Aircraft Crash

Wittman Tailwind W10 New Zealand
Test Flight gone wrong

[@redlightcivic]

Holy Smokes! I gotta say, that turned out WAY better than I thought. When I saw him about halfway through the 'impossible turn' and the wing dropped, I never expected him to come out from behind the trees. Whew! Good job.

[@ratmousebastard]

yup... from the video it looks like he's flying a dead engine into the impossible turn, but I guess it wasn't completely dead or he would've not popped out of those trees... he might've got so excited that it fired back up and so intent on getting her down that he came in way too hot (and on a bumpy strip)... lucky he didn't hit that car!

[@pomadom]

redlightcivic he put the nose down steeply to keep the airspeed up

[@BaconBeerBullets]

Impossible turn completed successfully. I was surprised.

[@SIRafiq]

Why he didn't land?

[@leifvejby8023]

@@SIRafiq Way too fast

[@31186dan]

Glad everyone was ok. My heart skipped a beat when I heard the rpms drop. And that turn back... boy was I glad to see him pop back out from behind those trees!

[@stephenrumer6953]

It looks like he pulled off "the impossible turn". Thank God he was able to walk away. Wow.

[@rainerzufall689]

Well, partial power makes it partially possible to be fair ;-) In fact he had TOO MUCH energy left when he reached the runway.

[@SabrinaBraden-n7n]

Not a wise move, but i think the sloping terrain helped him recover, at least room to maneuver, that's a dangerous plane, killed many, including the designer.

[@stephenp8086]

@@SabrinaBraden-n7n Wittman was not killed in a Tailwind. He was kill in the O&O Special, I believe. Crash was caused by fabric shedding off the wing.

[@stay_at_home_astronaut]

@@stephenp8086 flutter

[@yucannthahvitt]

Not often that you see someone go from partial engine failure to too fast

[@pomadom]

Yucannt Hahvitt yes a lot of things went wrong

[@robertborchert932]

I had that terrible cringe moment...too much energy!!

[@pomadom]

Yucannt Hahvitt motor coughed due to possible fuel starvation due to 1 fuel pump not turned on 2 air vent in wrong position 3 poor baffling around the air filter 4 No air filter Grass could fit into Carb etc

[@Rockingruvin]

wow lotta issues there for even a test flight. Hard lesson that coulda been even harder.

[@challenger2aircraftadventures]

@@pomadom Any pilot who claims they have not rushed a preflight or a checklist is not being honest. Fortunately in 99.99 percent of the time it's no issue. Looks like this time is was an issue. Thankfully no one was injured, and a lesson was learned the hard way. Loss of power on takeoff is my biggest fear from the field I fly out of. At the end of the runway is a road, then a farmed field. Normally this affords a viable place to put down in that event. But this year they planted corn!! Not the sort of thing you want to plow into! Cheers from Winnipeg.

[@OverlandOne]

My instructor always said...WHEN the engine fails (Not if, he said you fly long enough, it will happen) you always land straight ahead. That was 40 years ago and it is still good advice.

[@gregoryconnor9333]

I was about to say the same. Don't they teach that now.

[@OverlandOne]

@@gregoryconnor9333 Evidently not.

[@autonomousindividual7780]

C'mon. You think he nearly pulled that off and was just undertrained. What if there's absolute death in a landing ahead? Certainly it's a long shot and usually death to turn back, but this gut with a bit longer runway did it. Don't be a knob. Every accident is unique. Every reaction is unique. When you are doing things like test flying home-built aircraft you surely ought not be arm chaired by somebody quoting their instructor,

[@matty6343]

Kudos to the pilot for pulling off the dreaded turn. You people can QB him all you want but he went for it and pulled it off and is the only one who knows what lay below that hill.

[@darrellcook8253]

He had a pretty good view of it coming at him I bet.

