Propwash Video’s Crash Action No. 2 Video or What Not To Do

Propwash Video’s Crash Action No. 2 Video or What Not To Do

by Frank Granelli

As we did with Propwash’s Crasher 5 Video, this European version of a “crash” video can provide lessons to all pilots on what, and what not to do while also being entertaining. The pilots in this video are very good but can sometimes exhibit less than brilliant decision making such as sticking too long with a bad landing or forgetting that their airplane has a rudder. There are also several examples of excellent piloting when “something” goes wrong such as “stuck” landing gear.

While Crasher 5 was mostly home grown, these unplanned-airplane-to-ground interfaces (crashes) come mostly from Germany and other European venues. This is proof that RC flying is about the same the world over.

As this video proves, all of us in the US have a lot in common with our overseas brethren. So much so that the sometimes heard term “Scheiße” never needs translation! Speaking of translations, all of the text you see on the sample videos in this review belongs to me. I added them to better illustrate the educational points this video provides. None of this text is in the actual video.

The video is divided into several sections by subject matter. There are sailplane mishaps, takeoff and landing debacles, mid-air disasters, racing problems, dizzy helicopter happenings, bad situations by night, turbine explosions and several other sections. All are very entertaining and educational.

Concentration on just what you and your airplane are doing is any pilot’s major skill requirement. Video 1 shows just what can happen when concentration is lost as the pilot becomes distracted before starting the takeoff run. Hitting the wrong switch is as bad as putting in wrong rudder.

Photo 2 shows what happens when the pilot, who has excellent piloting skills as shown in the video clip of this instance, stops flying the airplane before it even touches down. He then becomes a spectator. Finally, the pilot regains concentration and does a beautiful job of preventing severe damage in the final touchdown.

If the pilot had concentrated on the landing that nose gear would still have been there. Always remember: Fly the airplane until it stops safely where it should on the ground. This includes taxiing. Concentrate and plan ahead.

Planning ahead is always a very good idea when flying a twin engine airplane. Always expect to lose an engine, especially on takeoff. Plan to cut the throttle right away as soon as the airplane begins yawing. Then input corrective rudder and lower the nose at the same time.

This pilot did input corrective rudder. But he was so surprised that he did that too late and everything else the exactly wrong way. The nose came up, late corrective rudder was input and the remaining engine was left at full power. Want to guess the result? See Video 2.

As you watch this very entertaining video, try to note how you would have handled every problem that has a solution. The mid-airs usually can’t be solved short of having a time machine to look ahead. But the rest? They are preventable.

How do you get out of the situation shown in photo 4? Simple, don’t ever get into it! If things are going badly and your airplane has already bounced twice, go around again. That is what the throttle is there for.

Once those bouncing oscillations start, the airplane goes into a positive feedback mode ensuring that each bounce is higher and slower than the last. Finally, the airplane is way up there without any flying speed. Better get out that runway jack and raise the runway up to meet the airplane because that is the only thing that can save an airplane in this condition.

Another great object lesson seen several times in this video is to avoid excessive elevator input in very steep banks. Too much elevator in a steep bank causes an accelerated stall that requires quick pilot corrections and lots of altitude for recovery.

Avoid tight turns with high bank angles when flying any airplane other than a Basic Trainer or a first-level sport airplane such as the SIG 4-Star or the Goldberg Tiger 60. If you don’t, the accelerated stall will cause a fast snap roll. Adding a little rudder in the turn’s direction while releasing some of the “up” elevator input will help avoid the stall and still tighten the turn.

Not all the piloting lessons in this fun video stem from watching other’s mistakes. There are some excellent lessons on how to handle emergency situations such as landing with one main gear still in the wheel well. In this clip, the pilot is faced with just this situation while landing his large T-33 turbine airplane.

The pilot chooses to land on the black top for a very good reason. Landing on grass in this situation could result in catching a wing tip and severely damaging the wing or even worse. All that is lost on pavement is a little paint.

The pilot landed slowly but above the flaps-down stall speed to allow the aircraft to keep flying. Some rudder opposite the aileron inputs put the airplane is a slight slip to help keep the wing raised while the airplane landed straight ahead.

Since the wing remained flying, aileron control could still keep the wing up off the pavement until the airplane slowed below flying speed and the nose gear steering could then help maintain directional control.

If you have the choice, always choose the pavement when a wheel falls off or when one gear, or all them, remain retracted. If you must land on grass, keep just above the airplane’s stall speed. If the airplane is stalled, the pilot then becomes a “passenger” and has little control over the final outcome. Check out the third video in the SIG 4-Star 60 review in Sport Aviator as an example of this technique.

A great feature of Crash Action No. 2 is the slow motion replay of most of the incidents. Not only are they interesting to watch, but the slow motion repeats allow the viewer to better see what had just happened. While this video is instructive, it is also fun and interesting.

Just for informational purposes, proper rudder application would have prevented this tip stall if it had been used. In situations like this, applying opposite aileron actually causes the airplane to bank further into the tip stall. Opposite rudder would have prevented the snap roll and saved the airplane (but not the gear as that first bounce was really hard).

The purpose of this review is not to show you the whole video but to let you know how this entertaining video can also help improve your flying skills. Get the video from Propwash Video then learn and enjoy. This 45-minute fun education is available at propwashvideo.com for just $20.

Here is one last example and lesson. The large aerobatic airplane banks hard into a turn and quickly drops its nose, losing altitude fast at high speed. The pilot applies full “up” elevator in the resulting dive causing the wing to sharply start a pitch up. This disrupts the airflow over the wing causing a high-speed accelerated stall.

Even at high speed, the wing has no lift since the air is not flowing over it as it should. This phenomenon killed many an unwary dive bomber pilot during WW II. They would try to pull sharply out of a dive that might have gotten too low for comfort. The fast pitch up stopped the airflow and the airplane would pancake into the water at high speed.

Always remember that an airplane’s wing can always be stalled at any airspeed; even when flying supersonic. Supersonic accelerated stalls can be extremely vicious and are best left to fighter pilots. For us model pilots, remember to always decrease the elevator input in such situations and to allow the airplane to start flying again.

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