Remembering my little mate

[alf jessup]

Well today marks 5 years since some of us lost a great friend.

 

Ross Millard (Maj) left us on this day in an unfortunate aviation accident helping out a friend.

 

I miss him terribly even though I only met him once in person in his home town of Townsville.

 

Many times over the phone we spoke forming a friendship before he left us.

 

Wherever you are Maj, smooth skies and tailwinds buddy.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Me too Alf. He is not forgotten; every time I scan my intruments I see the fuel flow and fuel pressure gauges he sent me. 

 

My cockpit also has momentos of my dad: the rosewood flap and throttle handles, plus my wife's dad, who wound my control stick with rawhide.

 

 

[spenaroo]

left us on this day in an unfortunate aviation accident helping out a friend

 

Hope you don't mind me asking what happened?

well before I imagined I'd actually be able to get into aviation. and if its something I could learn from, I thought it would be worth hearing

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

My understanding of the accident is that he was test-flying an aircraft after doing some maintenance.

 

Shortly after takeoff the engine stopped and he decided to turn back. If he had been in his own Lightwing he might have made it, but it seems he forgot that this particular Lightwing, though similar, had shorter wings, so stalled in the turn.

 

 

[corvairkr]

Well today marks 5 years since some of us lost a great friend.

 

Ross Millard (Maj) left us on this day in an unfortunate aviation accident helping out a friend.

 

I miss him terribly even though I only met him once in person in his home town of Townsville.

 

Many times over the phone we spoke forming a friendship before he left us.

 

Wherever you are Maj, smooth skies and tailwinds buddy.

 

4 years, Alf. Not a day I’ll forget in a hurry. 

 

 

jason

 

 

[alf jessup]

4 years, Alf. Not a day I’ll forget in a hurry. 

 

 

jason

 

Yes Jason I stand corrected it is 4 years, was thinking it was the same year the bloke I sold my trike too killed himself in it.

 

 

[alf jessup]

Hope you don't mind me asking what happened?

well before I imagined I'd actually be able to get into aviation. and if its something I could learn from, I thought it would be worth hearing

 

Spenaroo,

 

1 golden rule mate, if your engine fails shortly after takeoff , resist the urge to turn back to your comfort zone of the runway you just left, unless of course you have plenty of height.

 

i can get my aircraft around in under 300ft which is and has been practiced many times, but I set a minimum of 700ft and drill it in to my head prior to every takeoff.

 

Maj was a sticker for no turn backs but for reasons we will never know he attempted it and became another statistic in the long line of fatal accidents caused by turn backs.

 

Alf

 

 

[farri]

My understanding of the accident is that he was test-flying an aircraft after doing some maintenance.

 

Shortly after takeoff the engine stopped and he decided to turn back. If he had been in his own Lightwing he might have made it, but it seems he forgot that this particular Lightwing, though similar, had shorter wings, so stalled in the turn.

 

Pretty much what Ross`s brother, who was there and witnessed it, told me when I spoke to him about it... Knowing Ross, I would say he did what he thought was best at the time! 

 

 was thinking it was the same year the bloke I sold my trike too killed himself in it.

 

No offence meant Alf but I believe it`s wrong to say "killed himself in it" to any fatal accident! that implies the intention of the pilot was to commit suicide. Is it acceptable to say Ross killed himself in it? 

 

Franco.

 

 

[Yenn]

Ross was a great bloke and a real advocate for safe flying. It was a big shock to lose him, but we get the lesson to stick with our training and not improvise.

 

One of the standouts among the flying community.

 

 

[facthunter]

 Probably not Franco. He was killed while flying( in) it might be more appropriate. A plane can kill you if it comes apart in the air and YOU might have  caused it if you flew it badly. If you KILL yourself in a plane one would be inclined to consider it possibly a deliberate action.  such as  suicide. Nev

 

 

[turboplanner]

No offence meant Alf but I believe it`s wrong to say "killed himself in it" to any fatal accident! 

 

No, the wording doesn't imply suicide or an act of intent. It does imply that he was killed as a result of some action of his, which could well have been not landing straight ahead, or misjudging the wing lift on that aircraft, or even leaving the ground in it. To pull the English back more than that is to start going down the road that the Good Fairy did it.

 

 

[alf jessup]

Pretty much what Ross`s brother, who was there and witnessed it, told me when I spoke to him about it... Knowing Ross, I would say he did what he thought was best at the time! 

 

No offence meant Alf but I believe it`s wrong to say "killed himself in it" to any fatal accident! that implies the intention of the pilot was to commit suicide. Is it acceptable to say Ross killed himself in it? 

 

Franco.

 

I see your point Franco, no one intends to die unintentionally 

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Only met him once but I enjoyed his helpful posts here. Sadly missed.