[@daszieher]

@R Diaz you can probably even taxi back without an incident. how do you guys figure out where the runway ends and the wilderness starts? :D

[@pomadom]

Nearly years ago now Pukukoe East its will be ready to fly this summer

[@ethics3]

Let me get my umbrella out

[@mjg22]

Good job! But - to be honest - man that airstrip doesn’t look like a good choice for such a (test) flight. Choose a long runway with a distinct “clear area” and no obstacles which impair a possible emergency landing. Good Luck!

[@danhansen3109]

Looks like he needed to buy the Wittman Headwind instead.

[@skooter2767k]

Dan Hansen so that’s what happens when you fly a Tailwind into a headwind 🤔🤣🤣🤣

[@scavenom2008]

Imagine building this over months....most likely a few years and on its first flight this happens 🤦‍♂️

[@ripptydevibes2581]

That was impressive until I realized he was still under power for the flair. But still, that was a freakin whip!

[@utubewatcher360]

My impression is that they somewhat panicked!!! appears they still had a lot of energy (speed) to bleed off before setting up for that landing. Instead of initiating a steep turn which could /should have resulted in a stall!! could have flown a bit further out continuing to gain some altitude!! As a matter of fact, they were still climbing when they initiated the steep turn???? They should have kept climbing for altitude Or as they say climb and choose a landing spot straight ahead. They came in like they where making a high speed flyby with full throttle ???Now realistically I would have crapped my pants - and crashed the plane some where down on a farm. Glad they survived

[@calirambo7896]

That was like an Indiana Jones-type save there. Actually, it probably was Harrison Ford.

[@JessHull]

if it was harrison ford he woudl have landed at the wrong airport....

[@jessparker3178]

Looks like a typical landing of his that’s for sure !

[@manuelcunha7911]

This accident happened in Pukekohe New Zealand. He could of cut the engine on landing, don’t know what he was thinking

[@PatrickJWenzel]

Thanks for uploading! Quite a few take-home messages for me from this one, all of which I'm guilty of having neglected at some point. 1. Checks topographical or Google maps before dlight. Know the area and options. Don't wait until takeoff to find out what is and isn't available. 2. Know your aircraft's performance and turning capability by simulating a failure after takeoff at a safe altitude. I always brief that I won't turn back below 1,000 ft AGL because it seems a safe altitude. It's not based on anything other than 1,000 ft being a nice round and high number 3. Brief how you're going to manage the energy if a 180° is plausible.

[@IslandSimPilot]

I'll be a contrarian: well done! You can always buy a new airplane.

[@toadelevator]

NEVER thought his problem would be TOO MUCH energy on approach LOL

[@mtweiss01]

Lucky to have made that turn...

[@johnkamm8886]

Oh for sure.......rule #1. Do not turn back, a stall is comimg

[@tlangdon12]

I thought the pilot showed a lot of skill in making that turn and landing back on the runway. I'm a private pilot and have some tailwheel time. It's not a turn I would have made, but I expect this pilot knew his local area and the options for emergency landings very well. Pity about the stall at the end. It would have been better to hit the fence nose up but flying rather than stalling.

[@TheCobraman45]

Tony Langdon ah, he barely made that turn, is lucky to be alive.

[@greggpedder]

@@tlangdon12 maybe he showed a lot of skill but if he'd made the correct decisions that skill wouldn't have been required. Idiot.

[@DiCola119]

@@greggpedder A lack of skill does not make someone an idiot.... We are all learning. And even well experienced pilots aren't guaranteed to make the best choices 100% of the time.

[@outwiththem]

No place ahead to land. He had some power left, did the Turnback To Opposite well but didnt pop flaps out, or cut the engine or did a Forward Slip as needed afterwards. Sort of froze on the controls when finished the turn. I learned the Turnback to Opposite in 1995.

[@wackaircaftmechanic2312]

What the fuck was he thinking????? Coming in that fast!

