That's a great story. I wonder if any documentation or video is still around on the subject.
Frank Nelson --- In [email protected], "robertbartunek" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Years ago when I was attending the USAF Accident Investigation School > at USC, the professor, Harry Hurt, author of Aerodynamics for Naval > Aviators, related a story about an aircraft crash that occured at his > alma mater, Texas A&M. > After WWII, there was a need for an agricultural spray aircraft that > would incorporate some crash survivability features because the old > Stearmans had a habit if killing pilots when they stalled and went in > from a low altitude. The A&M aircraft was built with a long nose to > provide space for chemical tanks and to provide a crushable area to > decrase the g forces in the event of a crash, and also had an > automatic shoulder harness, something new for that era. The aircraft > looked like the spray aircraft we see today, but this one was a bit > underpowered. > The first flight test was a doozy. Cameras were set up to record the > take off and landing and as the test pilot got airborne he racked the > airplane up and to the left in a dramatic climbing turn. The > aircraft stalled, rolled to the right and went straight in with all > the cameras rolling. Analysis of the camera footage revealed that, > at impact, the shoulder harness locked automatically as the pilot's > upper torso moved abruptly forward and the nose structure began to > deform at a rate that diminished the g forces to something more > survivable. With the shoulder harness locked, the pilot's arms flew > forward and his head pitched down. As the airplane came to rest, the > pilot's torso was pulled back toward his seat and as the aircraft > came to rest, he turned his head toward the cameras and his face > broke out in a great big grin. > The airplane was the AG-1, another succesful design by fred E. Weick. > Bart >
