Rotate!

[Guest VH-TJT]

The danger of trying to rotate too slow. But I think there's something wrong with the first pic, what is it?

 

 

 

TJT

 

 

[Guest Glenn]

0 degrees of flap and a full load?

 

 

[Guest Glenn]

That's a reflection. It's the same plane

 

 

[Guest WillMikoyan]

In the Tommy a normal takeoff is usually done with 0 degrees of flap.

 

There is something about that first photo that doesn't look right, but I cant qute put my finger on it.

 

 

[TAA Student Pilot]

Maybe too much elevator? For rotation to take off you don't use full elevator. If you use too much elevator too early, all it does is cause a lot of drag from the high angle of attack.

 

 

[Guest VH-TJT]

Maybe too much elevator?

Definitely too much elevator, the pilot is over rotating which is increasing the take off roll due to the increase in drag. The Tomahawk is very sensitive in the lateral axis but I think the pilot has panicked due to the approaching fence. The tail skid appears to be dragging in the grass

 

In the Tommy a normal takeoff is usually done with 0 degrees of flap.

This is true Will, but this lack of flap was the first thing to catch my eye. In this situation, 1st stage, 21 degrees would have been in order, and as you know, it would not have taken much time to drop them and might have made a difference.

 

Maybe a full load Glenn, there was a passenger aboard. The aircraft appeared to be travelling too slow to get airborne, this was probably helped by the over rotation and lack of flap.

 

None the less a dead Tomahawk but a great dramatic photo. Hopefully the pilot, who has suffered the fright of a lifetime, won't repeat his/her mistake again!

 

Photographer comment:

 

Running out of runway with not enough airspeed can lead to dramatic circumstances. This Tomahawk veered off to the left after running out of runway, careered over the access road and ended in a nearby river. Happily the two occupants escaped unhurt. The aircraft is shown in another photo just about to run off the end of the runway

More to come on other accidents :) .

 

TJT