Wooden Notes

Speaking of high energy crashes...

A few years ago a friend of mine, with his wife, was attempting a
landing that went wrong. He was flying an RV-6 and, somehow, lost
control of the plane on landing.

He careened off the runway to the left, dragging the left wing tip in
the grass, went through a barbed wire fence complete with metal posts,
through a blackberry thicket and then it got interesting.... The
thicket was at the top of a cliff next to a gravel pit and the plane
ended up at the base of the 60 foot cliff nose down in between two piles
of gravel. The nose of the RV was buried in the gravel and the wings
were buried in the two piles of gravel. The contents of the fuel tanks
drained out instantly (cut open by the metal posts) into the gravel.

He suffered a small cut on his left arm from the broken canopy and his
wife, in the right seat, suffered a crushed ankle from the collapsing
fuselage around her right foot.

The RV may not use wood construction but it certainly is well designed
for pilot/passenger protection.

John

Morgans wrote:

"Richard Lamb" wrote


Any kind of mis-hap is bound to find splinters in -um- tender anatomy.
Sorry guys, I just have a different bias.


I remember reading an article written by a (I think) French couple, who
had some time of mishap during either takeoff or landing, and the result
was a rather high energy crash. They credit the wooden structure with
saving their life. Seems wood is very adept at absorbing energy, and
the cockpit was designed strong enough to stay mostly intact. They
walked away with very minor injuries.

Anyone else remember this? It was a few years ago, I'm guessing at
least 5.

As far as your choice of materials, whatever turns your crank. That is
about as personal as your choice of toilet seat material. I like wood.
Nice and warm to the keester. g