Very sorry to hear the bad news Sid. The good news was great. Don On Thu, Nov 14, 2019 at 6:29 PM Sid Wood via KRnet <krnet@list.krnet.org> wrote:
> Good news and bad news: After standing down for three and a half years > for > medical issues, those are done; BasicMed cleared to fly. During that time > I > installed mods to correct CG issues, RevMaster oil cooler, fuel pump and > oil > pump, new main gear legs, wheel fairings, electric flaps, welded aluminum > fuel tanks, moved the Great Plains 2180 VW forward 2 inches (Jim Faughn), > new brake pedals (Larry Flesner), new engine cowl and converted to > single-place operation. Here is the narrative for test flight #5 made on > November 6, 2019: > The aircraft is a KR-2 N6242 EA-B, built from vendor plans by myself. This > model is generally acknowledged to be responsive in handling > characteristics. The aircraft is in Phase I flight test. This event was > the fifth flight. Modifications had been completed to mitigate aft CG > issues found in the first four flights. The cockpit had also been > modified > to convert from two-place side by side to single-place for better > ergonomics. Fuel onboard measured 6 gallons right tank, 7 gallons left > tank. Total capacity is 15 gallons. Weather conditions: clear sky, > visibility greater than 10 miles, wind from the south at less than 5 knots > resulting in a direct crosswind component, gusts were 0 to 5 knots, > windsock > favored using runway 29. Takeoff had no issues. Climbed easily to 2500 > feet to the practice area 5 miles north of K2W6. Explored handling > characteristics. About 5 knots prior to each stall, got some slight > airframe buffet and elevator stick shake. Determined power off stalls to > be > 57 knots clean and 52 knots full flaps, no indication of wing drop. > Shallow > and steep turns up to 45 degrees bank did not require rudder input for > coordination, as expected. All air speeds are indicated. Level cruise > speed was 124 knots at 2500 feet and 3000 RPM using a 52x52 wood prop. OAT > was 16 degrees C. > Returned to K2W6 and entered the 29 pattern cross wind at 1000 feet MSL. > Wind sock favored runway 29. Made radio calls for inbound, cross wind, > down > wind, left base and final. There was no other aircraft traffic either on > the ground or airborne. The plan was to make two touch-and-goes and then > a > full stop. This would be the first use of flaps for landing N6242. My > first > approach using full flaps was at 65 knots, but to high over the threshold, > so executed a go-around. Down low under 50 feet AGL the crosswind > required > a slight crab and also had some light gusts. The next full flap approach > crossed the 29 threshold at about 30 feet AGL and 65 knots. About 2 feet > AGL a sudden gust picked up the left wing just as I attempted to take out > the left crab. I countered with left roll and right rudder. Both inputs > were over-controlled and PIO started. The aircraft impacted the runway > for > a hard landing in a level attitude. Rollout was tracking on the runway > centerline for a few seconds before the nose started a gradual uncommanded > pitch down. Full aft stick would not stop the pitch down. The prop > impacted the runway and yawed the nose to the left approximately 30 > degrees. > Now sliding on the nose, the aircraft was heading in a straight line for > the > left edge of the runway. Main gear wheels were functional. Right rudder > and braking was nil. As the nose impacted the grass, the aircraft yawed > quickly to the left in a ground loop. The right main gear collapsed and > the > right wing tip scrapped on the edge of the runway. Total turn for the > ground loop was about one fourth of a turn. The aircraft stopped off the > runway pavement edge. > Before securing the aircraft I made a radio call to alert any other > aircraft > that my aircraft was blocking the runway. When I shut off the ignition, > the > engine stopped and the jagged stub of one wood prop blade suddenly > appeared > over the cowl. A construction worker from the taxiway re-construction job > site was the first responder. I was not injured; seat belts do work. I > assisted the airport manager and the Skytech FBO personnel with a runway > FOD > walk down picking up prop splinters and bits of fiberglass. The nose gear > was found about ten feet from the aircraft in the grass at the runway > edge. > The collapsed right main gear leg was still attached to the aircraft. > Perry > Benshoof, Washington FSDO, responded to the incident and authorized > movement > of the aircraft. Skytech personnel used a fork lift, helicopter dolly and > a > tractor to retrieve the aircraft and put it in my hangar at K2W6. Flight > time was 0.8 hours. > > My insurance company Global Aerospace, Inc. declared the aircraft a total > loss. They now own N6242 and are going to sell it for salvage. Contact > Adam Martz, 913-749-0261. The center main spar is cracked due to the > right > main gear collapse. I have a detail list of damages and equipment list if > you may be interested for salvage. Contact me off line. > > The FAA Washington FSDO determined the cause of the incident was a nose > gear > collapse. The gear leg stub indicated a prior stress crack (rust) at the > firewall mounting socket. The FSDO Safety Office had no adverse findings. > Off the record advice was to get more flight time per year. I agree. > > Sid Wood > Tri-gear KR-2 N6242 > California, MD, USA > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Search the KRnet Archives at > https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. > Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. > see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change > options. > To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@list.krnet.org > _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. 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