Very Sad to Hear.
Bud did the installations himself, this was not FWF kit or anything like that. He really seemed like an excellent engineer, as his gear drive seemed to include quite a lot of unique features. I was very surprised to see the pictures of his previous installation (before the crash) that showed the fuel (or oil) lines running quite close to the exhaust. Probably a whole different issue this time though.
Dave Leonard
On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 3:52 PM, Dave <david.staten@gmail.com> wrote:
My apologies too if my comment seemed blunt or insensitive.... While I lived in the same general vicinity as Bud, I've drifted from active flying and building and never took the opportunity to meet him or see his product (having been thoroughly drunk on the rotary cool-aid).
But its very concerning to me that this packaged engine product has had two apparent in-flight fires (that coincidentally zapped the same pilot) I hope the investigation sheds light, but I'm guessing the person with the most expertise in the product is no longer with us to assist in the investigation.
Dave On 5/9/2011 4:12 PM, Pat Panzera wrote:
Sorry if my comment seemed blunt.
Bud and Phyllis were especially close to me and I'm having a tough time with this.
I'm in the middle of dedicating the next issues of EAA's Experimenter and CONTACT! Magazine to them.
I have a Geared Drives product announcement type of article ready for CONTACT! that I'm still going to print. The announcement was to coincide with their upcoming AirVenture appearance.
They are also on the schedule to speak at the upcoming Alternative Engine Round-Up we have each year. They came last year and had a great time and were looking forward to bringing the Raven to this year's event.
On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 2:03 PM, Thomas Giddings <tom@midwestaviation.net> wrote:
Pat: Thank You I stand corrected...I hope the investigation of the cause of this accident will give us a definitive cause of this tragedy.
Tom Giddings
VP Avionics Sales
On May 9, 2011, at 3:31 PM, Pat Panzera wrote:
Broken oil line, not fuel line.
His last incident was a a broken fuel line as I understand it. They were both Very nice people and real pioneers in the Experimental Alternative engine world. I feel the loss and I hardly knew them. I can only imagine how there friends and family must feel. My prayers and thoughts are with those grieving there loss.
Tom Giddings
VP Avionics Sales
< Midwest Aviation Avionics Logo.jpg>
On May 9, 2011, at 11:57 AM, Dave wrote:
On 5/9/2011 11:07 AM, Bobby J. Hughes wrote:
It did... This is the second time he was behind the helm of a converted LS1 engine that caught fire in flight on him... Thats not to say the auto-conversion concept is at fault, but there may be something to the oil or fuel systems that needs to be looked at (Im presuming this is a FWF type package)...
Dave
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David Leonard
Turbo Rotary RV-6 N4VY
http://N4VY.RotaryRoster.net
http://RotaryRoster.net
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