Rans Stall / Spin - 2 fatalities,- Shifnal Airfield UK.

[Phil Perry]

The aircraft was seen to stall when in circuit in 'apparent' level flight. Height reported as approx 600 feet. One wing dropped and the aircraft entered auto rotation and struck the ground at a steep angle. Both occupants killed on impact.

 

I know one of the pilots. It was reported on news outlets Monday PM.

 

Working away from home ATM, borrowed computer, so No other factual details at the moment, other than the following link.

 

[/url]

 

Two killed as light aircraft crashes into field near Shifnal « Shropshire ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phil.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

my condolences Phil

 

 

[JEM]

Condolences to all

 

 

[ave8rr]

Condolences to family and friends.

 

Good to see that in the UK like NZ and other countries the accident is being investigated by that countries ATSB equivalent.

 

 

[Spooks]

Was this MYES?

 

Saw it on the news yesterday, very sad :(

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Was this MYES?Saw it on the news yesterday, very sad :(

Yes I believe so mate, . . . .And Thank you to FT and others for the condolences, much appreciated. I had not spoken to Tony for a while, as he was based at Market Drayton, and I had not seen him flying in the Rans, he trained in, and owned a Cyclone AX3, developed from the older 2 axis Weedhopper design and it had massive adverse yaw, and required 'Primary Rudder' to execute a turn. Quite a different control technique require when compared to the Rans S6.

 

Will wait to see the AAIB report, but several ( Pilot ) witnesses said that it appeared to "Just flick roll over and spiral" I'm sure that I cound not have recovered with the height he had,. . . . it happened to me once upon a time whilst stalling one for a re-rigging check flight following a partial rebuild, . . .From 4,500 feet, I lost over 600. That is probably more a case of me being a crap driver though.

 

Thoughts with the families at this sad time.

 

 

[Oscar]

As always, very sad to hear, for everybody. It was an S6?

 

 

[facthunter]

Sad to hear Phil. The RANs are very well crafted airplanes. 600' isn't much height to play with. Nev

 

 

[Phil Perry]

As always, very sad to hear, for everybody. It was an S6?

Yes Oscar, an early model, If you look at the news pictures, you can see that the top of the vertical stabiliser ( fin ) is raked down towards aft, whereas the later model S6 machines had a reworked fin with the top being horizontal and I believe the overall surface area was increased slightly too. There may be other differences.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Sad to hear Phil. The RANs are very well crafted airplanes. 600' isn't much height to play with. Nev

They are well designed and fly very nicely Nev. I've got the Pilot notes for the S6 but it's a .PDF, not very big, 432 Kb,, some posters might find it interesting.

 

Bear in mind that this is for the S6ES model, the aircraft described in the incideent, was an earlier marque.

 

Phil.

 

[/url]

 

Rans S6 ES Pilot Notes.pdf

 

Rans S6 ES Pilot Notes.pdf

 

 

 

 

Rans S6 ES Pilot Notes.pdf

 

Rans S6 ES Pilot Notes.pdf

[Spooks]

Shifnal aircraft crash: Inquests to open on Shropshire pair killed in tragedy « Shropshire Star

 

Pilots named here :(

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Shifnal aircraft crash: Inquests to open on Shropshire pair killed in tragedy « Shropshire StarPilots named here :(

Thanks Spooky, I saw that too. Yesterday I spoke to one of the eye witnesses, a retired Microlight Flight Instructor with over 15,000 hours, who is familiar with the aircraft type. He is based at the same airfield.

 

He commented that it was a 'Classic Overshot centereline final turn' stall / spin. As this is an ongoing AAIB investigation with a Coroner on the case, I won't report what he also said.

 

Ask me after the report is published.

 

Phil.

 

 

[dutchroll]

Slow speed, yawing moment, and a bit of extra G at low level is not a very good combination......

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Slow speed, yawing moment, and a bit of extra G at low level is not a very good combination......

I really Would like to repeat the full conversation I had with the FI witness Dutch, but I know that this is highly legally inadviseable in Australia,. . . and I'd hate someone over here to accidentally see it. We are still at the devastated relatives and friends stage, in mediaspeak. It is a bit raw at the moment, and my friend the instructor just says it as it is, with no political correctness whatsoever. . . . There are important ' Type Training' issues involved . . .

 

Phil.

 

 

[IBob]

'Based at the same airfield....'

 

You don't say if he witnessed the event.

 

 

[ave8rr]

'Based at the same airfield....'You don't say if he witnessed the event.

IBob, post 12 says he witnessed the event and is based at same field.

Mike.

 

 

[IBob]

IBob, post 12 says he witnessed the event and is based at same field.Mike.

I asked because high hours doesn't seem to prevent some commentators from jumping to conclusions; in fact it seems to predispose some of them to do so. And while it is human nature to speculate, I personally greatly dislike the way speculation seems to be aired in these sad situations.

But that's just a personal point of view.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Hi IBob. . .

 

Can't respond until the investigation is complete; as hereinbefore mentioned.

 

Regards, Phil

 

 

[SGIAN DUBH]

Phil Perry.......Knowing the Aircraft ( having rejected buying it for reasons that I can't disclose at this time because of the accident investigation ) I too think it would be prudent to await the AAIB report & see whether what your straight talking instructor says tally's up with what I believe caused the accident.

 

The Accident Picture also points towards my theory.

 

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Then we are obviously in total agreement Sgian old buddy me Cobber. . . .

 

As you must be aware, your input is always appreciated Sir.

 

Phil.

 

 

[dutchroll]

The Accident Picture also points towards my theory.[ATTACH=full]43529[/ATTACH]

I'd be very wary of drawing conclusions from that photo, especially given the reported severity of the impact.

It's not possible to reliably distinguish impact damage from in flight failure at that distance from a single photo and either/or could result in what is shown. However a detailed close examination by experts certainly will.