On 2003-12-10 07:08:37 -0800, (Nathan Young) said:

I am amazed at how calm the pilot appears throughout the loop.

It probably wasn't the first time he had done it.

I've only flown aerobatics once, but my head was on a swivel - constantly
trying to figure out which way was up.

Moving your head around while pulling a couple of Gs is a sure way to get
yourself messed up.

What caused the accident? I would be interested to hear additional
details.

Being as this as a military thing, I doubt we'll ever hear the whole story unless
the pilot decides to tell it. I'd like to know, too, because looking at other pictures
and video, the airplane was pointed above the horizon and the engine was
producing lots of thrust. Its downward momentum, though may have been too
much for the altitude available to stop it and get it moving the other way. (That's
purely conjecture on my part, of course, based on what I could find.)

It's interesting watching the last two seconds or so of that video when you can see
that the decision has been made. Frame by frame, it looks very deliberate and
methodical. In real time, it happened very quickly!

--
Larry Fransson
Seattle, WA