solarguy54 Posted June 27, 2017 Report Share Posted June 27, 2017 This morning, the pilot of a 2008 CTLS came in for a landing on Cottonwood AZ (P52) runway 32. Winds were light. The 200+ hour pilot (30+ hours in CTLS) reported seeing something on the approach end of the runway and initiated a go-around. On the second approach as they were about to touch down, they reported that something flew up in front of them causing the pilot to react instinctively resulting in the aircraft veering left and impacting left of the runway on a dirt berm. There was substantial damage to the aircraft but it came to rest sliding to a stop in a ditch. The prop impacted the berm shattering all three blades, the nose gear was bent back and sideways breaking the bottom engine cowling, the right gear snapped off and impacted the bottom of the fuselage leaving an 18" longitudinal crack in the fuselage, the left gear also snapped off and each wing alternatively impacted the ground shattering each wing tip and winglet assembly. All of the control surfaces are intact as is the interior of the aircraft and the fuel tanks. While the pilot was emotionally shaken they are physically fine. There was no passenger on this flight. This is one tough aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrapman1959 Posted June 27, 2017 Report Share Posted June 27, 2017 Glad the pilot was not injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug G. Posted June 27, 2017 Report Share Posted June 27, 2017 Yes, glad for no injuries. Depending on engine damage, total cost, some specific damage spots, and insurance coverage; it may be repairable. I had a low speed flip in a ditch without damage to myself and not a lot of damage tothe plane, but the spar box at the wing root was damaged and FD would not fix it. The insurance company paid and sold the airframe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted June 27, 2017 Report Share Posted June 27, 2017 Was it a woman pilot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted June 27, 2017 Report Share Posted June 27, 2017 3 hours ago, Roger Lee said: Was it a woman pilot? Somebody you know Roger, or are you otherwise familiar with the situation? Glad nobody was hurt, sounds like a strange occurrence. Bird, debris, Chupacabra...I wander what "flew up at her" on short final...? Sounds to me like the airplane will be a total loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted June 27, 2017 Report Share Posted June 27, 2017 I do know who it is and she's a new pilot. Nice lady. Sad this happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT4ME Posted June 27, 2017 Report Share Posted June 27, 2017 Sad news... Once again the "Egg" does it's job... That airport, P52, is home to at least 2 CTs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRon Posted June 27, 2017 Report Share Posted June 27, 2017 This was my plane for seven years. I sold it to my friend and she had just recently soloed. It's very sad to see this but, fortunately, she is OK. I will definitely spend time with her about this and let her know that "stuff happens" and not to give up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anticept Posted June 27, 2017 Report Share Posted June 27, 2017 From the description and photo, this will be perfectly repairable, assuming the wings didn't hit too hard and damage the spars at the root. The belly crack will be a simple fix. The firewall is likely going to be damaged, that's a little bit more involved. Possibly the gear sockets, but those just get a few layers of reinforcement when that happens. The wing tips are what will take some skill to fix, however, but not terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted June 28, 2017 Report Share Posted June 28, 2017 Very glad she is uninjured - mistakes and mishaps can happen to any of us irregardless of flight hours in our log books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony & Rose Posted June 28, 2017 Report Share Posted June 28, 2017 My mother would scream across the room if that word was used in our household... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug G. Posted June 29, 2017 Report Share Posted June 29, 2017 And yet inflammable is OK. (Or should that be okay?) ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cluemeister Posted June 29, 2017 Report Share Posted June 29, 2017 20 hours ago, Adam said: Very glad she is uninjured - mistakes and mishaps can happen to any of us irregardless of flight hours in our log books. So true. It's also sobering to watch how quickly things can go bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solarguy54 Posted August 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2017 Update: USAIG decided that the cost to repair it was reasonable. I have been working on it in my shop for the past month. Determining the correct parts to order has been a bit of a challenge to say the least. While the prop was shattered, the prop flange run-out was 0 degrees. I pulled the gear box and sent it off to Lockwood for a rebuild. The run-out on the crankshaft was also 0 degrees. Then I used the Rotax tool for testing crankshaft twist. Again, 0 degrees. Yeah! Didn't have to have the engine rebuilt. Saved $14K. I think the insurance company would have totaled it if it needed an engine rebuild. While the landing gear was wiped off, there was no damage to the main gear sockets so we just need to replace the main gear. The nose gear folded under the aircraft, but there was no firewall damage. So, I removed the small motor mount from the main motor mount and was able to swing the engine out and to the passenger side enough to remove the main motor mount and replace it without removing ALL of the plumbing. During the process, I found a