Willie wrote, "Sounds like a bird-strike and the bird got jammed on the aileron balancing weight that was hanging below the wing. (Like spades on aerobatic planes). Piet logged many hours on KR2's. Highly experienced instructor and very current. When Bill Klapp came to SA I took him to meet with Piet."
A good friend, CFI and KR builder who himself crashed his KR with another person in the plane (no injuries but totalled the KR - this was over 20 years ago) just wrote the following: "The story with Piet and the KR crash was EFATO but not an attempted turn back, he still had alot of runway. He just stalled it. When I had just started flying my KR we were warned of a guy in the States who did the same. Light weight with not alot of inertia it slows fast if you loose the power, need to get the nose down fast. Sad. Both of the two guys I instructed for last year, dead within two months of each other." *********** This sounds really strange to me. Wonderboom is a hugely long runway, a military/civilian airport. Altitude is a little over 5K feet and density altitude is even higher this time of year, but the pilot involved was based there and taught flying . . . . I've never lost power on takeoff in either of my KR's so can't speak with any experience but I cannot recall any time when lack of inertia has been a problem with the KR. It's so slick the problem is usually too much inertia, if anything. The RAF 48 is a very gentle airfoil - one must have to really work at it to get it to stall sharply. It just mushes whenever I've tried to get it to break, cross-controlled or not. George McHenry is another one who died in similar circumstances. He was test flying his new engine and lost power on takeoff at Pueblo and apparently also spiraled in and died. Knowing what it's like at Pueblo much of the time, he might have been dealing with the usual hellacious winds so that could have been a factor with George. It's hard for me to get my head around the fact these lovely little planes can kill us. Mine have never even come close, no matter how inattentive or dumb I've sometimes gotten. Mike KSEE ____________________________________________________________ Do THIS before eating carbs (every time) 1 EASY tip to increase fat-burning, lower blood sugar & decrease fat storage http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/52fbd5f73580a55f7271ast03vuc
