Matt Hall skims the water

[Tomo]

 

 

Hall?s plane touches water in Detroit River in Qualifying but Aussie recovers :: Red Bull Air Race Articles

 

WINDSOR, Ontario - Australia’s Matt Hall had a scare during the first Qualifying session at the Red Bull Air Race in Windsor on Saturday when his plane touched the surface of the Detroit River but the former RAAF pilot quickly recovered and returned safely to Race Airport.

 

 

Hall was challenging for the lead in the first of two Qualifying sessions when he suffered an aerodynamic wing stall. His left wing skimmed the surface of the river that separates the United States and Canada. His right wheel cover hit the water as well but Hall was quickly able to regain control of his MXS-R aircraft and climb up away into the sky.

 

"I felt I was having a fairly good run,” Hall said. “I might have skipped twice on the water. It’s a very disappointing result for me. It’s the motor racing equivalent of touching the wall."

 

Hall, who fought combat missions with the U.S. Air Force in Iraq, was confident his plane could be repaired in time for Qualifying 2 an hour later. He is hoping to get his third career podium in Windsor and has been in the top three in most training sessions this week.

 

"The plane is damaged but will be recoverable,” Hall said. “Our game plan is to get some rest for now. It will hit me harder in a few hours time. Everyone in aviation has been in some fairly tight situations before. I've been in tight situations before. I'm disappointed in myself for putting myself in that situation. We're okay but we'll move on from that. Everything's fine.”

 

Hall’s plane was inspected in the air after his safety climb out by Nigel Lamb, another pilot who was flying in a holding pattern. Lamb said the damage all appeared to be superficial. Hall then landed safely back at the Race Airport in Windsor.

 

"The main damage is on the right aileron,” Hall said. “I think the plane is not that badly damaged. It is going to be a matter of replacing parts.”

 

Hall has two podiums in his career, including a second place finish in his home race in Perth, Australia in April. He joined the race in 2009 and became the most successful rookie in race history last year when he took third place overall. Hall is in fourth place so far this year.

 

 

[blueshed]

Interesting! is the left wing the port or starboard one? looks to me as if the port wing has contacted the water, however on reading the report it suggests the right aileron has the damage!

 

 

[old man emu]

He was just giving one of them Eye Rackie jet jockies the slip.

 

OME

 

 

[Tomo]

Interesting! is the left wing the port or starboard one? looks to me as if the port wing has contacted the water, however on reading the report it suggests the right aileron has the damage!

Not sure about that Blueshed, though he musta hit the other side pretty hard - as this pic below indicates - tore his wheel spat off as well.

 

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Open the link and see the third photo. It appears he touched with his left (port) wingtip first but over corrected and made a big splash as his right (starboard) wing and wheel hit also. You can see that his wheel spat is damaged at this point. He says that he touched down twice.

 

 

[dazza 38]

Wow, good recovery,i just watched the video of it. Scary

 

 

[numptie]

In the end, does anyone know which position he qualified in?

 

 

[dazza 38]

In the end, does anyone know which position he qualified in?

Hi mate, according to the redbull web site.Matts a/c will not be repaired in time for sundays race.

 

 

[Tomo]

For those wanting to see the video - makes the whole incident more amazing when you see it!

 

Check out his recovery! You'd have to really be concentrating to stick forward at that height! You can see him unload the wing after the first splash.

 

http://www.redbullairrace.com/cs/Satellite/en_air/Video/Qualifying-Highlights,-Windsor-021242857591037

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

another angle

 

 

 

[Yenn]

"he suffered an aerodynamic wing stall" What other type of wing stall is there?

 

 

[numptie]

Hi mate, according to the redbull web site.Matts a/c will not be repaired in time for sundays race.

Had a look on Matt's website ... plane's on its way back to the factory for inspection & repairs.

 

He's given an explanation of what happened on the site.

 

Bob

 

 

[Tomo]

"he suffered an aerodynamic wing stall" What other type of wing stall is there?

He was stating that to the general public, that would be why he said it.

 

 

[Relfy]

Wow, it's amazing if you look carefully at his control deflections throughout the incident. Simply amazing.

 

 

[Owi]

Great recovery although he has only himself to blame for being there in the first place. I reckon if he had been an ordinary pilot (like most of us), he would've been in the drink, mate.

 

The video shows just how quickly this can happen. Bet he had to change his pants before the interview. ;)

 

 

[shags_j]

He was stating that to the general public, that would be why he said it.

Tomo's right. whenever they tak about stalls they always make it clear that they are not talking about engine stalls.