[@USNVA11]

Very lucky pilot. That situation usually ends up as a stall/spin accident with fatalities when the impossible turn is attempted. Glad the pilot is ok.

[@philipmartin708]

When he came back and passed the camera, he had power in, he had speed , as if his intention was to make a wheel landing touch and go. It didn't make sense to me.

[@judd_s5643]

I thought it was click bait. The turn, then behind the trees only to come in for high speed flyby....then I thought hope he doesn’t hit a car and then boom! Pilot had skill and luck that day.

[@Doofer911]

Hard to find a good reference but he probably had a headwind for takeoff, meaning a tailwind on landing... meaning much higher speed over the ground. Plus he'd just performed a descending turn so would have picked up speed during that if it wasn't performed correctly.

[@jonathangriffiths2499]

Doofer911 look at the windsock . Light breeze from Port side

[@USNVA11]

He could have done a forward slip to bleed off excess speed and altitude. Anyways, they survived the accident and I’m glad to hear that.

[@ashleyfroud5015]

A after the impossible turn, a nice forward slip would've come in handy.

[@stewartgrant9832]

There's no such thing as a forward slip. Its called side slip.

[@ashleyfroud5015]

@@stewartgrant9832 There are three types of slips, for different flight situations. 1. a forward slip, 2. a side slip, and 3. a crosswind slip. Any qualified pilot should know this. google it.

[@gypsykingg]

@@stewartgrant9832 - Even student pilots know more than you. Let me educate you, kiddo. A forward-slip is what would be used to steepen an approach without gaining/minimal gain in airspeed. A sideslip will be used to straighten out the aircraft during rotation on a x-wind landing to prevent side-loading the landing gear.

[@savoy99]

So...now what, Stewart?

[@yamkaw346]

savoy99 he got educated

[@doranjaffas7351]

I have taken 625MS up and cut the engine. I now allow 1000 ft AGL for a turn back to the take off runway. This was done extremely well and would have worked out...or looks like it would have if full flaps and a slip would have been used to bleed off airspeed. However..adding in the reaction delay due to the failure close to the ground and a short runway...again this was handled well. I have had several engine issues including incockpit smoke on take off. There is ALWAYS a momentary shock factor and being close to the ground makes it worse. Good job. Keep us posted on the rebuild please. Doran Jaffas N625MS Central Lower Michigan USA

[@pomadom]

Doran Jaffas I wasn’t totally the pilots fault however there more to it than meets the eye Yes could have pulled power turning onto the runway as the prop is quite coursed pitch so any RPM will keep it flying Flap and side slip and planting on the ground would have helped too But it was lucky 🍀 he wasn’t going to fast at the end ans luck the Wittman is a very strong aircraft. It will be flying February 2020 hopefully

[@doranjaffas7351]

@@pomadom I wouldn't fault the pilot. Folks don't realize the feeling of something happening unless they have experienced it.

[@johnkamm8886]

Pilot is sooooo lucky to pull off the turn around, the end result is far better then it should of been......wow

[@pomadom]

Very Strong Aircraft

[@wingnutzster]

Incredible skill to maintain energy and altitude to turn back on a machine with a high wing loading, if he had another 20 meters he would have come to a stop. Really good flying I expected a tip stall on that turn, he maintained heading long enough to make the informed decision and did nearly everything right getting safely back.

[@hotrodray6802]

He did stop.

[@tungstenkid2271]

There's an ancient saying in aviation- "Never turn back if your engine fails" because countless pilots tried to turn back to the airfield and got killed when the inside wing stalled. I was screaming at him "LAND STRAIGHT AHEAD!" but he ignored me and luckily got away with it..;)

[@AdamsTubing]

confident man... willing to hang a littlemore out there in case another passenger might be coming. Way to hold all that together in that moment..incredible

[@RodrigoFernandez-td9uk]

Ten years ago there was a similar accident in my city. A Cessna 210 with 6 passengers onboard suffered an engine failure after takeoff. The pilot tried to turn back to the aerodrome instead to land on the street, but finally crashed in a stadium, killing 7 women who were doing gymnastics. No survivors.

