Pics from Raketfest #15 / Skyfest 2012

[SiberianTiger]

The event was held last weekend, on Sept 8, 2012 at Bolshoye Gryzlovo airfield not far from Moscow. There was a lot of model and real aircraft, parachutes, paragliders, etc. Part of the event was model rocket launches, which I was involved into. Enjoy some pics here and watch my big photo report at http://tigerofsiberia.livejournal.com/109931.html

"Rus" aerobatic team.

A cool powered paraglider.

A two-stage rocket "Kentavr" (Centaurus) flying.

Stage separation:

R-63 Empyreal rocket is hurtling towards a record-breaking altitude (1.5 km)!

/me having just finished a countdown for the kids launching my "Tiger" rocket.

Some rockets take a big launch team to make a launch...

A cool rocket man. :lol:

Now the sad part... In the evening after most events were over, a flex-wing trike has crashed before our eyes, killing both crew, a male pilot and his female passenger.

That was an ultimately horrible sight. We approached the crash site, but the people were hopelessly dead. I have seen their fall, and it looked like their wing has suddenly lost rigidity and folded at about 200 meters high. There was nothing the pilot could do at that point.

Two minutes before the crash, I have photographed them flying, their aircraft is on the left.

I have got to know their names afterwards.

R.I.P. Oleg and Victoria...

 

[Codz]

Great pictures. My condolences to the friends and family of the people involved in the crash.

Rest in peace.

 

[N_Molson]

Very nice pictures. I wish I was there. :thumbup:

That crash is a tragedy, though. To be honest, I never trusted those kind of ultra-light aircrafts very much. Even if they had carried parachutes, 200 meters was too low to bail out.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Very nice pictures. I wish I was there. :thumbup:

I wished you had been there too. But that's surely not the last "fest"!

That crash is a tragedy, though. To be honest, I never trusted those kind of ultra-light aircrafts very much. Even if they had carried parachutes, 200 meters was too low to bail out.

The aircraft was equipped with a safety parachute for the trike. I have seen it extended on the lines, but still not opened, on the ground. They were simply too low for it to deploy. I have been told that the pilot was found with the chute's safety pin in his hand (I didn't inspect his body in great detail, you know). That's too bad that his 20 years of flying experience ended like that.

 

[Fabri91]

Sorry to hear about what happened...airshows in general are great events, so it's sad to hear about this tragedy.

The problem with ultralight aircraft is that, as far as I have understood, they are certified to "lesser" standards than regular aircraft.

 

[SiberianTiger]

In Russia, certification and registering of an ultra-light aircraft is still "optional". Which paves road for disasters like this.