Runaway Trike.

[Phil Perry]

A weightshift trike unit was was seriously damaged, after it ran away unoccupied and collided with a metal hangar some 50 metres across the rigging area.

 

The pilot had been trying to start the engine from the cockpit for some time without success, and had resorted to hand swinging the propeller.

 

He had squirted a quantity of an "Easy Start" aerosol product into the intake, and following this the engine fired immediately and the trike leapt forward rapidly, the wing was not attached to the trike unit at the time of the incident.

 

A non - pilot friend had been sitting in the front seat of the trike, with his foot pressed on the brake, as requested by the pilot / owner. The mainwheels of the unit were chocked.

 

As the engine started and very quickly ran up to high RPM, the unit ran over the chocks, taking the non pilot with it initially. The non pilot then bailed out of the seat leaving the trike to continue accelerating across the grass rigging area, where it struck a steel framed hangar and came to rest.

 

The owner commented that he had no idea why the engine rpm increased so rapidly, as he thought he had set the throttle to idle.

 

No injuries to pilot or non pilot, nor any other personnel. Airfield Manager is investigating.

 

Aircraft : Mainair Gemini Flash 2 Alpha, Engine : Rotax 503 / 2 stroke .

 

( ** This occurred at my local airfield during the week )

 

Phil

 

 

[Camel]

Hey Phil, I wonder if he used the throttle as the brake ?

 

 

[planesmaker]

Wow! Risky jumping out with the prop behind!

 

 

[flyerme]

I hate tractor smack ( aero start) on anything! If it doesn't start by Ussual methods there something wrong! investigate the problem...

 

I have seen that stuff break and bend cranks, pistons ect...

 

 

[dazza 38]

I have used a can of start ya bastard on mowers but never on aeroplanes.

 

 

[Doug Evans]

thats bad stuff on ya engine i wont even use on a mower rather find why she no go ?

 

 

[Jaba-who]

We used to use it on Robinson helicopters regularly in cold climates. It certainly works. Never actually saw a problem with it and never pinned anyone down who actually did see it cause a problem. although just about everyone who saw us using it said they "knew someone who had a friend who heard of someone where it" caused problems.

 

 

[facthunter]

It's magic on diesel tractors at higher altitudes in winter, but even then use only just enough to get it to fire up. My old Ford Dexta goes on about the second compression with it, ( start ya Bastard) where I used to just get white smoke and a flat battery before. I would NOT use it on much else unless it was pretty much stuffed. It is just solvent ether I think, and that lowers the octane rating right down. Keep it away from aero engines. ALL petrol engines need spark to start. Nev

 

 

[Guernsey]

If you had been pulling on my rope that many times I would have jumped the chocks and ran as fast as I could also. .

 

Late starter Alan.

 

 

[PA.]

Selling an old motorbike some years ago which was for parts only the buyer wanted to know if the engine would run. Out with a can of Aerostart and a squirt down the inlet manifold a give it a kick. It started first kick and we ran the bike for a minute by just giving squirts down the inlet manifold. I should add the carby was in a box on the bench. Fuel injection in a can.

 

 

[farri]

We used to use it on Robinson helicopters regularly in cold climates. It certainly works

Jaba, Some cool mornings, Mike`s Rotax 912 in the Zenith 701, simply refused to start.

 

One morning I took a can of the ether spray that I kept, down to him, gave a squirt into one of the carby air cleaners and it started instantly, next time he turned up, he had a can of, Start ya bastard, which was used more than once, it didn`t seem to do it any harm, the biggest pain was getting the engine cowl off and back on.

 

I did quite a few hours in it, never noticed anything unusual with the engine, it ran just fine.

 

Frank.

 

Ps, Jaba knows Mike.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Thanks for your interesting comments re the use of "easy start" products Gents. . . . .

 

I have been away all week, but got some more info today, as it is a Bank holiday, and there were lot's of people about, including some witnesses, and one of our pilots, ( Rotax engine maintenance qualified ) who inspected the wreckage, which was unfortunately locked up in a hangar today, so I didn't get a pic for you. . . .The pilot was also identified, but he appears to be making himself scarce at the moment. . . dunno why, he's in his sixties ( bloody old twit ) like me. . . . .but there you are,. . .might be busy doing other things, who knows, but he has not replied yet to the airfield manager, a CAA Examiner, who said simply this. " If brains were dynamite, . . .he wouldn't have enough to blow his ******* hat off. ( Asterisks from me, not the mod. ) Possibly a little unfair,. . .as he HAS NOT interviewed the pilot thus far.

 

From what I have gleaned today,. . the scenario is pretty much this.

 

The pilot bought a share in an A22 Foxbat around a year ago, and converted to three axis flying in that machine. He has a quarter share in the Foxbat syndicate.

