RV Accident Database

[N355DW]

One thing I would like to add on the posts on low altitude acrobatics. I don't see anything wrong with them as long as there is proper preparation and training. That statement however excludes low altitude acro that is not planned well in advance over a know area. Low altitude acro that is spur of the moment over terrain of varying or unknown altitudes without a spotter is a entirely different animal and seems from the accident reports to be where the problem can be found.

George

YES YES YES!!!!!

Please let me be the voice of personal experience here.

Of all my friends and acquaintances in the aerobatic community I have lost (over THIRTY in the last 18 years) impromptu low level aerobatics has killed far too many. The fact that it is such a preventable accident is what depresses me the most. Many were experienced and accomplished pilots. Careful planning and much practice is essential to safely performing at low altitudes.

Resist the urge, if not for yourselves, for your friends and family.

 

[NASA515]

Accidents

"I have no need for a thrill or any interest in plugging myself and wife into the ground. I know there is risk in everything and I do what I can to minimize that risk. I enjoy life and family too much to risk losing it in any way. My personal limits for flying include no night flying, no buzzing anyone, no bad weather flying, not running out of gas, and flying a plane I believe is the best it can be."

Thanks for saying what I wanted to say. Amen.

Bob Bogash

 

[N363RV]

The hidden message....

What makes us wreck a plane? What makes us die? Regardless of what you you see in in this thread, we like each other because we are all pilots... and RV pilots. We all....really like this airplane 3,4,6,8,9 and so on.

Here is the goal. To keep our friends alive so that we may argue with them a little more next week.

We need something concrete (no pun intended) to guide us to making better decisions when flying.

Here is an example. A close friend of mine flew a 6a into an airport that had gusting wind conditions of about 30 mph. The pilot was a low time 6A pilot, so he relied on some experience from flying a different airplane. The pilot increased the landing speed about 10 - 15mph which made him approach about 95 mph. The pilot porpoised the aircraft and did NOT go around. Crazy... as the technique would have worked with an airplane that weight 1000 lbs heavier. The nose gear collapsed and dug in. The pilot was lucky. The plane did NOT flip over... which is common in this scenario. ( I mean that they usually DO flip over)

Lesson Learned.
1. Go Around. Take a deep breath.
2. Approach at 80 mph.

TOO much speed. Slow down.

This is a real story.

The airplane was rebuilt and flys today.


Be like Paul Dye and tell us your story so that the rest of us may benefit from it and.... live.

I did NOT know what a problem fuel selectors could be. Thanks to Paul, I do now.

I am especially interested in fuel starvation issues, but we need to hear from the young pilots who just screwed up.