OK, so I planted the Eclipse this weekend......

[Bob Pastorello]

Jerry, I am always sorry to hear of this kind of a loss.  I witnessed a nearly-spinner to spinner midair of an Eclipse and something else once....back in the ol' YS 61 Long Stroke days....my God...I was the caller, still narrating, and the pilot was still flying the maneuver when the snowfall of VERY small foam and fiberglas started.  Momentum took the remains a LONG way, shedding parts as you describe, but it wasn't close enough to see with the detail you observed.

I have to confess - ashamed to do it - your narrative had me ROTFLMAO/w tears....particularly the "temporal distortion" part....

Lesson learned about flap deployment!!!
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: bravo52 
  To: discussion at nsrca.org 
  Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 9:52 PM
  Subject: OK, so I planted the Eclipse this weekend......


  Yep, it is no more.  Man I loved that plane.  I loved the way it flew like a bullet.  Because of the "new" radio's and the fact that it isn't my primary plane, I programmed in some flaps.  Well, normally, when you deploy flaps without mixing in a little down, the plane pitches up.  I was a couple of mistakes high and my buddy said, "put down the flaps" and so I did.  Well, what happened next was probably the best looking crash I've seen in a long time.  Two things happened.  First, the nose pitched up so fast ( I think I was carrying too much speed) I think I sheered a control horn on the right aileron.  Then came the tuck.  Oh yea, that baby tucked nose under and rolled left.  I was on the flap switch faster than kiddies on candy but it didn't help.  With full opposite aileron, I could barley roll level.  Unfortunately, I was about 60 degrees nose down and picking up speed.  One of the qualities of the old Piorun Eclipse is little or no drag.  Any way, by the time I got on the elevators and leveled out, it plane was about 3/4 of an inch off the ground and accelerating!  Then things started slowing down.  I think they call it temporal distortion.  In very slow motion, the plane was flying ever so smoothly across the ground when parts just started departing the aircraft.  The first to go was the prop blades.  I actually saw one fly off...that is right before the left horizontal stab tip just touched the ground.  Then it exploded in a cloud of foam.  Then, the left wing.  Pulled the wing tube right out of the fuselage.  Now mind you, the fuselage is still scooting along at Mach 3 shedding parts like crazy.  And even though it seemed like minuets, this all happened in about 5 seconds!  All the while, I'm thinking, "No problem, I got this.......".  In all, the fuselage in primarily intact.  The left wing is good, the right wing lost the wing tube and part of the wing root, allot of sheeting and some foam.  The left horizontal stab has left the building.......... But......I think I can rebuild it!

  Jerry L.
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