BBP Diary

[f1steveuk]

That certainly makes you think, the forces involved must have been huge.

[Renegadenemo]

That certainly makes you think, the forces involved must have been huge

This is by far the one that amazes me most. Here's the outer skin from the left-hand side of the cockpit. It's been partially flattened but you can still see where it was wrapped around the F-17 vertical as the cockpit was wiped off but ignore that for a moment and look in the bottom, right-hand corner. There's a jagged hole below where the main spar fairing used to be fastened.

Portside cockpit skin.jpg

The large hole just left of centre was for the steering linkage and you can see that the smaller hole at bottom right is in line with it horizontally and that's because this is the line that the ground and hardened steering shaft took on its way aft to the rudder. Here's the jagged hole in closeup.

Steering rod exit hole.jpg

It looks like a bullet passed through... What happened is that as the cockpit was pushed further and further to the right the steering rod deviated with it because there was a bearing on the shaft at F-16. (F'15 is the right-hand edge of the skin and the large hole for the steering linkage is between F-17 and F-18 so F-16 is about middle distance between the two holes)
The shaft deviated until it could take no more and then it failed and, thwack! back it came from right to left and smashed that hole in the outer skin. Impressive, eh...

[f1steveuk]

Right hand (Starboard, right hand as you sit in the cockpit)



Left hand (Port, left hand as you sit in the cockpit)

Check the forward tips, quite a startling difference in damage.

[Mike Bull]

We were looking for impact damage to the post-crash sponsons ourselves just the other day. Here's another view of the left hand one...

04 Sponson.jpg

[Renegadenemo]

Yup - plain to see the front of the fairing has been shoved from left to right.

[bluebirdsback]

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[Renegadenemo]

A good pic of K7 landing on her left. Bear in mind that she was rolling left from having been rolled the opposite way whilst inverted so the hull just carried on over with its momentum as that sponson stopped.

LeftSideDown.jpg

[dave]

I have been reading a number of the posts re The "Strange unexplained" counter movement of BB during its pitch up, inversion and rolling couple.

I would like to offer a simple theory which does not require movement of MASS, be it Fuel, Water or even the Engine itself.



What has not been forwarded, is that of the function of the Crafts FIN. Being positioned Aft. of the C of G thus provides "Weathercock" stability. Just the same as a Dart, try throwing a Dart without its flight feathers (No stability).

So this makes the craft want to point in it's direction of movement (a straight line).

Now once BB became airborne and rotate 180 Deg. it's FIN was now forward to that of the C of G thus any asymmetric alignment between the FIN and C of G will cause a rotational moment around the vertical axis.

As that condition i.e. FIN forward of the C of G was transitory. The rotation moment was short lived in time (1 second or so). Completing the final rotation of BB before impact, the FIN was once again aft of the C of G thus countering (Very quickly) the movement it caused whilst at 180 Deg. Hence this "Strange" movement.

Does it make any sense to some?

[f1steveuk]

It makes perfect sense although I thought the movement was when she was near vertical and just about to touch enter the water, if that makes sense

[Renegadenemo]

Having the fin momentarily ahead of the GofG with a forward speed of 180mph plus would certainly do the trick. Hadn't thought of that...