Flight Dates: 03,09,10 May 2009
Conditions
Equipment: (T-28 Trojan)
WX: Wind 5 mph, Temp ~50 F
Ground Conditions: grass
Field: (#1 )
I had a couple of great flights in very nice- almost still- wind conditions. I was enjoying my newly repaired T-28 which was fully rehabilitated from a wing separation that occurred the prior week. Unfortunately towards the end of the 2nd flight I had a similar event to the prior week- only worse.
I was executing a low pass at full throttle to see how fast the plane looked at WOT. As the plane was coming towards me I lost control and it crashed into the ground at near full throttle. The opening pictures is a recreation of the crash sight. The following carnage resulted from the disaster:
Canopy popped off- pilot tried to eject!
Front cowl separated from the fuselage along with the motor
Severe damage to the tail section
Separation of the wings from the fuselage
Bent push rod for front gear and Bent prop
The remarkable thing is that I was able to re-make the T-28 with only a little patience and new tubes of Devcon 2-part Epoxy.
I had to take the gluing in steps to get it right, but all in all it came out well. I did drop the steerable front gear since the front push rod was bent very badly. I don't really use the steerable gear since it doesn't work well in grass. Usually I hand launch the plane.
Here is a shot of the re-make, good as new-- almost!
Post crash I have flown the T-28 3 flights and about 55 minutes. It still flies well. It was a little gusty so I will reserve final judgment on the success of the fixes. Currently all systems are go! I made about 10 touch and goes on the 3rd flight. Lots of fun!
Stats
SC 1.0 Cumulative Flights: 15
SC 2.0 Cumulative Flights: 21
Total: 36
Cumulative Hrs: 8.3
successful Landings: 80
SC Maintenance / Repairs* ~$54.5
Stats
T-28 Cumulative flights 22
Cumulative Hrs: 6.2
successful Landings: 55
T-28 Trojan Maintenance / Repairs* ~$19
*Cost to replace items broken in flight
No comments:
Post a Comment