 

His flexwing engine had not been started for at least that amount of time, and he had decided to have a look at it, with a view to selling it on, having developed a liking for "Gentleman's carriage" type civilised aircraft ( his words ) with doors, a CD player, a Transponder, and a cabin heater.

 

He pulled the trike unit out of his hangar, and chocked the wheels. Following around fifteen minutes of cranking the engine over with the in-cockpit pull rope, he gave that up.

 

He then asked a Non - flying friend to sit in the front seat, with his left foot on the wheelbrake pedal. What sort of safety briefing, or other information he gave to the non - pilot is a bit sketchy, as the guy has clammed up, expecting a CAA court case ( ! ) However, whislt still in mild shock, he recounted a few things to another of my pilot friends, who made him a cuppa, just after the incident occurred. . . but more of that later.

 

The pilot checked that the side throttle lever was set to idle revs, before attempting to hand - prop the unit. (This lever, for you non - trikers, is mounted on the left side of the seat frame, about level with the pilot's hips, this is so that an instructor sitting in the rear seat can reach it easily. This lever normally has a friction device so that it can be set for cruising)

 

The cable from the side throttle and also the cable from the foot throttle, which is located so that it can be operated with the right foot, are routed into a "two - in - one - out" independent "Mixer" tube unit, so that one cable exits the tube and thereby proceeds to the carburettor(s) so that either, or both throttles can control the full rpm range of the engine, In this case, this engine was fitted with a single carburettor.

 

Our local "Sooty" Nige the Mechanic. . .inspected the carburettor and found that the throttle butterfly was jammed fully open, at full rpm setting. . . .(which could explain why it didn't start in the first place. . . .)

 

On being told this, the pilot told Sooty that before he put the aircraft away last year, he had removed the cables, hung them up in the hangar and allowed some WD40 or similar to trickle down the cable sheaths, to, hopefully, make sure that they didn't corrode during mothballing. . .

 

The Side throttle cable had stuck to the inside of the sheath and this had kept the throttle butterfly open.

 

When the magic go fluid was used, the engione went to full throttle straigtht away. . . .and this could explain the whole incident.

 

If the non - pilot WAS actually shown the single ignition switch, which faces downward, inside a small guard cover, is monted on the right side of the seat frame approximately opposite the hand throttle, then he seemed to have no recollection of being informed about this, which was why he decided to leave the cockpit in a hurry.

 

If he had not done so, he could have been seriously injured, as from the damage to the trike sstructure, I am told that it must have been travelling at around forty knots when it hit the steel hangar frame on the other side of the parking area. . . .good job he was not strapped in, in this instance.

 

On a slightly different note,. . .when I was courting, my BSA C-15 250 blew up in my girlfriend's driveway late one night, and her Dad lent me his ancient Commer Diesel Pickup . . .he gave me a can of something and said,. . ."If she stalls, . . .squirt some of this down the intake, or you'll never get it started. . .! ! !

 

Phil

 

 

[kasper]

Slight query on term - unless this is a heavily modified F2A with an engine change the F2A has rotax 2 stroke with bing carbs - no carb butterfly to stick wide open but a carb slide to potentially stick ...

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Slight query on term - unless this is a heavily modified F2A with an engine change the F2A has rotax 2 stroke with bing carbs - no carb butterfly to stick wide open but a carb slide to potentially stick ...

Hiya Kasper,. . . .as I said, just reporting what I was told,. . .and YES the Bing carb on my plane has a slide as well. . . . . Have not seen the aircraft yet, as reported, so please forgive the text reports I recieved. We have 2 stroke aircraft on that site, some of which are heavily modified in one way or another,. . .all mods having to be approved by BMAA or LAA,. whichever organisation through which the owner has his permit. ( TBH , I was a little quizzical about the "Butterfly" bit also. . . . but not having seen the plane,. . . I can't comment. )

 

The Pilot rang me earlier on this evening,. . . ( They always do in the end,. . .as I was safety officer for 22 years. . .) and asked me if I knew anyone who had a Flash 2 Alpha trike for sale,. . .I said that I did,. . .and he said that he only wanted the trike frame, . . .and didn't want to pay for an engine as well. . . . .I said, well,. . .good luck then ! . My mate Adrian's trike wing was eaten by rodents, who took out a structural part of the wing fabric on both siides of the nose, this would require a complete replacement of the wing covering at an approximate cost of £2,500.00 plus 20% VAT. . . . I don't think he'll bother, BUT I don't think he'd take kindly to someone asking to buy the trike unit AND THE PROP . . . without the 503 engine really,. . .that is just taking the pi$$. . . . .

 

Phil

 

 

[Marty_d]

. . .he gave me a can of something and said,. . ."If she stalls, . . .squirt some of this down the intake, or you'll never get it started. . .! ! !Phil

Funny attitude for a father to have... OH - you were talking about the vehicle.

