Witnesses said the airplane was much slower than normal while flying the pattern. The pilot apparently ran out of fuel on the base leg for landing even though the main tanks were full. On the reserve tanks alone, the airplane would fly for about 42 minutes. The POH shows that using 2,300 rpm would consume 63 gph. The accident flight lasted approximately 25 minutes and the fuel selectors were found in the wreckage on the reserve tanks. This provides space in the reserve tanks for fuel vapor return from the carburetors.
The P-38s POH recommends Warm up, take off and fly the first 15 minutes on reserve tanks. On the day of the accident, the owner had topped off the two 44-gallon reserve tanks and the two 72-gallon mains and then had flown for about 20 minutes prior to the fatal flight. While he was new to the P-38 he had flown a sister ship for about six or seven hours within 90 days of the accident. The pilot held a Letter of Authorization from the FAA that allowed him to fly all makes and models of high performance piston powered aircraft. It was especially tragic because the pilots father, who logged more than 3,000 hours in the Lightning during World War II, witnessed his sons fatal accident. Perhaps the most publicized fuel starvation mishap occurred to a well-known warbird pilot flying a newly restored P-38.
Lack of understanding of the airplanes operating procedures shares the blame. Pushing the range of the airplane isnt the only reason fuel-related accidents happen, however. Pilots accustomed to the longer ranges of civilian airplanes dont always realize how thin the operating margins are. At 65 gph in cruise, the airplanes endurance is less than 2 hours. Without drop tanks, the Mustang will hold only 192 gallons with the fuselage tank removed.
#WARBIRDS MAGAZINE INSTALL#
In the P-51D, for example, most owners have removed the 85-gallon fuselage tank in order to install a second seat. Part of the problem with fuel exhaustion is that many fighters were designed to use drop tanks, with only limited fuel available without them. On a delivery flight through the southeast, it also missed a couple of approaches then ran out of gas and crashed. Fuel was critically low and the pilot ditched the airplane in the Gulf of Mexico.Īnother almost identical mishap involved a newly acquired British- made Gnat jet trainer. He flew two instrument approaches into Galveston, missing them both. He didnt check the weather before he departed and, on arrival, found the Galveston area with a 100-foot overcast and visibility at just one-tenth of a mile. In another instance, a pilot flew his P-51 from Fort Lauderdale to Galveston, Texas. Although he claimed to have visually checked the gas tanks and he said the gauges read 120 gallons, investigators found all fuel tanks empty. The pilot was on a local photographic flight when his engine began to sputter, then it quit. Although accidents involving mechanical failure may be forgivable given the age of the airplanes, often the culprit is buzzing, running out of gas, lack of proficiency or ignorance of the airplanes operating procedures.įor example, an F4U Corsair ran out of gas near New Smyrna Beach, Fla. Valuable and irreplaceable aircraft, including P-51 Mustangs, hit the ground for reasons that can only be described as irrational, taking their pilots with them. Antique biplanes and World War II fighters have been popular for years, and recently the availability of former Eastern Bloc jet fighter trainers has expanded the appeal of very hot airplanes among those who have ridden the stock market (among other things) to riches.īut just as its said that a fool and his money are soon flying more airplane than he can handle, the accident record for warbirds paints a very discouraging picture. When it comes to capturing the imagination of old and young, sport fliers and professionals, nothing can beat the appeal of warbirds.
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