Alex,
I agree. I was really leery of even discussing the incident with the reporter, but my DPE was chatting away with them, and I was listening to what he said and more or less stuck with what he was saying (which was all true, so no biggie). I did look the reporter in the eye and told him that I would be proof-reading his article for any factual errors and said to him that the press almost always gets the story wrong with regards to aviation. He acknowledged what I said and responded by saying he would make sure he did a good job. He also wasn't a wet-behind-the-ears newbie either.
As for the vibration question. Oh yeah... there was absolutely no mistaking the improper balance on the front end. The whole plane shook from stick to the tip of the prop spinner. It was VERY unnatural and initially I was worried that _I_ did something wrong.
I have heard of instances of the engine being so far out of balance that it had ripped the motor right from the mounts, but I haven't read anything that is cite-able or seen anything to substantiate those stories. I certainly could see that happening based on what I experienced. The carbs separating from the engine is what probably ultimately shut the engine down in a reasonable and timely fashion, which saved the front end. Had the front end, engine and all vibrated off, my BRS parachute was the next step in the process. We were well within the limits of the parachute (altitude and speed), but that would've been a hard thing to do knowing it certainly would've been a plane-totaling action. But if it comes down to the plane or me - I choose me! :D
Brian
--- In Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com, "circicirci" <acensor@...> wrote:
>
> Really glad to hear the report in this form rather than the "error chain that lead to fatality" type.
>
> Couple of thoughts and questions:
>
> I was pleasantly surprised to see a news report of an incident (any incident really, but particularly for one about an aviation crash) that that was straight forward, reasonably factual, resonably complete, and not meadering off into often baseless speculation and hyperbole. Some local reporter/writer deserves at least a small pat on the back IMO.
>
> Yeah, any kind of prop can fail. I suspect that failure of carbon composites are fewer, but have NO stats to support that suspicion.
>
> I'm curious: When the prop threw its two blades (appears to be the case from your description and the photo with the article) didn't the engine start vibrating/shaking horribly immeadiatly from the one unbalance blade on the hub?
> I would think in some cases such a configuration/situation the unbalance might be able to even rip the motor right off its mounts leaving the pilot with a plane so badly out of balance as to be uncontrollable?
>
> Alex
>
> --- In Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com, "Brian" <brian@> wrote IN PART:
> >
> > ...... today I have something of interest!
> > For a good brief "newsy" overview - the news report -
> > http://www.timescall.com/news/longmont-local-news/ci_21450136/longmont-e\
> > mergency-crews-investigate-report-plane-down
> > <http://www.timescall.com/news/longmont-local-news/ci_21450136/longmont-\
> > emergency-crews-investigate-report-plane-down>
> >
> >....a catastrophic failure of prop blades,
> >......the initial prop blade loss completely evacuated the mount.
> > The screws and bolts are still in the mount. When the first blade left the mount, it must've collided with the second blade, causing the
> > shearing and loss.
> > I knew doing a power-off/engine loss was going to be part of my day, but I really thought it was going to be simulated rather than an actual.
>
> >.... I suppose the same type of scenario could happen on
> > any prop type huh?
>
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sport_Aircraft/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sport_Aircraft/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
Sport_Aircraft-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sport_Aircraft-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sport_Aircraft-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment