WW2 Plane Crash in Breckenridge

[bcoop]

Those of you who know Rhonda(halo/horns)she actually witnessed the crash. Sad stuff.

Yeah, I saw that. She was visiting her Father's grave. If I read her post correctly, she knew the guy as well. Her father used to fly with him, or something like that. Sad deal all around.

[Moose242]

Rest in peace. Seems like he did a whole lot of living for being only 38. All the best to his loved ones.

[Dave586]

The Hawker SeaFury was originally built with the Centarius engine, but this one was modded with the Wright Cyclone 3350 - the same engine type that's on the B-29. So you got a really big ass fan up front. SeaFury's are also raced in Reno with the same 3350 engines - so they are fast. Rest in Peace Ray - you did more in your short lifetime than most of us will do in two.

[68RR]

NTSB Identification: CEN14FA143
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, February 18, 2014 in Breckenridge, TX
Aircraft: HAWKER SEA FURY ISS 25, registration: N13HP
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On February 18, 2014, about 1638 central standard time, a Hawker Sea Fury ISS-25 single-engine airplane, N13HP, was destroyed after impacting terrain during initial climb at Stephens County Airport (BKD), Breckenridge, Texas. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to Breckenridge Aviation Museum, Breckenridge, Texas, and was reportedly in the process of changing registration at the time of the accident; it was operated by a private individual. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident and a flight plan had not been filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

The flight instructor was flying in a second airplane and was conducting a formation takeoff in trail behind the accident airplane. He reported that normal takeoff power was about 2,900 revolutions per minute (rpm) at about 45 inches of manifold pressure. Several witnesses near the runway were actively watching both airplanes and reported hearing abnormal sounds as the accident airplane passed them at mid-field. One witness described the noise as obviously being a propeller overspeed and the airplane's vertical climb speed seemed to be slower than normal.

The flight instructor reported that after takeoff he joined in on the right side of the accident airplane and heard the accident pilot make one radio transmission that his "rpm was at 3,500". No further transmissions were heard. Both airplanes climbed to about 800 feet above ground level (agl) and about two miles from the runway the accident airplane began a slow turn to the left. The flight instructor continued to transmit instructions to the accident pilot to lower the nose and reduce the throttle.

The accident airplane completed a turn to the downwind and had descended to about 500 feet above the ground and was flying in a nose-up attitude. The flight instructor reported that he saw the accident airplane suddenly roll to the right and enter a vertical nose down dive. Evidence at the accident scene showed a near vertical impact and much of the airplane was consumed by the postimpact fire.