[@RodrigoFernandez-td9uk]

@R Diaz Santiago, Chile

[@RodrigoFernandez-td9uk]

@R Diaz In my fallible memory. It was long time ago.

[@raybankes7668]

I hope when this guy gets close to flying this plane again. He takes to another large airport with little or no obstructions, AND has a competent check pilot do the test flights. many of the guys who do their own builds on Martin Airfield, where im bases do just that as they are too close to the plane emotionally and the non-build experienced pilot will run a 1st flight over view of the plane and do a less biased check list and test than the builder. the term is Confirmation Bias of the builder. This whole thing would have been avoided. also get AQP training and be really proficient before you fly your new plane.

[@andrewmorke]

Some questions: Why do a test flight from grass in the middle of the woods? How much ground testing, including run-ups, were performed? Was this a partial power loss due to fuel starvation / flow issues?

[@darrelrobbins]

Solid skills! Turning back wouldnt have worked out so well for most of us.

[@blancolirio]

He still had some power. Poor choice for 1st light if that was the case. Don’t try this at home.

[@astudentpilotlife]

What do you mean still had some power?

[@blancolirio]

@@astudentpilotlife partial power failure vs total engine out.

[@davidduganne5939]

Sounded like a partial loss of power. What happened? This isn't one of those gravity fed fuel systems that also has a fuel boost pump, is it?

[@johnmajane3731]

Some pretty good flying in a very high performance aircraft. Pulled off the impossible turn and lived. The only thing different that he could have done was slipped it down then do a wheel landing with maximum braking. But it is always easier to armchair quarterback. He lived, he plane can be fixed and no one died. Pretty good outcome anyway you look at it.

[@gypsykingg]

The engine was running again. His mistake is that he freaked out and stopped thinking. I've been in emergency situations before and it is not hard to keep a clear mind.

[@johnmajane3731]

@@gypsykingg easy to say.

[@seeingeyegod]

@@gypsykingg yeah that probably distracted him and let him build up excess speed

[@gypsykingg]

@@johnmajane3731 - It is easy to say and it's also easy in practice. Eight years ago, my first flying job was flying a single-engine Cessna 182 as a skydive jump pilot. During a climb, I suffered a prop governor failure, a rapid loss of oil which quickly developed into an engine fire. I know what I'm saying when I said "it's easy to keep a clear mind".

[@johnmajane3731]

@@gypsykingg I have many hours and towed glider for 12 years, several issues. I was doing 40+ landings every day in the summer, 20 plus even in the winter and I was on my game. When you are on it, flying every weekend 10 or more hours a week it is easy to say. You are sharp, with the plane and on top of your game. I know. But for most people including me who now who flies an hour or two a week that is not true. He did a great job in a very bad situation for a private pilot. You may have done better you may have not. Hopefully you won't have to find out which one is true.

[@etiennepeltier1080]

The pilot could have done much better but it’s easy to say went training. In a real emergency situation, nobody can tell how they would have handle the engine failure. Damn, he’s alive and it’s all that matters. Good job !

[@FISHH00KS]

Surprised at the speed with which he tried to land. Those Tailwinds are certainly speedy, tiny little boogers - I can't even fit inside

[@pomadom]

Lots of room inside Made for Americans 6.4 tall

[@isaacmcpeek9636]

This is why I like to extensively ground run engines and find the best test areas I can for this purpose. But accidents like this are many times just about simply unavoidable

[@TheCobraman45]

Actually I think the engine was going in and out, he barely had enough engine to make that turn. I thought he was going to auger in. I think he should have tried a much shallower turn and came all the way around. The engine sounded like it was putting out power when he crash landed. It may have been starving for fuel.

