OOPS!

[Ed Alt]

I witnessed the tail almost depart on a 40% FC Extra during an IMAC 
freestyle last season.  We began to notice that the tail wasn't keeping up 
with the rest of the model as the pilot put it through a series of reversing 
rolls & snap rolls.  About the time that I and the other 3 judges realized 
there was a problem and not just an illusion, so did the pilot and quickly 
slowed it up and landed safely.   Not sure if there was previous damage that 
contributed to the failure or not, but the airplane was repaired 
successfully after the incident. As has already been stated, a good number 
of these FC models have logged a great many hours without incident, but it 
may illustrate that the care and upkeep of them requires close attention for 
areas subject to in flight fatique or damage during handling/transportation.

Ed


>From: "Dean Pappas" <d.pappas at kodeos.com>
>Reply-To: discussion at nsrca.org
>To: <discussion at nsrca.org>
>Subject: RE: OOPS!
>Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 10:26:03 -0500
>
>Hey Eric,
>Some years back (my guess is that this happened in '93) Steve Stricker laid 
>up the fuselage on one of his first Excalibur IIs extra light to save 
>weight, and added no formers, in the tail. This was a simple glass layup: 
>no laminates. The first snap with the plane, the tail-cone twisted and 
>folded over. Steve let go of everything, and the plane "popped" back 
>straight. The rudder cables and the elevator pushrod survived, and the 
>plane landed with rips in the the two bottom "corners" of the fuse, just 
>aft of the wing. Very little reenforcement solved the problem.
>
>Dean
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Henderson,Eric [mailto:Eric.Henderson at gartner.com]
>Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 9:34 AM
>To: discussion at nsrca.org
>Subject: RE: OOPS!
>
>
>BTW this is not  an IMAC-attack. It was just so interesting to see a stab 
>and fin stay still while the rest rotated itself off.  I have always 
>thought that the back-end took most of the stress. This showed how much.
>
>Murphy's law certainly kicked in this time.
>
>Regards,
>
>Eric.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: discussion-request at nsrca.org [mailto:discussion-request at nsrca.org]On 
>Behalf Of Tony Quist
>Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 1:14 AM
>To: discussion at nsrca.org
>Subject: RE: OOPS!
>
>
>That plane was Mike McConvilles  2000 TOC plane.  The new owner admitted 
>after the crash that the plane broke loose in the trailer and sustained 
>some damage.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: discussion-request at nsrca.org [mailto:discussion-request at nsrca.org] On 
>Behalf Of Lance Van Nostrand
>Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 9:12 PM
>To: discussion at nsrca.org
>Subject: Re: OOPS!
>
>Eric,
>Amazing video! Was that a FiberClassics rohacel laminate plane?  Why did it 
>fail?
>--Lance
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Henderson,Eric <mailto:Eric.Henderson at gartner.com>
>To: discussion at nsrca.org
>Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:15 PM
>Subject: OOPS!
>
>   Click here:  <http://www.cox-internet.com/33bd4u/images/IMAC_crash.wmv> 
>http://www.cox-internet.com/33bd4u/images/IMAC_crash.wmv
>
>   Why didn't everyone run....?

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