Dan, I can now see why you were reluctant to tell the story abut your return trip home from MVN. Please accept my condolences and thank you for sharing. I very nearly trashed my KR-2 and myself on the first flight.
Sid Wood Tri-gear KR-2 N6242 Mechanicsville, MD, USA ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Circling the airport gave me a grave picture of what I was about to face. > The wind was left quartering at what looked to be about 25 MPH, gusting > and > shifting. I did my usual approach and the Black Bird would not come > down, > so kept trying over and over at a lower downwind altitude each time. I > finally got the wheels on the ground only to get hit with a gust of wind > that lifted me up to what felt like 10 feet or so. I felt like I was > suspended and quickly realized that I had to give power and go around > again. > But, when I pushed in the throttle, nothing happened. I had not realized > that the engine had quit just before or after I got on the runway. I > quickly pushed the stick forward to keep from stalling, probably a bit too > quickly, and the next thing I know, I am stopped on the runway with the > nose > on the pavement and the ELT squealing. As soon as I came out of the daze > I > was in, I shut off all the switches and turned off the fuel. Then, I > wondered if I was going to be able to get myself out of the plane. It was > not as hard as I thought and as I was stepping off of the wing, several > cars > were racing to my location, in a manner that looked like they thought the > worst had happened. > > Well, it was not the worst, but also not the best. Mark's prize prop was > broken, the cowling was scraped up, and the skin of the stub wing was > ripped > loose. The airport people did what all airport people do. The helped me > get the Black Bird in a hangar and a rental car on the way. My wife was > coming out of knee replacement surgery, which Tom knew, so when I called > him > for advice on where to get a vehicle to transport the plane back to CUB, > he > took over and set up everything. Two days later, there were a crew of > flyers in Greenwood, getting the Black Bird back home. > > I suffered no damage and my wife did not kill me, so I had to decide what > to > do next. I don't know the complete extent of damage to the stub wing > except > for the skin, and I would not fly it again without replacing the gear and > making some changes to restore it to the much lighter plane that it was > meant to be. So, I decided to build a Panther and equip it with all the > compatible stuff from the Black Bird. > > I have the tail kit and will be starting construction next week. > > > See N64KR at <http://krbuilder.org/> http://KRBuilder.org - Then click on > the pics > > Peoples Choice at 2013 - KR Gathering in Mt. Vernon, Il - MVN > > Best KR at 2013 - KR Gathering in Mt. Vernon, Il - MVN > > Best Interior at 2013 - KR Gathering in Mt. Vernon, Il - MVN > > Best Paint at 2013 - KR Gathering in Mt. Vernon, Il - MVN > > Best Firwwall Forward at 2013 - KR Gathering in Mt. Vernon, Il - MVN > > Daniel R. Heath - Lexington, SC >