[@TheCobraman45]

Actually it looked like he initiated a high banking turn that became a spin from which he recovered about eighty feet from Mother Earth. I’ll state it again, he was damn lucky to have pulled that off.

[@toddsin8611]

There are few pilots that would’ve succeeded in that good of an outcome. It could not have been done any better in that specific sequence. Thanks for sharing so all can learn!

[@franklinl.3116]

Great job on bringing it back to the runway! I think that having partial power helped him to do that.

[@PaddyPatrone]

Good job, even though he overshoot. There propably was a bit of panic which is totally understandable. Hope the pilot was fine.

[@eddieharrison7119]

Bloody Hell that was Dam Scary ! Hope he was OK Bill !

[@dash8465]

He lived to tell the story of the day he panicked, a lot.

[@tomshiba51]

I thought I was going to hear the plane hit the trees, but he made it to the runway with far too much speed.

[@chrisgill1302]

Seems like his throttle was stuck at a partial throttle setting, which would explain how he was able to make the "impossible turn" and overshot the runway. He either couldn't turn off the engine or didn't think to, which is why he had way too much speed on landing and crashed into the fence.

[@jah0524]

Was there even enough time or altitude to execute a forward slip?

[@deltagamma-en1zh]

Absolutely otherwordly impossible turn turned possible .... sure enough, a sideslip in would have saved repairs, but hey...he f@%#$&`n made it through the impossible, c`mon!

[@just1ofgod]

I thought the same thing could have slipped it but I also thought if you are in the cockpit for that gotta be using lots of mental energy just to stay calm they got it down and survived I would say in this case that is a win.

[@fundacaoanimalia2041]

@@just1ofgod indeed, indeed!

[@Snagglepuss1952]

Bad piloting, end of!

[@greggyd321]

Outstanding airmanship

[@angelreading5098]

Did the engine fail ? or was the throttle jammed,I think we need to know the full story,we can learn a lot from this incident.

[@Towing417]

Im not trying to be a critic but during the end of this video you can see a very large field in the background. Perhaps this area wouldve had a better outcome. Or who knows, maybe it was i rice field full of water or something. I wasn't there so I wont pretend to know.

[@pomadom]

Yes a large field if had glided over the road alittle more he would have landed

[@doranjaffas7351]

How is the rebuild coming?

[@clearprop]

Always easy with 20/20 hindsight I know, but the magic rule applies. Convert speed to height. It gives you options and you can plan the approach calmly. Glad nobody was badly hurt.

[@danniem]

Pilot failed to be situationally aware of his speed and altitude on turn back to airfield. He could have done some things to easily land correctly and safely: extend downwind/base legs, S-turns, forward slips, etc. Don't fly if you're not prepared and present in each moment.

[@darrellcook8253]

Sad loss of a great looking build job. Flying is fun and painful. My sympathy for both plane and pilot.

[@pomadom]

Darrell Cook It will be flying again soon

[@kwittnebel]

Echo that. Really great video of a painful incident. What was the cause of the motor fault?

[@musoseven8218]

After that 'never turn back 180' why didn't he slip and get it stuck back on the RW/down? Was the throttle stuck too?

[@pomadom]

Yes interesting ah about 25 thing went wrong

[@dangraham9741]

it looked like a successful landing there and then it looked like he decided to attempt a touch and go . . .. . . .

[@befree1558]

Well that`s the worst case, engine problems at take off, decisions must be made within seconds, so I guess you should always be glad to get back to the ground unharmed!

[@TonghoPhotography]

Actually pilots plan ahead what they will do when there is an engine out. The decision is made before the takeoff, not when it happens...the pilot panicked was what it looked like.

