Mac Hodges is well known and well respected in the world of model aviation. The 1/7 scale Boeing B-29 bomber that is pictured is his second large-scale B-29 that he flies as a tandem act with a friend who operates the “paratroopers” and a scale Bell X-1 rocket plane, mimicking the launches of the X-1 during supersonic testing. All in all it’s a very cool setup that has taken a lot of skill, knowledge, time, and a previous scale B-29’s crash to perfect. Unfortunately, just like the real aircraft they are based upon, when things go bad, they go bad quickly and severely.
This accident occurred July 10th, 2014 at the Warbirds over Delaware show. As you can see, just as the aircraft passes by the cameraman it is immediately noticeable that the far-left engine isn’t singing the same tune as the other three. The plane takes flight just fine, but immediately banks left, stalls, and dives nose-first into a tent with a very sickening “thump”. Luckily there was no fire and nobody was injured.
It was determined that the engine’s throttle servo had failed, either due to a loose connection or to oil degradation. It was also determined that if takeoff had been aborted that the B-29 would have gone into the crowd of people at the fences watching the takeoff. Ultimately, Mac has decided that he will not rebuild the B-29 again, opting instead to concentrate on other projects.
Click play below to watch the full incident…and don’t forget to duck!
no one was “injurded”
Haha. Only one line of text and they screwed it up.
CRAP! I loved that thing, and the X-1.
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