Dan Webb caught footage of the biplane coming in at National and you can see the flip happen. Compare it to the video I have below and you can see what went wrong. Tail-dragger planes have a lot of weight up-front with the engine and prop but need to land with the tail down firmly to avoid this kind of mishap.
Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.
Hmm, guess I just did.
My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.
Word on the street is the Post reporter in the back had her feet on the pedals and hit the brakes. You can clearly see the tire smoke from the locked up brakes.
The brakes were clearly on – although the Post reporter was in the FRONT seat since the Stearman is flown from the rear seat normally. I doubt a passenger had the brakes on, but you never know.
Mr. Webb’s aviation inexperience shows, tail wheel planes can land perfectly normally on the main wheels, which is one option, the other being a three point landing (as Mr. Webb seems to be familiar with).
It was a perfectly good wheel landing right up until the wheels touched and then, as we can see, it was all over pretty fast.