[@Brough1111]

I'm sure theres a ton of arm chair pilots that will tell you what you did wrong

[@doranjaffas7351]

All of you armchair warriors out they're criticizing how he did it.. have you ever had an engine failure? I have and believe me you don't know what you will do until it happens. It is amazing how fast things happened in the cockpit and how fast your decision-making has to be. I've had several in a certified aircraft into an experimental airplanes and we all hope we will do the right thing but for those of you that are willing to criticize go up with a pilot under control situation and have that pilot without you knowing it about the worst possible time pull the mixture and see how much you start sweating even if it's 15 below zero! This guy did nothing short of an excellent job in controlling this airplane.

[@LJDRVR]

Agree strongly. Until you've walked (Or swam) away from one, you should shut up and keep your uninformed opinions to yourself.

[@parkburrets1542]

He sure looked low from the camera's perspective. Looks like a lot of land downhill, in front of, him from which to choose a spot to land in.

[@jjthomas2297]

Yea, as a matter of fact I am part of that club. Engine failure at 500AGL, pilot made a turn and ended up taking out o fence, clipping a tree spinning around twice and ending up inverted. Only got a broken thumb, lucky to be alive. Obviously I don't know what would have happened had the pilot flew straight..

[@sonnybzero]

Doran Jaffas - What is your definition of "under control situation"? Thanks

[@outwiththem]

"This guy did nothing short of an excellent job in controlling this airplane". Hell No. And I had that kind of emergency. I Did the Turnback partial power from 400 agl, but then I cut the engine and the mixture and hit nothing. The owner repaired the whole engine.. Was full of rust inside. Im a CFI...

[@petercyr3508]

What a shame! Hard to believe how that thing didn't bleed off the energy. Let me guess: the engine was running... throttle linkage?

[@Themilkmanskid.]

Seemed like a nice recovery until trying to land at such a high speed. That plane looks like it weighs a million pounds though.

[@CFITOMAHAWK2]

Too low for a Turnback To Opposite but it looks like at 01:30 the engine came back (Lucky guy). But he didnt cut the mixture while trying to slow down at 01:43.. and use the prop as an spoiler. It slows you down a lot. I have done it with 16 knots of tailwind and stop it on 3,500 feet only. I taught that Turnback to many as a CFI. But no power from 600 agl AND if climbed at good angle only. = Never do The Turnback To Opposite if climbed shallow angle or from under 600 agl when no power (Depends also on weight and airplane).

[@outwiththem]

Hi.. I didnt know you saw this too. You should have send it to me like the others... Salud in Florida, bro..

[@lesizmor9079]

Quite a good turnaround-- getting some more altitude while you could, high bank angles, etc. But I'm counting 3 errors that I can see in this flight. The run-up on a 1st flight needs to include a 2-minute full-power engine run with plane's tail tied to something; at the 1st cough of the engine, pilot needed to start angling right a bit, so the completion of the left turn was more lined up to runway; when the plane was getting past the trees to the runway, and before the right-hand bank, throttle all the way back. I know you had your hands & mind full at that point, just saying that power off then would have had your landing speed manageable. W10 is a great plane, you probably have it flying again (Sept '20).

[@supertalon2424]

The thing I noticed more than anything else is that the PIC thought there was one thing and only one thing to do and that was the impossible turn. I don't care about anything that happened after he (successfully) was able to pull it off (possibly because he still had some power) but that his mind went immediately to the impossible turn. The human brain is an amazing thing.

[@tobysirus4996]

Was it "fuel selector in off position?"

[@aleclitvinov]

me at 1:29 : "fuck!" camera man at 1:34 : "yeah, exactly"

[@sebastianfranitza641]

An engine failure is a hell of a time to start bouncing on touchdown.

[@stewartgrant9832]

There seems to be some confusion about sideslips on here. Sideslips are not called sideslips due to the fact that the wind is from the side in a x wind landing. Bermuda Soaring have a page with this nonsense on it. A slip or a skid is an out of balance aeroplane. The fuselage is not inline with the direction of travel. In a x wind, a wing down technique can be used, which is a side slip with the direction toward the wind. If a higher rate of descent is required on a normal approach without gaining airspeed, again a sideslip can be used. Forward slip is not standard terminology and now we have aviators who think there is a difference.

