RV-12 accident Australia 3-23-2013

[DaveLS]

rgmwa,

Correct, not at the pitch change (+/- 21:50:42~) but at the start of the steep climb (+/- 21:50:43~).

Stuff happening quickly.

-Dave

[rgmwa]

Originally Posted by DaveLS

rgmwa,

Correct, not at the pitch change (+/- 21:50:42~) but at the start of the steep climb (+/- 21:50:43~).

Stuff happening quickly.

-Dave

Agreed, everything happens very quickly. Pitch change starts at :42.0~ altitude only increases from :43.5 (lag due to inertia?), roll starts at :43.5 (result of accelerated stall perhaps?), roll angle reaches 140 deg at peak recorded pressure altitude. I could be misinterpreting the graphs so I won't comment any further, except to say that this accident appears to have been preventable.

[Driftdown]

It would be interesting to know the complete background of the pilot flying.
What did other pilots think of him, especially the ones that knew and flew along side him for a long time?

Very tragic. My heart goes out to his family.
May he rest in peace.

[Geico266]

Originally Posted by BobTurner

Before people run off on a tangent, can an RV12 pilot answer the following question:
What are the pitch forces like if the trim is at one extreme or the other? It's such a light airplane that I would guess - just a guess - that the average person can still exert enough stick force to maintain control. It's not a DC-8.

To confirm what Scott said. After an accident here where the 12 was improperly trimmed I set mine full trim and took off and flew the pattern with one hand. I then landed trimmed the opposite and did it again. It is "easily" flown with full trim in either direction.

[RV10inOz]

It would be interesting to know the complete background of the pilot flying.

He was known as LEGENDARY.

I know a bunch of stuff that I am not willing to part with just now. I have had my say already, but the coronial report will have lots of answers to this question. You can bank on it.

In the interim, read between the lines. What you see is plain english and not hard to decipher.

[Driftdown]

Originally Posted by RV10inOz

. . . "He was known as LEGENDARY." . . .

That can be interpreted in many different ways.
When all the facts come in, we shall see, eh?

[Remag]

I thought twice about posting this, however, because the question was asked, I'm going to reply.

Wayne was a thoroughly decent guy. He was humble and quiet. I always thought of him as a little eccentric. I was not in his circle of friends but shared a dinner table with him once and did a human factors course with him on one occasion. I came across him on many other occasions but he was not one to openly chat. He operated a company building and selling Drifter ultralight aircraft and was probably the subject matter expert on this type of aircraft in this country.

Now, Wayne had a propensity towards low level aerobatics in these Drifter ultralight aircraft and could be seen at some fly-ins looping, rolling and spinning to very low levels. I'm not sure if he was just enjoying flying or showing off, but I suspect the latter. As he was the only one doing these kinds of aerobatics in Drifter ultralights, he was given LEGENDARY status among many in the ultralight community. In fact, he was almost god like among ultralight pilots. So much so that one of his former students who was a risk taker killed himself and a passenger while trying to replicate Wayne's apparent skill level.

The fact remains that due to his LEGENDARY status, there are those in the ultralight community who will NEVER accept that this could be pilot error and will look toward some other cause, irrespective of investigative results. We all know of some exceptional airshow pilots who are no longer with us due to low level aerobatic pilot error, most with skills way above those of this pilot.

So, was this crash as a result of pilot error/stupidity? Don't know, the investigation will tell.

Was this consistent with his flying style or propensity to show off? Yes! But in any case, he was a very nice and decent human being and we need to remember that.

Here is a tribute video someone put up on Youtube http://youtu.be/GLCqy4T0wtI

[Driftdown]

Thanks Mark.

[RV10inOz]

Drift down, you will.

Remag, diplomatically written. Well done. But the data does not lie.

[luddite42]

Originally Posted by Remag

As he was the only one doing these kinds of aerobatics in Drifter ultralights, he was given LEGENDARY status among many in the ultralight community.

LOL...a bunch of guys who have 1) likely never done aerobatics, 2) probably don't have a clue what real aerobatic skill and judgment is, and 3) have likely had little to no formal flight training themselves. And they give "legendary" status to some guy who's willing to flip around at low levels in an ultralight, and that's grounds for eliminating the stupid pilot trick factor? But I get the impression you may see the fallacy here.