[Peetwo]

Poor airmanship on display at Bathurst - MKII

Of things that make you go 'Uhhhm'

I confess, that mostly due to a massive interest failure, I dismissed the 'Bathurst' video -  tricky cross wind, perhaps some shear – at about 10 second mark. CLICK. Seen enough and thought no more about it until P2 posted; then, back to the UP for some background. Pick of the posts there was from Look-Left :-

“No, what I saw was the pilot side slipping to lose height and keep the approach speed manageable. I then saw it touch down with the wings level and very little crosswind at all. The wind was an easterly according to Neil Crompton who is a pilot, so no, the crosswind was not full on. As to the enormous pressure to get the job done, its a statement right up there with"I will just see if I can get underneath this bit of cloud, it should be clear on the other side." or "I'll just go a bit below the minima as I have an important client on board". Bathurst airport is just up the road, there is your Plan B. I thought it was odd that not a word was said about it by those in the commentary box particularly by Neil Crompton, did Repco put a gag order on what happened?”

Neatly put.  So – back to the video – but - in slow motion. The short final approach is 'untidy' and there is nothing to indicate a 'tricky' crosswind/ shear; there is little to indicate balanced, controlled flight to touchdown and afterwards during the roll out. The tracking shows some interesting features; was the intention to land on the bitumen? I'd say yes; watch as the touches on the grass and 'steps over' the tarmac intersection (instant wheel removal) then heads for the bitumen again, harsh braking precedes a desperate, high speed semi ground loop before thumping into the wall. The whole show smacks of being a rushed, badly executed attempt to show off, an example of rough handling and, it could (IMO) be construed as outright bloody dangerous.

Consider – the aircraft is 'aerobatic' and 'kit built; robust and tested; been worked hard – then the imminent collision with the wall is nearly avoided, big stress and 'abnormal' tensions within the air frame; then, the tail-plane gets a mighty thump. “No wukka's” says our 'hero' I'll just spin around here and take off over the crowd.

Aye, really solid airmanship and a prime example for those learning the noble art of being a 'sky god'. What if the tail plane decided enough was enough and quit, without notice; the sponsors would just love that. Considering the care they take to protect the crowds from flying motor vehicle debris.

That's it – Toot toot......

Tim Davies from YouTube channel 'Fast Jet Performance' backs up P9's summation and adds a few more damning OBS...

I presume CASA are now all over this incident but what about about the actual flight permit approval to carry out this potentially criminal negligent act? Was there one? If not, why not? If yes, does the delegate still have a job?

MTF...P2