badly chafed SCAT tube from the air filter to the intake plenum. So I'm replacing it with SCEET (double walled). The steering rods were bent. To replace them, I used a scope camera to line up the rod end joints while a helper inserted the steering rods and screwed them in. It is VERY hard to get your hand all of the way in there and I have the scrapes on my arm to prove it. The Vividea Ablescope is amazing. It's a tiny thing, transmits via wi-fi, and has a 180 degree bend feature that I have used extensively. You can insert it into a spark plug socket and check out the valves. I had 2 iPad mini's; one for me and one for my helper. After trying to screw it in by myself for a couple of hours, with the camera and a helper I was done in 10 minutes. Highly recommended. Both wingtips were heavily damaged (shattered), but there was only minor aileron damage. No wing root damage which was amazing. Looks like the wings "slapped" the ground alternately. A composite instructor is coming over from Germany to replace one wingtip and repair the other as well as fix some of the dings and dents. He'll be here for a couple of weeks. Really nice guy over Skype and email. When he's done, I'll be certified to do composite work in CTs. I built a Cozy IV from plans in the past, but am looking forward to learning from him techniques specific to Flight Design. Overall, I have been VERY impressed with this aircraft. So impressed that I decided to buy one and use it for flight training. So we now have a 2009 immaculate CTLS in our hangar for training and a 2008 CTLS under repair. So far, we already have 5 Private Pilot students and one Sport Pilot. Tomorrow I'm cutting a radio ad. We live in the Verde Valley of Arizona (Cottonwood, Sedona, Camp Verde), and there hasn't been a flight training facility here in about 15 years. Turns out that there's LOTS of interest in flight training. Some people want to come out and do intensive training for a couple of weeks while their spouse hangs out at one of the many Sedona spas. Nice! We do the 5-hour CT transition training as well. Also, Rainbow Aviation is holding an LSRI 2-day class at our facility in October. Contact Rainbow Aviation if you want to sign up. Sid Lloyd Kestrel Aviation Services LSRM - Aircraft/Weight shift iRMT - Service/Maintenance www.kestrelaviationservices.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 hi, if Engine 914 overshoot up to 6500 rpm, what kind of verification regarding crankshaft is required? 1.out of roundness 2.distortion check. please endrose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anticept Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 It will have been done at overhaul. The only out of round part that we can do is the front part that drives the gearbox. The rest can only be done with complete disassembly and we don't have the information for it (such as checking journal out of roundness) Distortion is done with a rotax tool placed in the plug slot, and the use of a flowerpot gauge. The crankshaft components are interference fit, instead of one piece. You're checking to see if the crank managed to twist. There's a table that states the allowable degrees from zero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 The crank twist measurement is a must and more likely to happen at high impact rpms or with a Warp Drive prop. The crank is a pressed together assembly and the it must not be out of spec by any more than 2 degrees. You check this measurement with a large dial bolted to the front of the engine with the gearbox off. and then insert a plug in each cylinder and when the cylinder hits the plug then you read the degree mark on the dial. You must not have more that 2 degrees between all cylinders. If you do the crank is junk and it would be cheaper at that point to buy a new engine over an overhaul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmInce Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 3 hours ago, Roger Lee said: The crank twist measurement is a must and more likely to happen at high impact rpms or with a Warp Drive prop. Why is that? Please fill us in regarding the comment on the Warp Drive prop. There are some Rotax powered LSA’s which come standard with the Warp Drive prop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 Solid carbon fiber and wood. It's far more solid than most of our composite props. This issue has proven out over the last 20 years with Warp props. Good for off asphalt landings if you pick up a small stone compared to a composite, but bad if you hit something big or more solid. Many people buy warp props for either a lot of dirt landing strips and because they are 1/3 - 1/2 the price of something like a Sensenich or the E-Prop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmInce Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 Okay, thanks Roger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Cesnalis Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 11 minutes ago, Roger Lee said: Solid carbon fiber and wood. It's far more solid than most of our composite props. This issue has proven out over the last 20 years with Warp props. Good for off asphalt landings if you pick up a small stone compared to a composite, but bad if you hit something big or more solid. Many people buy warp props for either a lot of dirt landing strips and because they are 1/3 - 1/2 the price of something like a Sensenich or the E-Prop. Warp drive props are solid carbon fiber not carbon fiber and wood. They are heavier though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 You ever seen one after a major prop strike. Cut it in half down closer to the hub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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