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#15
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Brad Mallard wrote:
The guy is dead from a Mini 500. Brad, That's really putting it in a way that makes it sound like it was the helicopters fault when it was not. We're all adults, is it to much to be fair here? The man is dead because he was attempting to fly a "helicopter" that was not correctly built, not correctly jetted, and had been modified in a manner that could have adversely affected it's flight characteristics, and he did not properly autorotate after he had an engine failure due to his own failure to follow simple instructions. That is the proper and fair description. It's sad to see someone die in a completely preventable accident. Couldn't that happen in any helicopter design with the same scenario, right? Sincerely, Dennis Fetters "Dennis Fetters" wrote in message m... Brad Mallard wrote: I will put a little two cents in here. I was actually finishing a Metallurgical Engineering degree at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa a few years ago when the Areospace Engineering Department actually bought a kit as a project for the department. I was actually following along the process of construction because I had planned for quite some time to build one as well. I kept notes on the progress and talked with the select individuals chosen to actually construct the craft. The Areospace department had only one instructor that was helicopter rated and there is only one seat in this chopper, so it was never a question of who was going to fly the bird. According to the FAA report of the National Transportation Board ID # ATL01A003 it says " On October 3, 2000, at 0856 central daylight time, a University of Alabama Mini-500 Experimental Helicopter, N6165T, collided with the ground and burst into flames." This guy had thousands of logged hours, and numerous aviation ratings including Commercial Helicopter and a repairman experimental aircraft builder certificate. My thoughts of building a helicopter quit that day... The full report can be read at www.ntsb.gov "Jay" wrote in message e.com... Fetters wrote: This is a little part of the problem here Brad. People don't tell the complete story. In that way it will make a point opposite of what really happened. Why would you do that? Here, lets go into the true, full facts: ************ On October 3, 2000, at 0856 central daylight time, a University of Alabama Mini-500 Experimental Helicopter, N6165T, collided with the ground and burst into flames while on approach to the Tuscaloosa Municipal Airport, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. cut According to the airport control tower operator, the helicopter had completed three to four circuits in closed traffic to taxiway golf. While on the downwind leg, the controller believed that the helicopter had a sudden loss of engine power and began to descend. The tower received no communications and the helicopters rotor rpm decreased and appeared to stop before impact. Crash fire rescue trucks were on the scene and the post-crash fire was extinguished within minutes. **************** Fetters wrote: Why did the engine quit? according to our files I do know that the helicopter did not have all the mandatory AD's installed and should not have been flying at all. I do know that the helicopter did not have the mandatory PEP exhaust system installed which eliminated the need of jetting after ambient temperature changes. I also know that he had left the stock Rotax jetting in the engine and ignored our instructions to change it from airplane jetting to helicopter jetting, which would cause the engine to lean out and seize in a decent, as all of our advisories and instructions said would happen. He also never even once signed and returned a single AD notice as required. *************** cut According to the aircraft logbook, on September 28, 2000, the pilot had modified the helicopters horizontal stabilizer by cutting off part of the stabilizer behind mounting plates number 88 and number 98, and removed the winglets. The pilot flew 10 traffic patterns in new configuration. He noted in the logbook "less objectionable side to side shaking, but balance still indicates vertical 1.5 ips in climb." However, according to the FAA, this modification was not approved as required by the experimental aircraft operating limitations. cut The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons, and the pilot's unapproved airframe modification that resulted in the loss of flight control during the emergency descent. ******************* Fetters wrote: OK, now where was this the helicopters fault? The man was flying a kit helicopter he built that didn't have the up-to-date mandatory upgrades, he had the wrong jetting and he modified a sensitive part of the airframe that directly allows proper entrance into an autorotation, and he did not enter a proper autorotation after the engine quit, if he even could after the modification. The FAA determined that it was pilot error, who could disagree? I hope this clears up any misconceptions from inadequate posting of partial information. Dennis Fetters |
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