From: BernadetteTS
Date: 11/18/2003 9:55 AM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

I've been reading through the BD-5 thread and have a question.

I guess this is an opinion thread but what happens to a rear engine
mounted directly behind the pilot in a crash? In something like an
ultralight, BD-5, Cutiss pusher or Vari-EZ does an engine have a
tendency to rip loose and go through the pilot due to inertia in a
sudden stop? Or in many crashes is the direction of flight not straight
ahead, like if the aircraft was in a stall when it contacted the ground?
The force is down not forward through the cockpit.

Bernadette

Another design that would appear to be dangerous is mounting the engine above
and behind the cockpit. In a descending crash or a head on crash the engine
will most likely land on whomever is in the cockpit and probably ruin his whole
day.

Something else I have seen is a tidy row of toggle switches over one's knee. I
bet they would redecorate one's kneecap in a crash.

Dan, U. S. Air Force, retired