Kolb Twinstar down,. . . .

[Phil Perry]

I have just been advised by text message that the aircraft shown in the pic has suffered a forced landing late today. The pilot says that he lost elevator authority,. . . .( which way he didn't state . . .) and had to put the aircraft down in a paddock, shortly after takeoff. As assistant safety officer, I have to visit the site in the morning to inspect the aircraft and speak to the pilot. ( The safety officer is away in the USA ) so I will report to you what is said. . .I'm sure you will be interested. The owner is a G.A. pilot, who has recently converted to LSA, and appears to me, as a fairly level headed individual, having an instrument rating and over 400 hours P1. He says the aircraft is beyond economical repair, but I'm pleased that both he and his passenger ( another pilot ) received no injuries at all.

 

Phil . . . .PS Sorry mods, I intended to place this post in "Incidents and Accidents" . . .finger trouble )

 

 

[Teckair]

Glad they are OK, I will be interested to find out what happened.

 

 

[ave8rr]

Good to hear both pilots are ok Phil. Will look forward to your prelim report something that is lacking here in Aus I might add.

 

Mike

 

 

[Phil Perry]

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Good to hear both pilots are ok Phil. Will look forward to your prelim report something that is lacking here in Aus I might add.Mike

Sorry Mike, I didn't attend the crash site as planned, as an old friend died, and I went to see the family.

 

I WILL be going to the airfield tomorrow ( Sunday 15th ) and one of the guys took several pics of the aircraft both on the ground, and from the air. The incident WAS reportable to the AAIB, even though neither of the occupants was injured, as the machine was damaged beyond economical repair, ie, one wheel struck a fence post immediately prior to landing and was ripped off by the impact, causing the airframe to swivel as the u/c leg dug into the ground,. . .he thinks that the structure is twisted badly, if you look at the pic of the plane,. . . I guess that this would not take much,. . .quite fragile. I forced landed an aircraft in the same paddock eight years ago, after losing one of two carbs on t/o at around 200 feet. . . and with a fat pilot and a fat prospective syndicate member installed in the office, . . . it wouldn't have made it round the circuit from that height to the next available strip ! !

 

The pilot of the Kolb has told me that his datalog indicated that the incident flight lasted 46 seconds, wheels up,. . . to one wheel down. . . . he'd only bought the aircraft six weeks previously, and had just finished converting from G.A ( PA-28 to LSA . . .) but that the machine WAS well and fully insured. . .

 

I've been promised some pics but I have not got them yet. As the assistant safety officer, I would normally attend at the time, but I was 100 NM out of area for a couple of days. Will report soon, if only for interest's sake. . . . not a very exciting incident I know,. . .but I'm intrigued to know what caused the pitch control "jam". . . .

 

Phil

 

 

[Phil Perry]

rUpdate on the Kolb incident.

 

The A.A.I.B. were informed and following a discussion with the owner / pilot and two witnesses ( both pilots ) decided not to attend, had there been injuries, they would have.

 

I still have not recieved the promised pics of the aircraft on the day of the incident, and the remains of the machine have now been removed from the Airfield. Two experienced pilots witnessed the event from different parts of the site, and both described a classic " Departure Stall" , ie, steep climbout, then the aircraft suddenly dropping it's nose and descending rapidly. It appeared to regain flying speed and level out moments before striking a paddock fence post with one wheel and u/c leg, which was torn off.

 

The aircraft then landed fairly gently, although one witness reported that it was "Travelling at quite a high speed" ( it would have been Downwind on the latter part of the rapid descent, as there was a crosswind reported on the takeoff runway, 25l, at 300 deg / 10-12 Kt.

 

The aircraft was spun around laterally when the stub of the missing leg dug into the soft ground. The crew "Pod" was not itself badly compromised on the inside, resulting in no injuries to the two occupants, but it was bent / twisted severely out of longitudinal alignment with the fueslage tube. It is deemed an uneconomical repair, due to the scarcity of available parts, this being a fairly old German ultralight design.

 

An inspection afterwards, prior to the wings being removed for transport the short distance by road, confirmed that all of the three control circuits were, surprisingly still connected and operating, with no evidence of any "Jam" ( to explain the pilot's initial thought that he had lost elevator / aileron authority ) A later conversaation with P1 revealed that he had "thought" that his coat jacket might have interfered with the controls . . . He maintains that he definitely DID NOT stall the aircraft. His passenger was a non - pilot.

 

Can't really expand any more, . . I wasn't there, I didn't see it, and I only have about 5 hours ferry time on type, some 12 years ago. The the two witnesses were both reasonably high time pilots, one G.A. ( retired Airline pilot ) and the other with 1800+ hours on LSA. It's a real shame we have no video on this one,. . .might clear up the "Stall" query. . .?

 

I've tried to be as factual / clinical with this story, ( can't really call it a report, as I'm not a qualified accident investigator ! ) and I've tried not to journalise, or insert an opinion. But it's OK if YOU do .

 

I'll post the rest of those pics if I ever get them !

 

Phil