flienlow
Active Member
It doesn’t seem like Kit Builders are long for this world (especially if you drive an RV.) Last night I did a search on all the fatal accidents that were in experimental aircraft. Unfortunately I was reading for quite a while and only went back to June 2011. I didn’t see a way to chart my findings and if someone could point that out to me I would greatly appreciate it.
From what I can tell there are the 3-F’s of death Fuel, Flip, and F’ing around.
Fuel is the no brainer; however, there seems to be a lot of fuel starvation which may not be related to the quantity or valve. –But what? There is one hell of a lot departure stall accidents secondary to power loss.
Flip- See Fuel, and then add “The Impossible turn” as a frightened pilots seemingly attempts to make a fatal turn back to the runway and tip stalls causing the plane to go nose in or inverted “flip” into the ground.(that’s bad.)
F’ing around- Giving someone a low level flight display when you probably shouldn’t even give them your high altitude show.
There were other tragic accidents like the guy that built a plane and spent all day doing high speed taxis and mini flights off the runway only to have a sudden uncontrolled departure/tip stall type accident once he gained confidence in his aircraft at the end of the day.
Others were more foolish like the guy who a bought a thrice resold plane only to let it sit for 4 years and then decided to fly it.
There was also the guy flying a hotrod plane with no place to land when the engine quit.
One very sobering fact is that if you do in fact survive the initial crash or impact, almost certainly you will be burned to death from the resulting fire that ensues.
I will not attack or fault any of these airmen; I only hope to learn from them.
How this will change my flying:
1. I will not take take-offs for granted anymore, and will determine and different landing sites should I experience a power loss upon departure.
2. Gain altitude with all due caution and speed.
3. Fly at higher altitude especially over water or congested areas.
Not that I don’t do the aforementioned, but it will surely be on my mind.
From what I can tell there are the 3-F’s of death Fuel, Flip, and F’ing around.
Fuel is the no brainer; however, there seems to be a lot of fuel starvation which may not be related to the quantity or valve. –But what? There is one hell of a lot departure stall accidents secondary to power loss.
Flip- See Fuel, and then add “The Impossible turn” as a frightened pilots seemingly attempts to make a fatal turn back to the runway and tip stalls causing the plane to go nose in or inverted “flip” into the ground.(that’s bad.)
F’ing around- Giving someone a low level flight display when you probably shouldn’t even give them your high altitude show.
There were other tragic accidents like the guy that built a plane and spent all day doing high speed taxis and mini flights off the runway only to have a sudden uncontrolled departure/tip stall type accident once he gained confidence in his aircraft at the end of the day.
Others were more foolish like the guy who a bought a thrice resold plane only to let it sit for 4 years and then decided to fly it.
There was also the guy flying a hotrod plane with no place to land when the engine quit.
One very sobering fact is that if you do in fact survive the initial crash or impact, almost certainly you will be burned to death from the resulting fire that ensues.
I will not attack or fault any of these airmen; I only hope to learn from them.
How this will change my flying:
1. I will not take take-offs for granted anymore, and will determine and different landing sites should I experience a power loss upon departure.
2. Gain altitude with all due caution and speed.
3. Fly at higher altitude especially over water or congested areas.
Not that I don’t do the aforementioned, but it will surely be on my mind.