[@Brough1111]

It looks like he survived that's the important thing.

[@wm8123]

Thank you from sharing. I hope not reacting like this, when coming into such a situation! Practicing is always not the same than the real one

[@Gamble661]

The nightmare of every pilot, losing your engine on takeoff. And a lot of them die trying to make it back to the airfield. I was always taught that unless you're sure you can make it to put your nose down, establish best glide ratio for the aircraft, and start looking for a place to land. In one instance for me it was a lovely large open meadow. But give this guy a lot of credit, he made it back to the landing strip, he just too much airspeed on, usually it's the opposite in cases like this. But he did good considering, very good. He kept his cool and everyone lived. Ironically from the looks of it on the final overhead shot, there was an open field just beyond the road that he could have dropped into....hindsight is 20 20.....

[@johncalhoun358]

Didnt like the runup facing the crowd in front of the hangar,,,, Is this beaut flying again,, any videos?

[@UnderMiles]

seems he/she tried the "impossible turn" to compensate speed loss due to the failure (it might ve not reached the track otherwise -correct me if im wrong-), but it caused the plane to cross the velocity threshold for the landing

[@650gringo]

Impossible turn transitioned into the impossible landing. Or was it two landings? But he got it down and made one hell of a video. Glad there were no injuries.

[@seeingeyegod]

ah man, he almost had that... just ended up having too much speed after that amazing maneuver. wonder if there was a tailwind

[@rodeo11]

Didn’t look like it....the windsock showed a little right to left breeze

[@NC0Q]

Seeingeyegod I see what you did there 🤣

[@kingtrav]

Looks like there was a decent amount of elevation for him to work with at end of the run way allowing him to pull off that turn. Scary stuff

[@Rama41]

Would be nice to have first-hand account of what happened. It doesn't appear to me he lost power. It sounds like he landed power on. What's the story? Without it, no sense Monday-morning quarterbacking.

[@Rama41]

@R Diaz Ease up on what? The number one rule of aircraft accident/incident investigation (a rule always ignored by the press) is to never draw conclusions or even analyze the information you have until you have all the information that's available. To do otherwise is to fall into the trap (usually unconsciously) of dismissing information that doesn't comport with your theory. In this case, all we have is what we see plus the comment "Test Flight gone wrong". Is that comment based on other knowledge not given, or a catchy title? Bill? Do we know for a fact that the pilot lost engine power, or did he retard the throttle? Do the engine noises (and other noises?) really tell us all we need to know? What's the field length? Was landing straight ahead an option? What's the pilot's story? What's the pilot's experience level? It appears the descending turn was rather aggressive and required reliable power to complete, but once the pilot started the turn to final, it appears power was never reduced to idle. If so , why not? What was the pilot's intention? Finally, was the SUV a distraction? I'd like to know more before drawing conclusions or passing judgment. We owe the pilot no less.

[@wjatube]

Executes the impossible turn....but then over-shoots. I would call this a partial engine failure.

[@kentuckyblugrass]

That turn though.😨🙏

[@davidwheatcroft2797]

I like the clunk noise when he fist landed! Off he went, bounding along totally out of control.

[@knots2524]

The words “coming in hot” come to mind

[@Cavemanhead]

he did the right thing on landing. he landed lifted up the nose then stalled. that is one of the easiest ways to lose speed in an aircraft

[@tappan48]

Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. One where you can use the airplane again is a great landing!

[@whirlybird3189]

You can hear it cutting out before he ever left the ground...

[@briancarlin2266]

Good grief...he makes it back to the field, then leaves the power full?

[@SCCIT-jq6jh]

That's a wittman tailwind!, You do know this is a race plane? Better buy Steve a beer.

[@sblack48]

SCC IT0001360 no it isn’t. He built many racers but this wasn’t one.

