"Scubabix" wrote in message
...
The video of this crash was eerily like the crash of the B-52 at Fairchild
AFB a few years back.

That is because the cause for each of the crashes was somewhat the same.

The Buff did not use regular ailerons, as you would normally think of them.
The flexibility of the wing would twist when a normal aileron input was
applied, and would actually give the opposite roll reaction that was
expected. The aileron was acting like a boost tab, in sorts.

The solution was to control roll by having a spoiler instead of an aileron,
so that if you wanted to roll right, the right spoiler went up, that side
lost some lift, and the aircraft rolls. It was also good to prevent adverse
yaw.

The only problem with that type of control roll, was that if a critical bank
angle was exceeded, the roll was unrecoverable. Your were going to crash,
period.

The full sized crash was being piloted by a senior pilot who was known as a
cowboy, and exceeded various flight parameters, frequently. Some crew would
not fly with him. He pulled his steep bank trick one too many times, and
did not get away with it.

The RC model might have gotten too steep, in a normal flight pattern, but I
think what happened was that the overcast sky messed up the pilot's
orientation clues, and he banked steeper, rather that flattening it out.
I've done it, and about anyone who flies RC has also done it, and gotten it
back into control. With the model Buff, getting that steep put you into an
unrecoverable area of the flight envelope. Boom, was the final result.
--
Jim in NC