A well-known South African test pilot was killed in the crash of a vintage jet fighter at an air show there on Saturday. "It is with profound sadness that the organizers of the West Coast Airshow confirm a fatal accident involving James O'Connell, a highly skilled and respected test pilot from South Africa," the statement said. "Mr O'Connell was performing a routine display intended to demonstrate the capabilities of the Impala Mark 1 - a beloved warbird with deep historical significance for many South Africans. It was especially a huge moment because the Impala has not been seen performing at air shows for many years."
It was slow and I think I saw the flaps deployed to support that. Flaps during a roll is new to me, because won’t they have a adverse effect during the inverted part?
Aileron rolls are NOT 1g manoeuvres. A barrel roll, which is, here would probably have been successful. Entry speed is probably the biggest factor, with not enough speed/thrust to counter the drag of undercarriage and flaps.
Looks like something in the yoke or control surface locked up.
The maneuver itself looked like it had plenty of altitude and enough speed.and done within the aerodynamic limits.
An aileron roll done at low altitude is not as simple as it looks. Many years ago an Air Force general killed himself in a T-38 attempting to do one after departure. I witnessed a similar crash in a T-33 at an airshow in Michigan quite a few years ago. The nose has to be raised significantly before beginning the roll in order to prevent a downward vector upon completion. There is nothing particularly complex about what happened here. No use of flaps, no significant change in roll rate, etc. The pilot simply did not start with the nose far enough above the horizon, and thus ended up pointing toward the ground at an altitude from which he could not recover. It is an easy mistake, and even very good and experienced pilots have made it.
Does the aircraft have full inverted capability? That will determine what type of roll the aircraft is capable of. The aerobatic community has played games with roll terminology and the description of type of roll has changed. For a positive G maneuver the nose is raised well above the horizon and aileron with a touch of coordinated rudder is applied. The maneuver will finish with the nose slightly above to slightly below the horizon. The video appears to show an attempt at a roll on the horizontal axis. The aircraft finishes in a significant descending line and maintains that flight path. The horizontal roll requires enough negative G while inverted to maintain level flight. In this case the airplane does not appear to be under control from just before wings level until impact.