A Flat Spin in a Tipsy Nipper. Video / AAIB report.

[Garfly]

I hadn't come across this video before although the incident happened in 2007.

 

Maybe many here have seen it before.

 

Anyway, it's pretty dramatic; you really feel for the guy as he seems to be running out of ideas; resigning himself to the inevitable. You even hear him say something like "Well this is it." Then he tries one last strategy.

 

The forensic AAIB accident report (pdf attached) is a great read - all the more so because he did live to tell the tale himself.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKUqLP-UU_4

 

Tipsy_Nipper_T.66_Series_3_Nipper__G-ONCS_03-08.pdf

 

Tipsy_Nipper_T.66_Series_3_Nipper__G-ONCS_03-08.pdf

 

Tipsy_Nipper_T.66_Series_3_Nipper__G-ONCS_03-08.pdf

[shags_j]

Man that is scary.

 

 

[facthunter]

We have no idea of how he was trying to exit the spin. It's not uncommon for the engine to stop depending on the direction of spin and the direction the engine rotates. It probably came out of the spin by itself. A lot of aircraft will. Its a swing to start engine which can be restarted if you go into a vertical dive to windmill it, but you need height and its a pretty extreme attitude, looking straight down at the countryside. Would have been OK if the engine hadn't stalled. Might be worth revisiting the Video to see why it got into the spin. Nev

 

 

[djpacro]

Its all in the report.

 

 

[shags_j]

Yeah the report shows the details of his inputs

 

 

[facthunter]

It IS indeed. I couldn't open it but have now . It's a comprehensive report that shows that spin recovery is not a totally straight forward thing. Worth a read and think about what YOU would have done.

 

To me the stand out thing is the ability of the plane to go into a flat spin straight away.

 

This can be accentuated by weight distribution at the extremities of the aircraft. The engine is certainly right at the nose and IF there was any weight in the tail, that would not be helpful, but is a common situation.

 

The other factor which is common is the shielding of the rudder by the elevators, which gets worse as the stick is moved forward so full forward stick may be contra-indicated. if you want to get maximum rudder effect

 

I guess the big thing is to know your aeroplanes characteristics when spinning, and that how it enters may be a big variable, especially if it's unintended. You really don't stop learning. There's plenty there for me to think about. Nev

 

 

[Garfly]

The report seems to suggest that his stowing of the laptop behind him might have been enough to move the cg out of safe spinning range or, at least, past what he was used to.

 

(This was in the era when GoPros were not common and laptops like aircraft-carriers were.)

 

He'd decided to video his practice session (on his computer) to try and pick up on his mistakes.

 

That's the kind of irony we can all relate to, ;-)

 

 

[pylon500]

I wonder how many times he's spun it since?

 

 

[facthunter]

If the laptop was high up it makes it worse from the spinning point of view. Not from the normal balance CofG consideration.. Nev