intothinair

intothinair

Well Known Member
Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/02/19/state/n111455S50.DTL&tsp=1

Grass Valley pilot dies when home-built plane crashes

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash of a home-built airplane that killed its pilot.

Steve Wilson, 57, told dispatchers on Sunday that his plane's engine had stopped, according to a Nevada County Airport service worker who was listening to the air traffic radio.

Wilson was flying a Van's RV-7, which he and fellow enthusiast Gary Guilliat had spent the last three years building.

Guilliat said Wilson had flown the plane about 27 hours and that the craft had been inspected and approved by the FAA.

Wilson's daughter, Katie, says her father died doing what he loved.
 
Thanks Gil for the link.

One thing that caught my eye in that report:

“Experimental planes are built by a factory, then disassembled, and advisors from the manufacturer periodically assist in the building process, he said.”

Where do they get these people?
 
Sad to hear... My condolences to the family. :(

I grew up in Grass Valley/Nevada City and first really got into flying there. Its a treacherous place to have an engine problem for sure. When I was about 12 my step father ran out of gas in our fastback 150. He was able to land it on Tyler Foote Rd and while slowing down caught the wingtip on a tree that spun the plane and threw it over a cliff into an old strip mining area called Malakoff Diggins (http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=494). He walked away but the plane looked like a discarded soda can. In his case it was true PIC error not to have had reserves calculated properly for a night flight.
 
Brantel said:
Thanks Gil for the link.

One thing that caught my eye in that report:

?Experimental planes are built by a factory, then disassembled, and advisors from the manufacturer periodically assist in the building process, he said.?

Where do they get these people?
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Speculation: He may have been describing a quick-build kit to the reporter and what we read was that explanation filtered by the reporter's lack of experience with the field of experimental aviation. I doubt that a builder of two (at least) of these aircraft would have made such an outrageous statement.

From the general tone of the article, it seems at least that aviation is not being painted in a bad light even if it is somewhat inaccurate.
 
intothinair said:
Steve Wilson, 57, told dispatchers on Sunday that his plane's engine had stopped, according to a Nevada County Airport service worker who was listening to the air traffic radio.
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Man, that's a little too close to home, literally and otherwise. Very sorry for the family and friends.

I've been reading lately that a significant percentage of homebuilts have fuel flow and other engine problems during the FAA fly-off period. I can perform the electric boost pump max flow test, what else to do? Kinda scary this happened after almost 30 hours of flight, and I hope the NTSB will determine the cause of the failure.
 
What was the engine?

The FAA registry for N331KM shows Steve Wilson's plane as having an engine made by AMA/EXPR. Does anybody know what this engine is?
Leland
 
rfinch said:
I've been reading lately that a significant percentage of homebuilts have fuel flow and other engine problems during the FAA fly-off period. I can perform the electric boost pump max flow test, what else to do?
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Four things an RV builder can do:
1) Build the fuel system as Van's has designed it.
2) Fly with enough fuel to complete the flight, plus reserves.
3) Flush your tanks and fuel lines prior to the first flight.
4) Clean out your Gascolator/filter every couple of hours during Phase I.

I'm not saying or insinuating the above crash was caused by any of these things. Just pointing out what we, as builders, can do to tip the odds of a successful test period in our favor.
 
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N941WR said:
Four things an RV builder can do:
1) Build the fuel system as Van's has designed it.
2) Fly with enough fuel to complete the flight, plus reserves.
3) Flush your tanks and fuel lines prior to the first flight.
4) Clean out your Gascolator/filter every couple of hours during Phase I.

I'm not saying or insinuating the above crash was caused by either of these things. Just pointing out what we, as builders, can do to tip the odds of a successful test period in our favor.
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I'd like to add to this list to be especially vigilant in following up on ANY strange smell, sound, vibration, misfire, hiccup, etc., during the intial period. I would guess that in many cases there was some prior indication of a problem that went unaddressed.
 
To the above four I would add be equally careful of you vent lines. A plugged vent is just like an empty tank.

Bob Kelly
 
First, condolences to the family and friends. There seem to be way too many similar accidents.

As a former resident of that area, I can confirm how rough the terrain is in much of the Grass Valley area.

I am getting close (a few months I hope) to getting my RV-8A signed off. I plan on flying the first 40 hours as if the engine will quit at any second. While I hope the engine won't quit, I will fly as if it will. I want to design my test plan in a way that keeps me within gliding range of an airport or a very good landable field at all times. And I'll keep as much altitude as possible to give me more landing options.

Having landed in pastures, farm fields, driveways, vacant church parking lots and in large back yards while flying x-c in sailplanes, I am familiar with the reality of needing to making "forced" landings.

Why wouldn't everyone want to keep a runway within easy gliding range during their first 40 hours?
 
rv6ejguy; said:
People get impatient and bored during the flight test phase and figure that it's ok to go on a trip. Don't get complacent.
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As I understand there are specific flight tests to do during the 40 hours. The specific tests may not consume the entire 40 hours, but are valuable and would be better than merely flying in circles to run up the tach or hobbs. Are the tests required? I'm far from that and haven't investigated.
 
