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CalBru(at)aol.com
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 Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 2:19 pm Post subject: RE Rocket "Accident" |
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Guys,
I thought that I had ground looped my F1 out at Truckee on 9/10/08. This will probably come up on NTSB eventually.
I thought this through in my mind quite a bit wondering what I had done wrong. We were slow, the TW had come down, when the plane just started going right, no matter how much L rudder I put in.
The L MLG bent back and in about 15*, the L wing tagged the runway, and of course, upon leaving the pavement and decelerating into the dirt the tail came up for a quick prop strike, then back down. No injuries.
As I drove a borrowed large truck and 30' trailer out there last Friday (from Salt Lake), I thought about the damage and realized that the TW has collapsed and twisted clockwise, where all of the momentum during the accident was turning everything counterclockwise. I had noticed that the TW had sheared the 2 AN3 bolts and rotated at the scene, but it was later that it dawned on me that it must have collapsed prior to the accident--in fact the TW failure caused the accident.
The single arm Janzi TW steering arm obviously rotated during the failure from horizontal to vertical, thus placing pressure on the bottom of the rudder and forcing it to the right, thus causing the uncontrollable right turn! There is a hole punctured in the glass rudder bottom, probably from my Left foot jamming on the L rudder so hard.
I was upset that I had damaged the plane, but when I thought it was my fault (even though I could not figure out why) I felt OK about the brain damage and expense of the repair. Now, knowing that a few cents worth of bolts failing caused the accident and aftermath, I'm kinda upset.
Bottom line, Check your bolts which go through the TW assembly into the tail spring so you don't have a similar incident!!!
The F1 is back in the hangar now, and I'll slowly figure out how to get it back in the air!
Cal Brubaker
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SSmith(at)lacsd.org
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| Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 7:59 am Post subject: RE Rocket "Accident" |
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Cal:
I am so sorry to hear of your misfortune. We try to do everything right and sometimes bad things still happen. Good luck with your repairs - Stu Smith, HRII at Compton Airport, near LAX.
[quote] --
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mcculleyja(at)starpower.n
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| Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:41 am Post subject: RE Rocket "Accident" |
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Cal,
Sorry to read about your incident!
The tailwheel assembly on my Wittman Tailwind spring-rod also sheared
the bolt and rotated 90 degrees,but fortunately, without other damage.
The fix that has worked perfectly throughout the subsequent 500 flight
hours was to drill and ream both the spring-rod and tailwheel unit for a
taper pin. Taper pins are hardened and with a nut and special washer
that allows subsequent minor tightening if the assembly develops any
loosening due to microscopic wear between the tapered hole and pin. This
prevents any rotational movement from developing over time. The hardened
taper pin also has a higher shear strength than an AN bolt.
Taper pins and matching taper reamers are available in many diameters to
fit a range of appropriate requirements.
Jim McCulley
==================================================================================
Smith, Stuart wrote:
[quote] Cal:
I am so sorry to hear of your misfortune. We try to do everything
right and sometimes bad things still happen. Good luck with your
repairs - Stu Smith, HRII at Compton Airport, near LAX.
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nico(at)cybersuperstore.c
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| Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 10:34 am Post subject: RE Rocket "Accident" |
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Ditto, Cal. So glad you are uninjured. Stay safe.
From: owner-rocket-list-server(at)matronics.com [mailto:owner-rocket-list-server(at)matronics.com] On Behalf Of Smith, Stuart
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 8:58 AM
To: rocket-list(at)matronics.com
Subject: RE: RE Rocket "Accident"
Cal:
I am so sorry to hear of your misfortune. We try to do everything right and sometimes bad things still happen. Good luck with your repairs - Stu Smith, HRII at Compton Airport, near LAX.
[quote] --
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