Rear engine in a crash question

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

In article ,
(B2431) wrote:


Another design that would appear to be dangerous is mounting the engine above
and behind the cockpit.
Dan, U. S. Air Force, retired

Hi Dan

Do you mean like a Republic SeaBee?

Bernadette

From: BernadetteTS
Date: 11/18/2003 8:50 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

In article ,
(B2431) wrote:


Another design that would appear to be dangerous is mounting the engine
above
and behind the cockpit.
Dan, U. S. Air Force, retired

Hi Dan

Do you mean like a Republic SeaBee?

Bernadette

Yes.

I was in the first unit in the Air Farce to get the H-60. One of the safety
features they told us about was the transmission and rotorhead are built to
fall forward of the cockpit in the event of a major forward crash.

Dan, U. S. Air Force, retired

Yeah and they told us that the struts holding the rotodome on the AWACs
were of unequal strength so that it would break to the side instead of
chopping thru the fuselage. Good thing we never had to find out.

--
Kevin McCue
KRYN
'47 Luscombe 8E
Rans S-17 (for sale)




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Dan

Don't know if you ever saw the N-9 (P-40) and K-14 computing
gunsights (P-51). Both would leave a 'mark' on your forhead in a crash
(that you survived)

Used to be a 'mark of honor'. Then they started making everyone wear
helments.

Big John


On 18 Nov 2003 21:03:51 GMT, (B2431) wrote:

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

On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 19:59:31 -0600, Big John
wrote:

Dan

Don't know if you ever saw the N-9 (P-40) and K-14 computing
gunsights (P-51). Both would leave a 'mark' on your forhead in a crash
(that you survived)

Used to be a 'mark of honor'. Then they started making everyone wear
helments.

Big John

The early F4F Wildcats were not equipped with shoulder straps. In
fact few of the early fighters were. In the case of the Wildcat, not
having shoulder straps resulted in a gashed forehead in the event of a
ditching, as the pilot pitched forward and collided with the gunsight.

During the Battle of Midway, in which a lot of Wildcats ditched, one
pilot related that he manage to hurl himself sideways at the moment of
impact with the ocean during a ditching, and avoided being slashed.
In all the text written about this battle, this one pilot was the only
instance recorded of a guy who remembered what would happen during a
ditching, planned how to avoid being injured, and accomplished it.

Another pilot decided to have his crew chief install shoulder straps
to hold him away from the instrument panel coming, and the dreaded
gunsight, in the event of a ditching.

Ironically, the A6M Mitsubishi type 0 fighter WAS equipped with
shoulder straps, but the pilots often wriggled out of them while in
flight so as to allow more freedom of movement to look around.

Corky Scott