OUCH ! Engine failure ?

[Phil Perry]

Just had this posted on Fizzogbook by my mate Kev Armstrong,. . . . he posted it ten minutes ago ( 13:28 bst ) so he's obviously not that bady broken. . . .( Neither is his smartphone evidently )

 

Waiting for details. That's not his home fireld so it could be power failure without a suitable landing field.

 

Will update. ( light damage should buff out easily I would have thought )

 

 

 

[Teckair]

Gee Phil looks like a mess glad your mate survived that.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Gee Phil looks like a mess glad your mate survived that.

Thanks Teck,. . . .Kev is an engineer par excellence, and in the forefront of various microlight developments in the UK, and a really nice bloke too.

 

He posted that picture from the crash site after crawling out of the wreckage. I have not got the full story yets, as this happened less than 2 hours ago. I only got the "Engine fail" bit secondhand, but that definitely doesn't look like any part of his airfield, although it COULD be near another he was visiting maybe. The trike is a single seater ( Was - sorry ! )

 

I'll get some more info later, the facebook page has gone mad but Kev hasn't replied yet, they are probably patching him up in a medical facility somewhere. His phone is now off as well. I'll report back later when there's more info.

 

Phil.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Update. . . From Kev Armstrong's Brother Chris.

 

Kevin is in hospital and talking gibberish ( not unusual ! - probably the morphine. . . ) Badly shaken, cuts & bruises, sprains etc. no info on anything more serious.

 

Engine seized, height unknown, very little choice of good flat landing places. Highly experienced pilot. No point in speculating, will find out in due course.

 

Here is a ( rather clipped ) picture of what the trike used to look like. . .

 

 

 

[Phil Perry]

No more news yet, but another photograph uploaded by a friend.

 

I'm wondering about the poor blokes feet and legs, this aircraft had no pod, just simple footpegs.

 

This pic shows a bit more of the frontal detail.

 

 

 

[Teckair]

Most would be talking gibberish after that, he would be in shock and lucky to be alive.

 

 

[kasper]

Shame to hear about Kev. Yep talks gibberish at the best of time ... but there is an engineers brain inside that is off at 100% all the time ... and half of that gibberish is just good solid thought ... just ask all the P&M Quik owners with his nose suspention mods ...

 

Hope he's back up and running again soon ... and FYI the engine was almost certainly his modded Vangaurd V twin lawnmower engine.

 

 

[skeptic36]

Cool reg letters for a guy named Kev Armstrong...

 

 

[Deskpilot]

I don't usually speculate but to me it looks like he landed nose wheel first on very marsh like ground. Wheel dug it, flipped him over and the mains never touched the ground at all. A very sudden stop. I'm not surprised his brain is not quite right at the moment. He's a lucky guy to be able to walk away from it.

 

 

[kasper]

Indeed - and his previous trike was G-KEVS

 

 

[kasper]

I don't usually speculate but to me it looks like he landed nose wheel first on very marsh like ground. Wheel dug it, flipped him over and the mains never touched the ground at all. A very sudden stop. I'm not surprised his brain is not quite right at the moment. He's a lucky guy to be able to walk away from it.

Nope to first part - in a trike its not actually possible to land nose first - the trike hangs nose wheel high and in an engine out situation even if you push out really fast the wing pivots more than the trike angle of dangle changing. - take a look at the avatar image of mine with the EclipsR - nose in flight is about 12" or 30cm higher than the rear wheels ... and the thrust line of the trikes are usually set up with very little power impact on swing ... unless you are flying a 1980's early trike and then you have significant swing from power ... but the modern ones do not and the Magic trike Kev was flying does not.

And the Magic trike hangs quite nicely nose high as well.

 

The real issue looks to be bog and tuck under after getting the wheels down - if you have few options on where you arrive you take your best available.

 

 

[Gnarly Gnu]

Wow he is fortunate to be alive Phil. Also fortunate to be in England with the ground is always wet and spongy....

 

 

[Kiwi303]

Looks like he had a soft landing, and not in the sense of a light touchdown, but more in the sense of a squelching halt in brown goo.

 

 

[Litespeed]

Bugger-

 

Glad he is alive and gibbering.

 

Phil- it might need more than a polish though, at least a good wash.

 

Be interesting to hear what happened to the engine in time

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Shame to hear about Kev. Yep talks gibberish at the best of time ... but there is an engineers brain inside that is off at 100% all the time ... and half of that gibberish is just good solid thought ... just ask all the P&M Quik owners with his nose suspention mods ...Hope he's back up and running again soon ... and FYI the engine was almost certainly his modded Vangaurd V twin lawnmower engine.

Thanks Kasper,. . . He mentioned that engine a while back. . .always trying out new stuff ! That's the beauty of single seat deregulation. .more room for innovators.

 

P.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

I Think another mad friend named Kev Mallin had that G-KEVS reg at some stage,. . .don't know if it was before or after KA though.

 

 

[kasper]

I Think another mad friend named Kev Mallin had that G-KEVS reg at some stage,. . .don't know if it was before or after KA though.

Nah, Kev M has G-KEVZ ... but he is mad as well ... just differently.

And for total bonkers ask Kev A when he semi aware to show you the design drawings for the split wing flexwing - differential pitching of the wing halves split along the keel ... even I went white at the idea but have to admit his drawings of the structure looked like they might work .. but not with me anywhere near it

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Nah, Kev M has G-KEVZ ... but he is mad as well ... just differently.And for total bonkers ask Kev A when he semi aware to show you the design drawings for the split wing flexwing - differential pitching of the wing halves split along the keel ... even I went white at the idea but have to admit his drawings of the structure looked like they might work .. but not with me anywhere near it

KEVZ. . Yeah that's right . . . . about him being mad as well I mean ! Formation leader of the "Pound Green Pirates" regular visitors to Otherton, though not so much since our gorgeous Lady with the hot food truck has packed it in. . .we're trying to organise a static cafe again, but the regulations and permissions required are many and varied. . . .No hot food = No Kev. . . .just says "Hiya" as he and his pack whizz through our overhead at 4,000 ft on their way to a site with free flowing tucker. . .

 

Kevin A. is back to posting his usual drivel on FB today, with no mention of his Whoopsie. . . .? Posted a vid showing American transports dropping vehicles on parachutes, with one in four of these falling to the ground unchecked. . . I guess he'll post a bit on the BMAA site when he's ready.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Kev's Youtube vid of the accident - with typical title. . .

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9yocHOffSg

 

 

[pylon500]

Nice looking runway dead ahead at 1:09?

 

 

Heat of the moment I guess..

 

 

[Keenaviator]

He certainly got the title right. It looked like there were so many better landing options.

 

 

[Birdseye]

Just didn't have a plan I'd suggest.

 

 

[Teckair]

At least he didn't stall it and fall to the ground like a rock.

 

 

[Kiwi303]

Or hit that manor house it looked like he overflew the gardens of.

 

 

[Nightmare]

From the look of how the cloud shadows were moving, did he land with a bit of a tail wind? As said before, there were a whole lot of other options, but we can only say that in hindsight. I don't know if I'd do any better when the adrenaline starts pumping. I remember in my emergency training selecting what looked like a very smooth field to land in from 2000ft, only to find at about 500ft that it was a bit rough, but I was committed. You can't go changing your mind when you have no altitude, so you have to see it through. I'm glad he is ok.

 

The video is priceless, watching it got me thinking of my emergency training.