Sadly, a Hurricane of the Battle of Britain Flight crashed earlier, at the Shoreham Air Show. A sad loss of man and machine: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6996734.stm Incase anyone was wondering what the "man missing in action" is: http://www.oldglorytraditions.com/missingmanhistory.htm
True, but accidents happen - even brand new, these machines had unexpected crashes. However, it highlights how, even with all the precautions, flying these aircraft is a dangerous enterprise. I salute these volunteers.
It never said it was a BoB Hurry. Just that was the theme of the show. I have never seen the BBMF perform dog fights.
http://www.shorehamairshow.com/displays/air.html "Battle of Britain Memorial Flight - Lancaster Spitfire and Hurricane"
Yes but this the "50th Anniversary of the BoBF Special". But before jumping the gun, lets see if there's any more news later today or tomorrow. I'm sure the BoBF site will make an announcement, regardless of who's aircraft it was.
I checked the site and there was nothing about the chrash. there might be something on the bc website.
Tragic news, but no news yet of who the pilot was and which aircraft. It so happens that "Aeroplane Monthly" has a datafile this month on the Hurricane, and apparently there are (or were) five Hurricanes airworthy in the UK: Two with the BBMF, one with the Shuttleworth collection , one with the Historic Aircraft Collection at Duxford, and one privately owned by Peter and Polly Vacher. I've looked into all the websites of these organisations, but nothing yet. There is also the possibility that Colin McRae, ex-World Rally Champion, has been killed in a helicopter crash near his home in Scotland, but no confirmation yet. For all my love of WW2 aircraft, I have to say that I don't think they are as inherently safe as modern aircraft. A Merlin engine is far more complex than a modern piston engine or turboprop; however carefully it is maintained, there is more go wrong and that goes for the rest of the airframe as well. I don't say they should be stopped from flying, but the less of a particular type is flying, the less risks should be taken with it. An L39 Albatros jet was lost at Shoreham three or four years ago; it was belived that the pilot blacked out. For all our regrets about the aircraft, lets not forget the pilot. I'm dreading finding out who it was; its a small family and I may well have heard of the pilot, probably watched him fly. Adrian
The media have been "hinting" that it was one of the two privately-owned Hurris. And very sad news about McRae.
RIP Brian Brown Brian Brown of the Real Aeroplane Company http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.1691950.0.tragic_airshow_pilot_is_named.php http://realaero.com/index.htm
Oh dear. And Macrae and his son died in the helicopter. Locals are saying the engine note was very rough.
The BBC news confirmed the pilot was Brian Brown. I'm sure we all want to extend our condolences to his family. As to the aircraft, if it was the one owned by the Real Aeroplane Company, then it will be G-HURR, an ex-RCAF Mk XII, originally serialled 5589 (no RAF serial, only the RCAF one). Not as well-known as the BBMF ones, but well-loved by the people who put so many hours into restoring it. If the eyewitness account is correct, there was silence just before the crash, which implies the engine gave out at a critical moment. Possibly the fuel flow was interrupted by negative g, which may have caused the loss of Mosquito RR299 in 1996.
