Mon, Aug 23, 2010
It was one of the most aggressive efforts to energize American
air racing... an one of its greatest tragedies... Tsunami, the
first original homebuilt unlimited racer built since 1939, was
designed for speed record attempts and air racing until its loss on
September 25th, 1991. Tsunami crashed while on final approach to
Pierre Municipal Airport in Pierre, South Dakota killing pilot John
R. Sandberg, due to a mechanical control failure that resulted in
an irrecoverable flight condition.
According to the NTSB report, "The accident airplane was being
ferried back to Minneapolis, Minnesota, after participating in air
races at Reno, Nevada. Pierre was to be an intermediate stop on the
flight. It was one of a flight of two aircraft along with a
Mitsubishi MU2 chase plane. En-route from Casper, WY, it was noted
there was an approximate 25 knot difference between indicated
airspeeds of the two aircraft, with the Tsunami indicator reading
lower.
As the airplane approached the airport, it was observed by
several witnesses to suddenly roll rapidly to the left, go
inverted, and then pitch toward the ground. One witness also stated
the plane 'turned slightly to the right before diving into the
hillside.' Another witness stated, 'it looked like he was able to
roll the wings level but was unable to pull out of the dive. The
wing flaps were observed by the witnesses to be in the down
position during the approach.'
The loss was stunning... both in terms of an amazing pilot as
well as the effort of dozens of people who were trying to breathe
new life into the ultra-competitive world of unlimited air racing.
Now, though, there is a movement afoot to bring back Tsunami from
the scrap heap and race her once again. After many years in a
trailer in Princeton, MN; Tsunami was removed and damages were
assessed. A group of volunteers is staffing this amazing effort and
it is hoped that Tsunami will not only fly again but someday take
wing to capture the glories it was designed for, from the
start.
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