P51 Mustang crash lands near Melbourne Australia

[@adienowed6366]

It was NOT a crash landing. It was a highly successful and well executed emergency landing.

[@richardmarshall4322]

So what would you class as a crash landing? I would define an emergency landing as a wheels down landing due to an on board failure. No damage to aircraft or persons onboard. A crash or forced landing results in damage to aircraft and possible injury to occupants. Thats how i would define it. Just my opinion.

[@tungstentwohundredandtwent7007]

@@richardmarshall4322there was no impact, no collision. Absolutely not a “crash”.

[@675Films]

Great mindset from the pilot, and great attitude from the passenger. Hope to see the P51 back up and airborne soon.

[@markblakeway80]

Looks like a good belly landing to me, not a crash. Maybe I think different

[@johnnyfreedom3437]

My father told me the pilots motto when I first started flying in his old canvas Wing plane! He told me "Son, any Landing you can walk away from is a good Landing!" A year later the motor shut down at about 6,000 ft, he was looking for a place to Glide in! 12 year old me was freaking out! But he also used his experience and actually got the engine running again! I never hesitated to go back up, I loved flying in that old canvas winged Piper! So light we were like a leaf in the Wind!

[@jonathanlewis453]

The term is lifted from the WW2 RAF instruction/propaganda character, Pilot Officer Percival Prune. You may find the cartoon and quote online.

[@CS_247]

Bit excessive with the foam there, boys...

[@redtobertshateshandles]

It's only taxpayer funded PFAS. Nothing to worry about. 😂

[@Firebrand55]

Here's a tale...backaways I was involved in a fire of the Auxiliary Power Unit of a Hercules C-130, ( it started the engines). I put it out with a fire appliance and went to the Flight Office to report my 'brave' action....oh no!...instead I got, "Hey Chief!; the WO wants to see you!" I got a bollocking for walking away from a fire, although extinguished .." could restart Chief at any time!" I guess he was right. Fires, apparently out, can restart....hence all the foam here........funny enough, later on, I ended up in hospital alongside this Warrant Officer. ( minor) He had been on an RAF camp and lost a small aircraft because....you've guessed it.....a fire thought to be out, reignited and totalled the aircraft!...proving...the best lessons learnt in life are outside the classroom.

[@HD2512DK]

When a pilot has learned to fly before electronics and fly by wire.. Then you feel safe

[@codymoe4986]

Pretty sure you can belly land a modern airplane, just as easy as an 80 year old one, if you are a competent pilot, correct?

[@goodshipkaraboudjan]

@RoadRunnerDrummerJD Changing its pitch to beyond full course. ie the blades are perpendicular to relative flow and the prop stops spinning. It reduces drag. Has nothing to do with the engine.

[@reticulan5]

It dosen't look like the Mustang was damaged too badly and is repairable.Which is good news.

[@californiadreaming9216]

On one hand it's a little distressing to see a beautifully restored antique aircraft get banged up. On the other hand, ANY landing you walk away from is a good landing.

[@timteevin4517]

Damn good landing. NOT a crash.

[@vincenthawke3049]

Take My hat off to you sir!.. Great save indeed!

[@alexlanning712]

Hats off to the passenger

[@kevinsellsit5584]

Well done sir! She'll fix right up thanks to that butter smooth belly landing. P.S. Your passenger is a damn good sport! (Why is everyone calling this a "crash landing" when it is a gear-up hydro/mechanical failure, belly landing?)

[@codymoe4986]

Crash landing--the act of bringing an aircraft to the ground roughly, in an emergency, usually without lowering the landing gear...

[@billweston6579]

@@codymoe4986that was a wheels up landing. The aircraft wasn’t bought roughly to the ground. It was a very smooth, controlled landing. With the wheels up, causing the minimum of damage.

[@cabovermike]

So trumpton fire brigade had to bust out the foam, obviously dont get much real life practice very often round those parts,.

[@throttlegalsmagazineaustra7361]

Point Cook fire brigade. Difficult for all of us to get training on foam nowadays.

[@RoadRunnerDrummerJD]

What exactly is "feathering" a propeller?

[@cdncitizen4700]

So, when a pilot has to do a belly landing (wheels up)... rather than landing with the engine running, the pilot cuts power and the prop just spins freely due to the airflow. When a prop hits the ground or stops suddenly (when under power), the resulting torque strain will damage the crankshaft and other engine components. By "feathering the prop", it significantly reduces the amount of damage done to the motor and usually allows for a simple prop replacement and general inspection of the engine, without having to replace the crankshaft or other components. This guy even thought to land on grass instead of pavement/tarmac... minimizing friction, sparks and risk of fire when skidding to a stop. Brilliant landing !

[@brianporter7412]

@@cdncitizen4700red

[@kurtbilinski1723]

Feathering a prop means changing the propeller blade angles to minimize drag, by setting them parallel to the wind. Not doing so causes the prop to continue spinning ("windmilling") that cause a huge amount of drag, seriously reducing an airplane's glide distance.

[@cdncitizen4700]

@@kurtbilinski1723 Which only applies to "variable pitch props". Fixed prop blade planes just cut the engine, so the prop turns in the wind freely, also reducing drag, but not as much as what you described. It's effective to save the engine and crank shaft from serious mechanical damage, during a wheels up landing.

[@wallywally8282]

I remember this, the meadow sure do beat up these stories! At least he didn’t feather the prop, that’s the worst thing you could do!

[@jakerazmataz852]

That air intake made a perfect scoop. Ouch.

[@bryanmaxwell7332]

How much is the repair bill…???

[@davidbrayshaw3529]

Remember when your mum used to say, "you need to save some money for a rainy day"? She didn't have this in mind.

