Sparky said, "I saw the Muses 2 kr2's at a KR fly in @ Covington, Tn. They both were very nicely built. I knew Brad Hummel who was killed in his along with Patty Helton.at Pope Valley. Came apart in the air."
********* I looked back in the archives and found this description. I wonder if Brad Hummel was related in some way to Morry Hummel? Mike KSEE ate: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 07:15:14 -0700 To: <krnet at mailinglists.org> From: "Robert X. Cringely" bob at cringely.com> Subject: Re: KR> RE:WAF'S AGAIN? There WAS a spar failure of the GB-2, a rip-off KR-2 clone, at the first KR Gathering in Pope Valley , CA around 1980. I'm not sure this failure actually proves anything, but since I was there at the time the story probably bears repeating. The GB-2 was a KR-2 with entirely pre-molded skins. Jeanette Rand hired a guy to do some glass parts for the KR-2 (not the current parts, by the way). He built molds, made some fairly lousy parts for Jeanette (if you ever bought a KR-1 turbo cowl, you know what I mean -- it was close to useless the trimming was so bad) but then claimed ownership of the molds. Jeanette, who felt that she had paid for the molds and ought to own them, was furious. Then it got even worse when the guy announced his new kitplane, the GB-2. It used ripped-off KR-2 plans, parts made from molds paid for by Jeanette and additional parts from other molds. A few ads ran in Sport Aviation. Jeanette's response was to take her business to Jim Kern at Task Research. She paid for a completely new set of molds (the current ones) which were much better quality and which were clearly owned by Rand-Robinson. Meanwhile, the GB-2 guy, whose name I forget, apparently decided that the KR Gathering was a good place to introduce his aircraft and sell a few kits. Alas, the Gathering was only six weeks away. No problemo. He built a prototype GB-2 in six weeks using parts gathered here and there and "flying off" the required test time with a Bic pen. At the Gathering, the guy spent much of one day doing fast diving passes at 240 IAS (I took one of those rides and that's the number I saw). Understand that the GB-2 builder weighed substantially over 200 lbs. In the afternoon, the wind picked up and things got quite bumpy. Many people stopped flying, but not the GB-2. I was standing next to Rex Taylor of Hapi Engines when the GB-2 passed down the flight line and shed a wing, immediately rolling into the ground and tumbling a short distance. There were no survivors. The GB-2 builder was dead, of course, as was his female passenger. So much for the GB-2. The crash investigation found that the front center section spar had failed in compression on one side. The problem wasn't the spar design and it wasn't the attach fittings or the bolts. To make the Gathering, the GB-2 guy had used a center section spar rejected by another builder who had made a mistake drilling the WAF holes. The GB-2 guy HADN'T BOTHERED TO FILL THE BAD HOLES and just drilled new ones alongside, weakening the wood and leading to the compression failure. A few hardwood dowels and a little epoxy and that guy might be here today. It is a testament to the KR over design, I suppose, that this guy was able to spend a whole morning doing 4-G pull-ups at 240 IAS at least 200 lbs over gross (I later heard the GB-2 prototype empty weight was around 800 lbs.). It wasn't until a little turbulence was added that the wretched thing finally fell apart. By the way, that was my second and last ride in a KR-2, the first being an equally scary experience with Kenny Rand. Since then it has been all KR-1 and the only idiot in the cockpit has been me. Bob At 8:45 AM -0500 7/10/02, Mark Langford wrote: > > >I also think it's important to mention that there has never been a reported >spar or WAF failure on a KR (to my knowledge), and there are some pretty >heavy ones out there doing some pretty amazing things... > ____________________________________________________________ The #1 Worst Carb Ever? Click to Learn #1 Carb that Kills Your Blood Sugar (Don't Eat This!) http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5400ba409ebb83a406822st04vuc
