• The Biplane Forum is a large global active community of biplane builders, owners and pilots. From Pitts to Skybolts, to older barnstormers, all types are welcome. In addition to our active community, our content boasts exhaustive technical information which is often sought after for projects and maintenance. This information has accumulated over the 12+ years the forum has been in existence.

    The Biplane Forum is a private community. Subscriptions are only $49.99/year or $6.99/month to gain access to this great community and unmatched source of information not found anywhere else on the web. We are also a great resource for non biplane users, since many GA aircraft are built the same way (fabric and tube construction). Annual membership also comes with two BiplaneForum.com decals.



Remembering Cindy and her Acroduster

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jmendoza

New Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Messages
4
Reaction score
4
I was at El Mirage on that fateful day in April 1982, it was my 3rd EAA fly-in. After watching the Sorell Hyperbibe do a knife edge pass down the runway, I took notice of an orange and yellow Acroduster piloted by Cindy Rucker. I had spent a little time checking out her plane when she walked up and introduced herself to everyone, then she described her routine, which was taped to her instrument panel, and went over the planes features with us, this was about an hour before she took off. She was one really nice lady. I recall her telling us the plane was a cross between a Starduster and an Acrosport, which explained why it was not exactly like a Starduster.

At one point in her routine, the announcer began calling a different maneuver than she was performing and, and it seemed like she had skipped one because he was calling for a loop when she entered a spin. On the second rotation of the spin, the plane hesitated for a moment as it was pointing right at us, and it appeared that she knew she was too low, but did not want to attempt pulling out at that point because her recovery flight path would have been directly over our heads, so instead she finished the last rotation of the spin and then tried to pull the nose up as soon as she was headed away from the crowd towards the other side of the designated runway on the lake bed. We heard the engine go to full power, and for a moment, the little biplane was flat and level and it appeared she might make it, but an invisible hand grabbed her Acroduster as it had almost no forward momentum left, and it pancaked into the ground with a soft thud and a pile of dust arose. It appeared the top wing was intact, but loose on the interplane struts, and the landing gear was collapsed and flattened. We all gasped and froze, nobody made a move towards the plane as we were stunned. Then I recall the announcer excitedly telling everyone to stay back, because by this time, people were running out to her plane.

It was obvious to us all that she realized after entering the spin that she had entered it too low at the altitude she would have done her loop, and instead of saving herself by pulling out over the crowd, she did the responsible and safe thing and continued her rotation until she was clear of the people and then tried to recover. The ambulance and helicopter arrived, and that was the end of the airshow. Cindy could have tried to save herself, but instead, she did the right thing and it cost her life, which speaks to what kind of person she was. Even though I only spent ten minutes with her, she made a lasting impression I will never forget, and I can still remember that sunny smile she had.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top