 

 

[spenaroo]

Thanks,

re-reinforces what my instructors say about the pre-takeoff briefing being your plan and making the decisions then.

so you don't have to think about it in the air and can focus on flying the plane

 

 

[farri]

                                                                                                           

 

 

[kgwilson]

It seems incredible that this was 4 years ago. Seems like only yesterday. I very much enjoyed his knowledge in contributions to discussions of this site. He is missed even by those who never knew him personally.

 

 

[Hargraves]

Your absolutley  right sir I never met the bloke in person but he was a gem of friendly and professional information that was very much appreciated  and still missed

 

 

[farri]

In my previous post, #8, I said, "Pretty much what Ross`s brother, who was there and witnessed it, told me, when I spoke to him about it!" I was going from memory and that`s how I recalled it!  I`ve since found out that in fact, Ross`s brother who I was referring to, wasn`t there, when the accident happened.

 

Franco.

 

 

[David Isaac]

Definitely a big loss to our small community.

 

Sadly missed.

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Was a horrible time.

 

Disappointing investigation followed also, I recall visiting the scene after the investigation on the wreck was completed, and the engine was still half buried in the ground where it came to rest. 

Miss you mate ?

 

 

[David Isaac]

Was a horrible time.

 

Disappointing investigation followed also, I recall visiting the scene after the investigation on the wreck was completed, and the engine was still half buried in the ground where it came to rest. 

Miss you mate ?

 

Motz,

 

Was there ever an accident report?  Likewise, I never saw one on the Wayne Fisher accident either.  These were two accidents of great interest to the community.

 

 

[motzartmerv]

I remember seeing something on Wayne’s accident, but nothing from Ross’s. That’s not to say there wasn’t one, but the standard RAA version is pretty limited in anything useful to other pilots. Being an engine failure resulting in a fatal, one would think something substantial would follow. At least removing the engine from the crater would be a good start ? 

 

I believe rotax engines are fitted to more than a few aircraft in Australia. 

 

 

[nomadpete]

If, as was suggested at the time, there was initially a partial loss of owner before the engine failed, it may have caused Maj to hesitate before taking action.  That would explain a loss of airspeed before he attempted any manoeuvre.

 

I had a GA912 Lightwing .

 

I once took off with both fuel taps turned off. I till can't believe my mistake. I am not suggesting for a moment that Maj did this. However, my experience is that my aircraft had sufficient fuel to climb on full noise to a height of about 200 ' before faltering, spooling down, then shortly after that going quiet. In my case, I put the nose down instantly and maintained flying speed until landing in the crop off the end of the strip. I did have that option.

 

To lose our good friend after similar circumstances shook my confidence totally.

 

I haven't got over it.

 

I didn't really know Ross well but I felt closely connected to him. When I sold my a/C it had dashboard labels that he gave me.

 

Ross, you are greatly missed by all of us, not just your immediate loved ones, but also your extended aviating family.

 

 

[David Isaac]

Ross, you are greatly missed by all of us, not just your immediate loved ones, but also your extended aviating family.

 

Very much so ... Ross was an endearing helpful little bugga.  Our little community noticeably misses him.

 

 

[Thruster88]

Was a horrible time.

 

Disappointing investigation followed also, I recall visiting the scene after the investigation on the wreck was completed, and the engine was still half buried in the ground where it came to rest. 

Miss you mate ?

 

It is disappointing, I would be happy for RAA (us) to pay for engine dismantling in cases like this. This ATSB report shows what can be done, very reassuring for operators of the engine type.

 

Engine examination

The engine was removed from the aircraft and taken to a certified overhaul facility where it was 

disassembled and examined under the supervision of the ATSB. Key results from the examination 

included:

• No pre-accident defects were identified with the mechanical components of the engine. 

• The carburettor was disassembled and inspected, with no faults identified. There were no

foreign particles and debris, apart from a small amount of rust-like residue at the drain point 

reservoir (Figure 13). The fuel metering orifice was also clean and free of foreign particles and 

debris. Given that no actual particles or debris were found in the carburettor, the presence of 

this rust-like residue was very unlikely to have contributed to the engine power loss.

• The magnetos were checked for correct timing and then removed for functional testing. Both 

magnetos functioned as designed with no faults identified. 

• All the spark plugs were removed from the engine, inspected and tested. No faults were 

identified.

The exhaust system fitted to VH-WTQ at the time of the accident was an aftermarket, tuned 

exhaust system. The system was different from the standard exhaust in that it did not have a 

muffler to attenuate noise but rather had four exhaust tubes feeding into one manifold tube. The 

exhaust was removed from the engine and inspected in the inlet and outlets for obstruction, with 

no obstructions detected. The exhaust was also shaken in order to ascertain if there were loose 

items internal to the exhaust; there was no audible sound of loose items in the exhaust system.