 

 

[flying dog]

For my two cents worth,

 

The whole process was flawed.

 

Sure, he tried to start it many times and it didn't start.

 

Get out, give it a squirt then get back in the seat and try again.

 

Leaving it to a NON PILOT is dangerous.

 

Some have speculated that maybe the throttle was used instead of the break..... who knows.

 

But it wasn't the best decision made.

 

At least he got to LEARN from it and share it, rather than being killed.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

I saw a 'runaway' trike once. Ol mate Pete nipped up the fish n chip shop on his home built Onan powered trike. When he came back down the road it was wound right up running away from the cop in the bull wagon. Those things can get some speed up without the wing. LMAO!

 

 

[rhtrudder]

Another handy use for aero start is to spray a small amount around carbys after reassemble as engine idles to check for air leaks, the revs will climb.

 

 

[rick-p]

Another handy use with a box of matches is incinerating paper wasps around the house. You can get a good 10 foot flame.

 

 

[kaz3g]

It's magic on diesel tractors at higher altitudes in winter, but even then use only just enough to get it to fire up. My old Ford Dexta goes on about the second compression with it, ( start ya Bastard) where I used to just get white smoke and a flat battery before. I would NOT use it on much else unless it was pretty much stuffed. It is just solvent ether I think, and that lowers the octane rating right down. Keep it away from aero engines. ALL petrol engines need spark to start. Nev

AeroStart and similar products are primarily comprised of a mixture of petrol and diethyl ether. The ether has a very high vapour pressure compared to ethanol or even petrol...hence lots of it exists in vapour form above the liquid. It's very flammable (explosively so when mixed with respectable quantities of oxygen as witnessed by the number of drug kitchens that blow up).

 

Ether is also an excellent solvent (that's why it's used in drug kitchens) so I would expect it would clean the oil off a cylinder quick time. And finally, it's octane rating is probably suspect because you can here the old diesel knock like a bastard when you use it to get the bastard started.

 

Kaz

 

 

[Tex]

Guy was killed out Western Qld a few years back when starting his Gyro from the side ... when it started it ran past him and he was hit by the prop.

 

 

[ozbear]

The biggest problem is using it on a 2 stroke that normally uses premix fuel is that there is no oil in the aerostart so your firing it up dry especially if it has sat for a period

 

 

[Phil Perry]

For my two cents worth,The whole process was flawed.

 

Sure, he tried to start it many times and it didn't start.

 

Get out, give it a squirt then get back in the seat and try again.

 

Leaving it to a NON PILOT is dangerous.

 

Some have speculated that maybe the throttle was used instead of the break..... who knows.

 

But it wasn't the best decision made.

 

At least he got to LEARN from it and share it, rather than being killed.

 

Just my thoughts.

Can't help but agree with what you're saying Sir. . . . . . but it appears that, whilst the trike was mothballed for fourteen months, the side throttle had been accidentally advanced to the full power position, and held in place by the friction device. . . possibly whilst manhandling it into the hangar, where it sat for the aforesaid period. When the engine start was attempted, the throttle cable had stuck somewhere along the circuit, holding both the slides on the Rotax 503 twin carb engine set at full throttle position.

 

Without removing the air cleaner and having a peek inside, this would not be, and WAS actually not noticed. This is almost certainly why the bloke had so much trouble in initially trying to start the engine. Some people never messed about with old motorcycles and lawnmowers whilst they were kids. . . . . I still can't forgive him for putting an innocent person at risk though,. . . .and the chap was very lucky not to have been injured by the propeller as the trike whizzed away to it's final resting place on the other side of the rigging area.

 

I've had a look at it,. . .it's a real mess. . . . didn't have a chance to take pics but I will later. This was an unexpected technical fault, exacerbated by a rather silly procedural fault,. . . . .dah didah didah. . . which is what seems to cause quite a lot of incidents IMHO.

 

THIS TIME. . .nobody was killed or injured. . . . .

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Still i think George holds the record for scattering the crowd with the Ultrabat incident some years ago.

 

 

[Oscar]

It looks - sadly - as if the Ultrabat may not be in existence for much longer to terrorise the flying public; while the 'Bat itself remains intact at the moment, the moulds (magnificent pieces of work) look like, from last reports I had (two or so weeks ago) will have a chainsaw put through them and be dumped. George Markey put probably more than $500k into those moulds (with all the engineering costs for developing the 'Bat Mk II).

 

I worked on the 'Bat II with George a few years ago, and it was/is a tiny jewel of an aircraft, almost the ultimate bling for those who would fly unlimited aerobatics but can't afford a Pitts or an Extra. Badly let down by the unreliability of the Rotax 2-stroke engine; George ended up landing deadstick on roads etc. in the USA too many times for even his comfort - and George was not a man to put much value on comfort...