I just talked on the phone w/ my father earlier this weekend and got the horrible news from him. Steve was an extended family friend, and I have been following the progress of his build for the last couple years, albeit second-hand from my old man and his next-door neighbor (who had been making regular trips down to CA to help Steve on the project). Truly unbelievable...couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. From what I have heard, he was an incredibly meticulous craftsman, and I know he was very much taking his time on the 40 hr test regimen. I'll be very interested to hear anything more about this. I'm sure considering the terrain around your homefield is kind of a second thought given all of the other considerations pertaining to such a project, but it just goes to show you that even the littlest things can still kill you. Prayers for his family, and anyone on this board who knew Steve.

I believe he was using an IO-350 (?) FWIW to whomever posted that question.
 
welcome!!

Hey John, your first post-----too bad it has to come under these circumstances.

Welcome to VAF.
 
I've urged many people about to undertake their test flight programs to do so from an airport with minimal obstructions and reasonable runway lengths- even if it is not your home airport. Some have listened, some have not.

Stack the odds in your favor if you can during this critical phase. You have probably spent a lot of money and time getting to that first flight. A bit more driving time and some hangar rental will be a small price to pay if a power loss or similar emergency strikes you.

We've seen I think 4 power loss incidents already this year- don't think it can't happen to you.

A very experienced former military pilot was lost a few years back test flying a canard design out of a forest surrounded runway. He had a prior power loss incident which he managed very well but did not switch venues after this to a more suitable area. The second one unfortunately got him- he had no options but the trees and tried the often fatal 180 back to the runway.

Not saying this was a factor here but I'd back up the statements here about fixing every snag, remove the cowling often, clean filters frequently, inspect everything frequently before that next test flight.

Very sad to hear of this accident. Our thoughts go out to the families of the pilot.:(
 
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I've heard 3rd hand, but from a source probably reliable, that the aircraft owner had changed the fuel pump prior to the crash. How much prior I don't know. No explicit link (yet) from that change to the engine failure but that's the way things look. And also this source thought the accident happened after the 40 hour test period.

I have to agree with the advice to fly from a safer airport during testing any critical period: new airplane, critical part change, whatever. And think through what your actions would be at each phase of flight from runway roll, to rotate, to liftoff, to climbout, to desired altitude. Response to an engine failure will be very different at different phases. And what about a partial failure (rough running)?
 
I didn't want to say anything last week...but

Not to pile on. I was going to post this but decided not to, but we should keep in mind last week a RV-6 went down and two lady's where lost in Washington state. (quoting from from news reports) The crash occurred in Stanwood near Camano Island 40 miles north of Seattle, Sat 2/16/08. The 54-year-old pilot, Ann Price, flying with her niece where in ab experimental aircraft (RV6A). Ann and her niece left the Arlington Airport headed to a private landing strip right outside of a home she and her husband were in the process of building in Camano Island. A police report said that Ann was talking to her husband right before the aircraft crashed and told him that the plane was losing power or had lost power. The exact cause of the crash is under investigation. A witness stated, "It basically hit the ground and stopped instantly," Hover said. "It nose-dived." Ann Price was an experienced pilot.

Here are two links with video. The first one has comments from a local RV'er who taught her and he has some good comments.LINK; NTSB

Very sad. I have no idea what happened or why but there is a lot of the plane intact. She was well regarded by the local pilots. However it just reminds me if I ever lose power to start chanting "don't stall , don't stall, don't stall, don't stall and don't stall".

It's better to guide to a landing to some nasty place you'd rather not land in or on, under control, than try to stretch the guide to make some place you really can't make. My first flight instructor did me a favor by giving me lots of simulated engine failures and not all of them where right over airports or open fields or roads. Basically the lesson was lower your noise, pick your spot, go for it and take you lumps, land under control at min speed. I think some people might be surprise how fast a RV sinks when it gets slow. Practice those no power landings on occasion, even if its in the pattern.

The reason to post this, nothing to do now but say a prayer for out lost RV'ers and be determined to be the safest pilots possible.
 
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gmcjetpilot said:
However it just reminds me if I ever lose power to start chanting "don't stall , don't stall, don't stall, don't stall and don't stall".

It's better to guide to a landing to some nasty place you'd rather not land in or on, under control, than try to stretch the guide to make some place you really can't make. My first flight instructor did me a favor by giving me lots of simulated engine failures and not all of them where right over airports or open fields or roads. Basically the lesson was lower your noise, pick your spot, go for it and take you lumps, land under control at min speed. I think some people might be surprise how fast a RV sinks when it gets slow. Practice those no power landings on occasion, even if its in the pattern.
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Absolutely agree George. Sometimes even the high sink rate (below 70 knots) is enough to cause serious or fatal injuries, especially vertical compression of the spine. You don't have to stall to have something nasty happen after the engine stops.
 
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