Pilot Dies in Fighter Jet Crash at Italian Airshow

[The SC]

 

[gambit]

That's a good point. You would think that with all the technology in these super machines nowadays, this altitude setting should be something the aircraft's sensors can pick up and the software automatically sets it. Shouldn't be a manual thing anymore I would think.

Elevation. Altitude. Height. Not the same.

- Elevation is how high the LOCAL terrain is above mean sea level. An airport has a local elevation. If you to the beach and stand on a rock, you have a local elevation of X centimeters above MSL.

- Altitude is how much a body is above MSL. That 'much' is calibrated to read meters, kilometers, miles, or whatever method you want.

- Height is how much a body is above LOCAL terrain. So if you are at an airport that is 10 meters over MSL, you have zero height. Unless you want to count your shoe's lift. This measurement is usually call 'above ground level' or AGL.

Mount Everest is 29,029 ft in elevation. So if you fly at altitude of 29,030 ft, momentarily you will have an AGL of 1 ft as you fly over the peak. It is up to YOU to make that height compensation. Whether you make that compensation in your head or with a device, that is still a manual compensation. The word 'manual' in this context mean the human, not electronic devices.

Is there an automatic method ? Yes, the radar altimeter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_altimeter

But by design, a radar altimeter points towards the ground and by that same design, its utility is restrictive -- TO/L.

https://www.thebalance.com/basic-flight-instruments-the-altimeter-282608
http://aviation.watergeek.eu/f4m-panel.html

F-4M Radio altitude indicator.

The maneuvers that are executed at airshows -- whether you are a civilian or military pilot -- are the same as in combat. And in combat, you usually do not fly at airshows AGL. You rely almost exclusively on the main altitude indicator. So, if local compensation is not input-ed, you will have a disaster.

 

[Imran Khan]

ohhh he failed to recover sadly RIP

 

[Gomig-21]

Elevation. Altitude. Height. Not the same.

- Elevation is how high the LOCAL terrain is above mean sea level. An airport has a local elevation. If you to the beach and stand on a rock, you have a local elevation of X centimeters above MSL.

- Altitude is how much a body is above MSL. That 'much' is calibrated to read meters, kilometers, miles, or whatever method you want.

- Height is how much a body is above LOCAL terrain. So if you are at an airport that is 10 meters over MSL, you have zero height. Unless you want to count your shoe's lift. This measurement is usually call 'above ground level' or AGL.

Mount Everest is 29,029 ft in elevation. So if you fly at altitude of 29,030 ft, momentarily you will have an AGL of 1 ft as you fly over the peak. It is up to YOU to make that height compensation. Whether you make that compensation in your head or with a device, that is still a manual compensation. The word 'manual' in this context mean the human, not electronic devices.

Is there an automatic method ? Yes, the radar altimeter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_altimeter

But by design, a radar altimeter points towards the ground and by that same design, its utility is restrictive -- TO/L.

https://www.thebalance.com/basic-flight-instruments-the-altimeter-282608
http://aviation.watergeek.eu/f4m-panel.html


The maneuvers that are executed at airshows -- whether you are a civilian or military pilot -- are the same as in combat. And in combat, you usually do not fly at airshows AGL. You rely almost exclusively on the main altitude indicator. So, if local compensation is not input-ed, you will have a disaster.

Very cool, thanks for the explanation.

So I'm assuming it's most likely the pilot who inputs the setting for a local terrain if he/she is flying an airshow that is inland or is it someone else's duty like technician or maintenance? It sounds like a pretty big responsibility that shouldn't be left to anyone else but the pilot.

It also appears to me that this unfortunate Italian pilot actually had plenty of altitude to make that loop, he just kept his nose pointed down for too long and didn't pull back on the stick soon or fast enough. I think he was going to finish the loop off by skimming the water close enough but miscalculated. Tough break.

The French pilots -- as we all know -- are insane and they finish off their Rafale demos with a low level split-S. They open the landing gear as they're coming out of it and right into their landing. Really great stuff and IIRC, first time anyone ever did that maneuver was a Romanian pilot in a MiG-21 Lancer back in the early 90's. I think it was really frowned upon and was not to be performed at anything lower than 8,500ft (or something like that.) Now the French do it on almost every routine.

Forward to minute 8:05.

 

[Dai Toruko]

Let us hope all NATO pilots are as skilled as this pilot was.

 

[CHACHA"G"]

That happened in front of his parents and girlfriend , sad and painful.

 

[ashok321]

Loop performance failure/miscalculation, same as Sanjay Gandhi who lost his life in such stunt.
The height was inadequate, failed stunt.

RIP.

 

[Thetigerforces]

Let us hope all NATO pilots are as skilled as this pilot was.

What a terrible person you are..... making fun of the death of this man.

 

[Dai Toruko]

What a terrible person you are..... making fun of the death of this man.

Female pilot not a male pilot.

 

[Thetigerforces]

Female pilot not a male pilot.

Nope.... its a guy.... regardless my point still stands, not cool to cheer death at all.

 

[Dai Toruko]

Nope.... its a guy.... regardless my point still stands, not cool to cheer death at all.

To cheer? You probably don't understand a sarcastic criticism.

 

[RowdyRathore]

RIP, Italian airforce lost a fighter pilot.

 

[Gomig-21]

Gabriele Orlandi

There's been some confusion as to the gender of the pilot because of the name, but he was a 10 year veteran of the Italian Air Force.

The height was inadequate, failed stunt.

Not that I'm an expert, that was my reaction at first but when I watched it again and thought about it more and from all the flight demos I've seen through the years and many airshows and videos, it looks more to me like his airspeed was a bit excessive which makes the radius of the loop bigger. Maybe if his airspeed was a bit slower, he might've been able to fit the loop in the space he had? If you watch that Rafale video I posted and that Split-S at the end, take a look at the airspeed of the Rafale as he turns and points down. He slows down quite a bit. And with these delta/canard platforms, you see these guys turning much tighter turns especially at lower speeds.

With that high rate of speed and momentum + gravity, maybe if he pulled back on the throttle a little bit he might've pulled out of it?

 

[The Eagle]

@Gomig-21 it is done now in-case of such awaiting for moderation, if the same is taking time, do tag in the same post rather than posting separately. However, moderation approval takes a bit of time as have to go through contents and verify the same under different aspects, therefore, always wait a bit and it would be done. Continue with your discussion....

Regards,

 

[ashok321]

Gabriele Orlandi

There's been some confusion as the the gender of the pilot because of the name, but he was a 10 year veteran of the Italian Air Force.



Not that I'm an expert, that was my reaction at first but when I watched it again and thought about it more and from all the flight demos I've seen through the years and many airshows and videos, it looks more to me like his airspeed was a bit excessive which makes the radius of the loop bigger. Maybe if his airspeed was a bit slower, he might've been able to fit the loop in the space he had? If you watch that Rafale video I posted and that Split-S at the end, take a look at the airspeed of the Rafale as he turns and points down. He slows down quite a bit. And with these delta/canard platforms, you see these guys turning much tighter turns especially at lower speeds.

With that high rate of speed and momentum + gravity, maybe if he pulled back on the throttle a little bit he might've pulled out of it?

Ok. But you cant overrule pilot's lack of maintaining a proper space envelope for his required loop, the speed control was in his hands though. There is a standard procedure for loop performance which he violated it seems.

This is for sure.