Jessi Combs gone?

Understood but what's the difference between a flight helmet and a car or m/c helmet for crash worthiness?

 

It has been a bunch of years since I’ve had the opportunity to play with flight helmets, but from what I saw up through the early 2000#, a flight helmet offers very little for impact. They are designed to protect if you get bounced around in the cockpit a bit, but that is it. They are built from several different parts assembled into a shell rather than a single layup like a motorcycle / race helmet.

 

No. The fixed wing helmet is primarily designed around high speed ejection (I think the max instantaneous G is something like 400). Generally, they're quite a bit thinner (thinner EPS) than a motorcycle helmet.
Helicopter helmets are significantly thicker (looks like Darth Vader) and have a much lower max G (more in the same ballpark as motorcycle standards)

 

The North American Eagle LSR vehicle was dewinged F 104, so the flight helmet was part of the equipment.
Plus, the Alvord is a dry lake, so dust is an issue

 

Helmets aren't the issue in Jessi's death.
A supersonic airframe was never designed to be in contact with the Earth. That's the issue, imo.
Look at the remains of the car on the flatbed. It appears they retrieved one wheel and the hulk of the engine. Where the fuck did the rest of car go? I suspect it disintegrated.
(Haven't watched the vid).

 

"Then the filmmakers double down. Cockpit footage of the wreck survived, and it's presented unedited and without warning. The viewer rides along with Combs, looking alternatively over her shoulder and straight into her face all the way to the point of impact. Make no mistake, you are watching her die in real time.

It's a dramatic and controversial choice, but upon reflection, a seemingly appropriate one. According to Combs' crew chief, she did everything right. She followed every emergency procedure, made all the right decisions, and took every appropriate action. She was simply trapped in an uncontrollable vehicle going several hundred miles per hour."

Hard pass on watching that.

 

Same issue I had watching The Alpinist. Just gut-wrenching stuff.

 

I watched her on many a saturday mourning and it's been a few years since her death and I was stunned then as I am now again . RIP Racer

 

So I watched it and it was very tough.

wondering if anyone knows why or how it didn’t really stop? Like, did the throttle stick? Did dust get somewhere?

I know the wheel is what they say caused the vibrations, but when she reached the brushes she was still hauling ass.

for those on the fence you don’t actually see her die or any gore, but they do show the run and her actually hitting the brushes which appears to send the car flying.

mom trying to understand how she made it that far? They also said she pulled the chutes and they were disintegrated from the engine still running?

I don’t know a lot about jets

 

Flight helmets like the HGU55 are designed for some protection in the event of ejection, but more as a way to provide a place to mount an oxygen mask, visor, sound protection, speakers, and night vision goggles. Also a display system in the case of JHMCS.

 

A defective fuel shut off, would keep it lit...

 

It wasn't a snuff film per se, no gore or anything. I thought it was handled properly in the film. Unflinching for sure. Hard to see. I cried. But it's the reality of what she did, and without knowing the woman at all, I have a feeling she truly knew and accepted the risks and would have wanted the film just the way it was. I don't think any sugarcoating would have been acceptable to her.

For what it's worth, I would have walked away the first time the steering failed or when the guy forgot to secure that panel. I'm no engineer, and I didn't even stay at a Red Roof Inn last night, but I feel as if there were inherent design problems with the vehicle. At those speeds the goddamn steering has to be built so that it cannot fail, ever.

And the guy who forgot the panel? Thank you for your service, now get the fuck out.

 

Just watched, excellent show. She was really a badass. How in the hell did that camera behind her survive the crash?

 

It was a sobering and relatable documentary for sure.
Like you said Robby-Bobby, after seeing her run where her chutes failed, Britt's suggestion makes sense. She tried everything she could.

Yeah, t500racer, I shed a tear or two, but it was all because of the earlier story about who she was. A frigging' serious warrior from South Dakota who wanted to make a difference in this world.

I want my adult daughters to watch this...

 

The footage showed it ejected and landing on the ground, once the crash occurred. I was watching closely.

 

I only get so choked up when someone dies doing something they wanted to do and were well aware of the risk involved. While her death is still tragic it's still better than rotting away while wishing you had lived your life with a little more adventure.

 

The first time she ran into the bushes years prior she was praying and talking, said the hand of God stopped her.

The final run she either didn't say anything or they didn't get any other audio, like she made peace with it.

The camera facing her rolling out of view just before impact was surreal too.

 

I watched it last night, definitely gut wrenching, especially because she was chasing her dreams and not really in charge of the "car" development. By their own words, she was just there to draw attention to their car project. At least originally, I am sure they all bonded over the course of the project and they were clearly gutted.

my stupid question, why no ejection seat? That's 100% not a criticism, I know there are some military folks on this forum that can probably answer, which is why I ask. My understanding is a 0-0 ejection seat would have worked that close to the ground and that one Air Force Thunderbirds loon did it right over a runway at what must have been similar speeds.

After her first crash, where you could see her going "please stop," I couldn't stop thinking a pilot could have ejected but she was totally trapped in that thing going wherever it wanted to go at ungodly speeds.

 

Great documentary, she was the real thing for sure.

Final run was tough to watch, but I give her a lot of credit. She never gave up, kept flying (driving) that thing right till the end. That’s better than most people trained in emergency procedures could have done.

Ejection seat would have been nice, but it probably would cost a million bucks. The original seat on the F-104 was probably not 0/0, so it would have been a costly retrofit.