I have got a flight booked with Boultbee confirmed for the end of September, and a wheels up landing would not put me off !