P-63 Kingcobra Crash
June 3rd 2001 Biggin hill airshow The P-63 Kingcobra was being flown by Guy Bancroft-Wilson, when it crashed, sadly killing the pilot. Below is an extract from the AAIB report, All three aircraft waited at the holding point for Runway 03 for 15 minutes before takeoff. After take-off the aircraft held to the west of the airport for three minutes prior to commencing their display. They then ran in together and each performed a loop followed by a half cuban eight, following which the Kingcobra broke away from the other two as planned. One minute later, after performing a flypast along the display line at a measured speed of 220 kt and having passed opposite the other two aircraft, the Kingcobra was seen to pull up into a rolling, climbing manoeuvre. At the top of this manoeuvre, with the aircraft partially inverted, the pilot appeared to lose control and the aircraft entered an incipient spin. The pilot recovered the aircraft, having lost considerable height, and continued with his display. Next he flew past the crowd from left to right, carried out a wingover to the left and returned past the crowd from right to left at 190 to 195 kt. The aircraft then went out of view for some 20 seconds, in which time it was turned to the right through some 220°, before running in directly towards the crowd and pulling up into the first half of a loop. At the top of this manoeuvre, in the inverted position, full nose-up elevator was maintained and a substantial amount of right rudder was ...
