dodgy-alan 1,587 Posted August 1, 2014 Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 Royal Navy Historic Flight , Hawker Sea Fury crash landed yesterday after suffering engine and system failures,... Link to post Share on other sites
hifly 925 Posted August 1, 2014 Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 Sad to see that beauty bite the dust but glad to see the pilot walk away from it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,316 Posted August 1, 2014 Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 The fury took to the ground like a champ, good to see the pilot was fine along with his flight book. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Quickmarch 488 Posted August 1, 2014 Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 He did a great job getting that bird down in (roughly) one piece. Looked like hydraulics were out. The gear pretty much fell down then wouldn't lock. I'm sure they'll have that beauty back in the air PDQ. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
dodgy-alan 1,587 Posted August 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 I sincerely hope it's back up soon. He did a fantastic job of getting her down. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 Looked like hydraulics were out. The gear pretty much fell down then wouldn't lock. Agree. Also, that pulsing of the exhaust smoke looked like it may have swallowed a valve. I didn't see any oil on the cowl or windshield, so most likely an internal failure, akin to a "contained" failure in a jet. When a jug blows off, most of the oil seems to end up on the windshield and forward visibility becomes about zero. He did a great job with it - the only criticism I could make, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and sitting here in a cool and calm environment, is that it might have been a good idea to push the canopy open before touchdown, just in case it jammed. Judging by when the gear started down, I'd have to say he didn't have a lot of idle time on his hands to worry about things like that. Sure was nice to see him walk (OK, run) away apparently unhurt. I hope they manage to rebuild it - noble bird for sure. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Godden 945 Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 I always hate seeing old warbirds involved in such incidents and always with the risk they may be totally lost. He certainly benefited from doing a display at an airshow and having an easily identifiable, convenient piece of safe ground, the airport, to put it down on, giving him crucial extra seconds to process the situation and come up with the optimal solution under the circumstances. This clearly allowed him the time to get the flaps down. Cheers Andrew Link to post Share on other sites
MyPC8MyBrain 273 Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 nice save there indeed good thing he touched with booth wheels extended Link to post Share on other sites
britfrog 180 Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 Looked like hydraulics were out. The gear pretty much fell down then wouldn't lock. Agree. Also, that pulsing of the exhaust smoke looked like it may have swallowed a valve. I didn't see any oil on the cowl or windshield, so most likely an internal failure, akin to a "contained" failure in a jet. When a jug blows off, most of the oil seems to end up on the windshield and forward visibility becomes about zero. He did a great job with it - the only criticism I could make, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and sitting here in a cool and calm environment, is that it might have been a good idea to push the canopy open before touchdown, just in case it jammed. Judging by when the gear started down, I'd have to say he didn't have a lot of idle time on his hands to worry about things like that. Sure was nice to see him walk (OK, run) away apparently unhurt. I hope they manage to rebuild it - noble bird for sure. John ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ John the centaurus engine was a sleeve valve engine , it didnt have conventional valves like a corncob, this is why it had so much more power than US engines of the period. however it was this sleeve valve arrangement that was its achilles heel . This lead to many engine failures and a short engine life, because the sleeves were operated by a sytem of linkages which were prone to breakage. However dont forget the sea fury was the fastest piston engined a/c ever with a level top speed of 485mph , and later engines were being developed to increase this to over 500mph!! It was the last piston engined plane built by Hawker. As much as I love to see these planes flying , after all they are the only piston engined plane to ever shoot down a jet (in Korea), the royal navy at yeovilton have had 3 previous crashes with restored sea furies 2 killing the pilot, all down to engine failures . And I think before long someone has got to say enough is enough. It is a pity this pilot was so occupied with getting the plot on the ground that he forgot to lower the u/c till too late , no doubt someone on the radio screamed at him that he had overlooked that detail until on short final, but hey the plane is rbuildable and he walked away . Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 I didn't know that was a sleeve valve engine but the only thing that changes is details of the failure. The pulsating smoke from the exhausts indicates to me a problem with one or several cylinders, but it was still running. It's still a radial and it's possible to physically have a jug come off. My point is that's probably not what happened because of the lack of oil outside the cowl. Quickmarch is almost certainly right about the loss of hydraulics. The port gear came down first as it was on the outside of the turn and centrifugal force from the turn was helping it come out. The starboard gear really didn't begin to come out until he eased the turn. The centrifugal force of the turn would tend to hold that one up. Clearly, they didn't lock even though it looked as if they were fully extended before he touched down. I thought for a moment he had saved it, but it went all wobbly-legged on him. I can't judge if he left the gear that late deliberately or if it was an oversight. In either case, I expect he was kind of busy. John Link to post Share on other sites
britfrog 180 Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 when the aib report comes out I will post it , it will set to rest all our good comjecture. Link to post Share on other sites
flybytes 34 Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 The knowledge & expertise of members of this web-site never ceases to amaze me when it comes to aviation & computers. To diverse slightly, remember a speech therapist friend of mine who hearing someone being interviewed on BBC Radio 4 diagnosed that person was suffering from a rare medical condition (by the inflections in his voice, I presume) & should immediately seek medical help. As a layman, about the only medical condition I can infer from their voice is that someone is either pissed or had a stroke. I never did find out if she was correct or what action she took, unfortunately she emigrated shortly after & we lost touch. Ray. Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,013 Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 Jeez, that's the same aircraft that was flying at the air show at East Fortune on the 26th July. So glad he made it down relatively safe. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
iangbusa 2 Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 He did a great job getting that bird down in (roughly) one piece. Looked like hydraulics were out. The gear pretty much fell down then wouldn't lock. I'm sure they'll have that beauty back in the air PDQ. Lack of hydraulic pressure from engine problem or failure in the last part of the display (judging by the smoke), do you think? Left side down OK used what pressurization was left but not enough for right side to lock. Sound about right? We'll have to see from report. Brilliant composure and landing from well-trained pilot. Navy, of course! Good post so quickly. Link to post Share on other sites
J G 927 Posted August 4, 2014 Report Share Posted August 4, 2014 For sure something went wrong in the engine, that smoke was from the exhaust. I think that the aircraft had hydraulic failure and the reason the gear came down late was that the pilot was working hard to control the aircraft and to lower the gear manually at the same time. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted August 4, 2014 Report Share Posted August 4, 2014 I'm with March - the gear appears to have fallen out, though maybe that's the scheme for emergency extension in that aircraft.The gear unfolds outboard, so the left gear on the outside of the turn comes down very abruptly, assisted by the centrifugal force of the turn. The other one doesn't seem to start down until the bank angle is decreased quite a bit, reducing the centrifugal force of the turn that is tending to hold it up.Not sure what is supposed to operate the gear locks once down, but whatever it is was missing in action.The gear came out far too fast to have been pumped down manually but it may be that all he had to do was trip a valve or some kind of mechanical latch to let it fall out.Would be happy to hear from anyone with first hand experience with the systems on that particular AC type.John Link to post Share on other sites
hurricanemk1c 195 Posted August 4, 2014 Report Share Posted August 4, 2014 http://www.fnht.co.uk/exemplary-airmanship-saves-sea-fury.html Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted August 4, 2014 Report Share Posted August 4, 2014 Great article, Chuck, and I agree with every word about how well the pilot managed the emergency. Too bad it's so light on technical details... John Link to post Share on other sites
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