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Cessna Test Plane Crashes In SW Butler County
A Cessna Skycatcher went down in southwest Butler County a few miles east of the town of Douglass. Reporter: Cayle ThompsonEmail Address: cayle.thompson@kake.com |
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a note on the flat spin of the skycatcher, a friend got into that same thing in a different type airplane, at 10000 went into flat spin,a long time pilot could not recover,he knew he was dead. at 1000 feet he deicided to cut eng off ,stop prop, that caused the plane to stop spining,and was able to recover, hope no one ever needs to try this, it was a different aircraft, might not work on the skycatcher but i do keep that in my mind . my friend thinks the spining prop is what kept it flat spining
That's Neat - If you are 70 does that automatically make you incompetent? There are alot of 70 year old people out there who are in great physical and mental shape! Thumbs up!
The thing I like about this story is that the test pilot is seventy years old. It's nice that Cessna recognizes that this guy has probably forgotten more about flying that some thirty year-old has ever known. Thumbs up!
As a former test pilot, I have had much experience with spins, including flat spins. Cessna has a great design there when they work our the kinks. Cessna would do well to investigate the relative size of the rudder compared to the fixed vertical (not a direct cause in this case) plus enlarging the vertical/dorsal about 25%. Also angle of elevator travel. I flew the Aerobat in airshows one season and found the rudder to be slightly lacking in authority. No problem with spinning, although I did not temp fate by leaving power on full with certain high-angle-of-attack maneuvers. I found, through the years, that most airplanes will spin flat regardless of the balance under certain circumstances. They may appear to be spinning normally, but aerodynamically, they are stable in a flat spin. If the engine dies, it's time to leave. Art Scholl didn't, and he died. I corrected a tendency for a flat spin in one aircraft by suggesting a small dorsal fin be added.
The lady on the video tape said nothing, and she went on about normal experimental test flights. What is normal? Answer, it normal for me not to say anything, so Cessna won't lose any sales. Build it in America! Not China!
China junk
According to AOPA (Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association, "A spokesman from the National Transportation Safety Board said it was an Experimental category flight test to conduct a stall series at 10,000 feet. The SkyCatcher entered an unintentional flat spin and continued to 5,000 feet, where the test pilot bailed out." Flat spins are often not recoverable so after losing 5000 feet, the pilot wisely bailed out. In determining the flight envelope, planes are ofter pushed to their limits (which may be unknown until after the test.) I'd guess that Cessna will be reevaluating their weight and balance figures.
Cessna Skycatchers will be MADE IN CHINA is it a wonder that they crash?
The sparks (and smoke) that the witnesses saw may have been from him blowing the bail out panel prior to actually leaving the aircraft. At this early stage, we can't assume that the accident was caused by an engine or electrical fire. I'd lean more toward him not being able to get out of a particular maneuver.
Reports say sparks and smoke. The engine not the airframe causes this. Cessna does not make the engine (but it DOES the wiring) so the airframe, which came down in one piece, seems not a problem so far. Pilots abhor fire and will jump if they can and not ride the bird down. All aircraft are EXPERIMENTAL until the FAA approve them otherwise even airliners.
Steve, I wouldn't worry about the airplane's safety. Once Cessna figures out what happened they will correct any deficiency before the plane goes into production. Any safety of flight issues must be corrected before a new aircraft gets its type certification from the feds. I'm kinda surprised the pilot had to bail out, as I always figured it's safer to ride the plane down and let it take the abuse of an off-field landing, but am also curious to hear from Cessna exactly what went wrong. Do you own a flight school? Is that why you've ordered two 162s?
The prototype was built in Wichita by Cessna. When the plane goes into full production it will be built in China then reassembled and test flown in one of three assembly centers here in the US. It's an awesome design with many safety features. It's being built in the Light sport catagory of aircraft. While the aircraft is in testing it flies under the experimental catagory. I'm glad to hear the pilot is ok. The reason airplane stories make headlines is that they seldom crash. Cessna has some great info on the plane on their website.
First off, I'm glad the pilot is ok and may any cause of the accident be found and corrected before these planes are sold. Secondly, leave cliff alone. He has his right to post and not have people flaming him cause they don't like to see him commenting. If you don't like something someone says, don't read it. It's that simple. You can always skip over a specific persons comments :-)
I have 2 Skycatchers on order. I'm anxious to hear what caused this incident, and why the pilot was forced to bail out. Should I be concerned...?
Nice plane! http://se.cessna.com/skycatcher/