[@restojon1]

I wouldn't have laid money on that re-appearing from that tree-line. Everything after that was a bonus really.

[@Doggeslife]

Nearly a classic stall spin while trying to return to an airport after power loss. It's happened SO many times. Almost always better to fly ahead and look for something soft and cheap to crash into, like crops. Glad no souls lost. Be well.

[@mannygarcia1810]

The fact that he was able to make the turn without stalling and still manage to find the runway goes to show that this pilot was not only lucky but very skilled.

[@nicksabs]

What a shame. What airport is this?

[@hobanagerik]

Jesus he was carrying some speed there. Did he even lower his flaps? Looks like he forgot.

[@pomadom]

hobanagerik he didn’t turn the fuel pump on either no flap no slide slip didn’t pull the power off the list goes on

[@raybankes7668]

@@pomadom a must for all of us pilots is to have a "memory check list" for engine loss on take off. of course you have to execute that check list. This link and the full series is really helpful for me and you all. have a look AQP loss of power on take off... kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIapo4Frg7ZprLs Its also essential to brief engine loss and choices on EACH take off. talk about what you will do and where, straight ahead, turn, keep flying etc. expect it.....

[@pomadom]

hobanagerik yes it looked like a beat up turning back into the field It’s simply an overload brain Would have been ok on a 1 miles airport No flap No slide slip power on didn’t get it on the ground =Drag etc

[@raybankes7668]

@@pomadom Bill i watched it again and he does make it "near" the ground, yet as noted the air speed it too fast thus it will not touch down . had planted the plane, not flying on the runway when he 1st neared it all would have been well.

[@doranjaffas7351]

How's the rebuild on this coming Bill?

[@craigthomas8543]

be ready soon few months , keep making your vids to help inspire me to get it running again

[@владимирвойтенко-к6и]

sorry.... high landing speed. No wing mechanization ....? or wing profile thin ....?

[@grumman38]

Doesn’t sound like the engine quit?

[@doranjaffas7351]

How is the rebuild coming along Bill?

[@pomadom]

Doran Jaffas It should be flying in the new year

[@sblack48]

It’s no stronger than any other rag and tube airplane. It was only doing 20-30 mph when it hit the obstacle.

[@doranjaffas7351]

How is the repair coming?

[@pomadom]

It will be flying in the next two months

[@doranjaffas7351]

@@pomadom Looking forward to seeing it fly again Bill. How is the injured party? Have their muscles loosened up yet? This video inspired me to do a minimum altitude 270 degree turn with the engine at idle cutoff. Obviously I will do this at a higher altitude and and do several tests to get an average and then set minimums. I have done this test before and set an arbitrary minimum altitude but the reality is this could happen to anyone and especially with my wife as my primary passenger I want to have a more exact number. Not necessarily even reaching the runway but the airport area itself would be my goal in a situation like this. Thank you for posting this. No one should judge the actions of this pilot. They took a bad situation it made it come out with minimal consequence and they should be commended for that. Fortunately most of your viewers have been very understanding of this person's situation as well they should be. I enjoy seeing your videos Bill and look at you as one of the most knowledgeable of this design.

[@paulnicholls8683]

I think he was only successful with the impossible turn because he had partial power ,then the downwind landing bit him in the arse

[@56Gumball]

Down wind? The sock was hanging like a limp dick, slightly crosswind if anything at all. His mistake was throttling up slightly too much on final approach thus carrying excess speed.

[@duanejohnson6271]

I didn't see any flaps after the impossible turn to slow down his emergency approach.

[@pomadom]

Yes I agree

[@Donttaxmebro76]

Jesus......i think all things considered, he did a great job doing what he could to survive and then not kill anyone else.

[@captlarry-3525]

forcing in on in a wheel landing, and using prodigious brakes early on, as well as purposeful yawing to kill speed, might have worked, but you get split seconds, and you are trying real hard not to die., so any landing you can walk away from is a good one.