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Re: questions about flight capacity of a damaged P51D
very interesting elements, Drgondog! Thanks!
intersting is te fact that the pilot was flying along one side of the valey and not in the midle; that could have let him more capacity to turn back -if necessary; but as it appeared suddenly as nessecery, he tried to stay on same side and believed he could overpass the hill on that one side - just 10 meters higher;
The valley was in a "V" profile; 250m bright at his flight level, so a turn back - causing a loss of altitude as you explained - would let him less than 150 or 200m as diameter for his turn back and it would have been not enough I presume (?) for succeeding.
Pilot had probably noticed that there was no possibility for a belly landing in that little and long valley and would have been a hopeless solution;
then he had just the choice of a quick-end and maybe a crash with fire...
Terrible and immediate choice!
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