[@helicopter2630]

If Norm can’t make it. I am available 😊

[@tungstenkid2271]

Landed on grass instead of the runway so no risk of sparks, nice move..:)

[@simonmossman711]

Dirt rips the airframe apart.

[@tungstenkid2271]

@@simonmossman711 So why did the Mustang pilot land on grass instead of on the runway?

[@NoelBroadhead]

@@tungstenkid2271 So that the runway wouldn't rip the pilot and passenger apart, after it had ripped the airframe apart.

[@perpetualgrin5804]

Did he get hit by a Mitsubishi 380 ?😅

[@Geoff-m7j]

Those firefighters seem to think it’s necessary to smother everything in foam even if no fire risk exists. I know a pilot who had a warbird incident and he refused to let them get anywhere near his aircraft with that corrosive foam.

[@throttlegalsmagazineaustra7361]

Bullshit. He has no say in anything until the ARFF hand the scene over to the appropriate authority (and that's not the pilot). You and your mate are talking out of your arses.

[@Geoff-m7j]

@@throttlegalsmagazineaustra7361 How would you know what happened at that incident. You weren’t there. You need to cool down under one of those fire hoses.

[@bounceferret]

While the book "may" suggest a shut down, experience tells a pilot to leave it idling with the fuel valve shut.. nothing worse then belly-landing with a prop blade pointed at the ground.

[@rdaystrom4540]

Safe. Great. The water cooled v12 engine became dirt cooled when the belly scoop hit the dirt.

[@CarLos-yi7ne]

And? Already flying again for a decade? 🤔

[@reverendkrv]

what a great job!

[@cptairwolf]

There's no such thing as minimal damage when talking about belly landings. That's nearly instantly a full rebuild of the under carriage, prop and transmission. But great landing nonetheless.

[@andystocks3252]

I’m with the other pilots! Why leave £100,000 of engine running when it’s clear the prop will impact the floor!

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

You realise that a 4 blade prop will transmit shock to the reduction gear and crankshaft?

[@thethirdman225]

I was there.

[@ludwigchurr7744]

I would have stopped the engine before bending the prop and straining the insides. Just saying as both a power pilot and glider (sailplane) pilot. Airplanes do not fall down when the engine stops.

[@nevillevaneerten]

It depends on the individual aircraft type. Yes I have done that successfully on a 210 with the nose gear failure but unless you have flown the aircraft you don’t know how it flies. The P51 is a taildragger, so you cannot pull back on the stick the same way and land on the back of the aircraft. There have been cases where people have cut the engine too early doing exactly what you recommend and stalled the aircraft, doing much more damage causing injuries/death. An engine can be pulled out and replaced at a cost, but a bent fuselage or worse will have the aircraft out of services for Months/years for a complete rebuild, and a lot more money than 1 million. Further to that the prop windmills for a long time so you may still cause engine damage

[@ludwigchurr7744]

@@nevillevaneerten Thanks for the comments. I guess your comments are more valid than mine as I never flew a warbird.

[@thebigint-hw1on]

That's dangerous asf. The P51 is not a rare plane at all so there is no reason to protect the engine. Best to firstly survive and second to try to protect the air frame.

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

KZbin pilots in action here. How do you crank around a 4 blade prop so that it does not contact the ground in a gear up landing? Any of you ever pay for a shock loading test?

[@tungstentwohundredandtwent7007]

Did you think about that before you posted it? Exactly how could you rotate a 4 blade prop so that none of its blades could hit the ground in a gear up landing in this situation?

[@stu22aus]

Yeah do a 3g turn and Murphy's law dictates they'll come down halfway, no thankyou bring that puppy down while the getting's good....

[@ScaleModellingTwins]

That’s what happens when you service the hydraulic system with engine oil! Cowboys at Point Cook.

[@captainaxle438]

These WW2 aircraft had age restrictions for pilots. 23years old to fly a P51 I think. But these old men keep flying and crashing them. This was mechanical but highlights another old man flying an airplane he should not be in

[@adienowed6366]

And who are you to say he shouldn't have been flying the a/c?

[@captainaxle438]

@@adienowed6366 an informed person. P-51 galloping ghost Reno racer had a 70 year old pilot that blacked out when the elevator trim tab caused a high g pull up, crashed, dead. B-17 4 engine bomber had 80 year old pilot, engine out, crashed,dead. Old and slow reactions. The age restrictions are real and you can look it up, get informed and realize the FAA should restrict the old pilots from these aircraft. Pow! Anyone who disagrees with these facts shall have a car wreck with an elderly driver and then rave about old people should not be driving. Now watch as some old 70 year old bad tempered expert chimes in, doesn't know he's old. I am 62 and know the limitations age brings to reflex's

[@adienowed6366]

@@captainaxle438 If you read the accident report on the Reno Mustang crash,the 'G' experienced in the pull up would have blacked out any pilot flying the a/c young or old. And for your information,I am a pilot and have been for over 45 years. Plenty of young pilots have killed themselves flying high performance a/c-I do not bow to the ageism theory,quite the opposite in fact. Regarding the age limit on WW2 pilots,I have never ever heard of that one-I suggest you read Geoffrey Wellums book First Light detailing his experience as the youngest fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain. His nickname was 'Boy' as he was so young. He was 18 years old and mirrored dozens of pilots of that era who were well below the age of 23. QED.

[@captainaxle438]

@@adienowed6366 your just a taxi driver

[@adienowed6366]

@@captainaxle438 You know nothing of what I do,which makes your remark just crass and stupid. Enjoy your armchair flying!

[@tomtom6319]

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[@WAL_DC-6B]

Indeed, Trump's a baby.

[@rcaddict72]

lol. you will regret supporting him....bet on it.