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Ed,
I was most definitely there, and have photos to prove it! And Ed, I have enough actual glider time that I really don't need to challenge you in that department! You may remain the champ! (Please!)
Thanks everyone for your very kind words. One just cannot predict how you will respond until the real thing happens. I have crashed several simulators in the last 40 years including F-4, FK-100, B-727, MD-80, DC-10, B-757 & B-767, but the real thing is definitely more impressive.
It was just a total blessing that it quit when it did and not during the next 30 seconds. That would have meant lots more repairs, and maybe some on me too.
I will be re-doing my panel now, so if anyone wants a GREAT deal on a Grand Rapids EIS set up for liquid cooling, or an EIS by Ed, or a couple of Van's fuel guages, let me know.
Thanks again, y'all. You are a great group.
Bill
On Sun, Sep 4, 2011 at 4:41 PM, Ed Anderson <eanderson@carolina.rr.com> wrote:
Bob, Boy, I must have been out of it at Paducah flyin - I
don't recall seeing Bill there - in fact, I thought that only Steve Boese and I
had the distinction of both making down wind landings - Bill, must have had his
invisible strobe light on {:>). Wait is the "W" in Steven name for
William? But doesn't he go by Steve? Color me confused.
Ed
Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2011 4:48 PM Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: The good news and the bad
news......
You mean one of the several downwind landings made that morning? =)
I believe all of the fly in guests made a downwind landing on
arrival.
Chrissi &
Randi
www.CozyGirrrl.com
CG
Products, Custom Aircraft Hardware
Chairwomen, Sun-N-Fun Engine Workshop
Bill,
I am glad that no one was hurt. It is a shame that the plane was
damaged, but it is good that repairs are in the making.
I Will Send you pictures of your landing last year at Paducah if you
like. Let me know.
Bob Perkinson RV-9 13B
From: Bill Eslick
<wgeslick@gmail.com>
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
<flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Sent: Fri, September 2, 2011 10:51:50
PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] The
good news and the bad news......
I have been holding up
reporting this until all the facts are in, but that might never happen, so
here we go.
Good news: No injuries.
Bad news: I have some work to do.
Photos at:
http://www.tiny9.com/u/2101
On August 16th at 10 AM, I lined up for
takeoff at my home airport (3600' paved) into a 5 knot headwind. I had
just finished changing the oil and filter and plugs. Run-up was fine, so
off I went. Approximately mid-field, and a couple of hundred feet in the
air, it suddenly and without any warning became very silent.
Hit the
big switch which puts direct battery power to everything engine, but no
noise. No more time. At this point flying the machine becomes THE
priority. Dropped the nose and was amazed to see a little bit of runway
under the nose! I had fully expected to land in trees, houses or the
river, so I dove what seemed like straight down to capture as much runway as
possible while (somehow) holding the electric flap switch long enough to get
full flaps (noticed this later). Pulled probably my best round-out ever
- no bounce. Brakes to max and tail up for weight. I think my
sub-concious put it all the way on the nose to try to prevent going through
the fence and down the hill. Wheel skid starts about 200 feet from the
stopping point. Skid marks from the wheel pants, cowling and prop run
about the last 50 feet. It stopped nose down just off the end. The
tail was still over pavement. Pushed the slider canopy UPHILL, stepped
out and down. Noticed that I was not even scared by the whole
event. Interesting. Never even considered trying to turn
around. Pre-thinking that non-option apparently paid off.
More good news. No FAA or NTSB as it was a non-reportable
incident. Didn't even bend the gear legs. Also, my neighbor
crashed in a Challenger about 10 minutes earlier at the city airport about 10
miles away. The police and rescue types were headed that way (they had
injuries) and were not interested in my minor mishap.
As for the
engine. When we got it back to the hangar, the prop would turn only
haltingly. You could feel grinding going on inside. First try at
turning had it come up hard and stop. More fooling with it and it
gradually came looser and would turn. Really looked like something came
loose in there. Pulled a plug from each rotor and did a compression
test. Rotor 1 was 80-80-80. Rotor 2 was 2-2-2. More proof
that something had come loose. With that evidence, the insurance company
allowed me to remove the engine for inspection. What I found was a pile
of ground up ceramic junk. All the seals were still fine. Lots of
time went in to finding where that stuff came from. Went through every
inch of the induction system. Finally Jason Hutchison (my other
on-airport rotary guy) broke the code. While the RV was standing on it's
nose, this crap from my burned-out Hushpower II ran back up the manifold and
in the exhaust port. That is what was grinding. Crap. Now
the entire thing is off the firewall including the engine mount. All the
wiring is disconnected (did not find anything loose or missing). I spent
the morning looking under the panel for any loose or broken wiring, but found
none. When I get the EC-2 out, Jason wants to plug it into his plane and
we'll do the plugs and injectors test. If that checks out, Tracy, it is
coming to you for a good look. I don't know what else to check.
The engine quit just like somebody reached over and turned off the
ignition. No stumble, no hiccup, just instant silence. I honestly
do not know if the prop was turning or not. I suspect not, due to the
silence and the fact that one blade is untouched.
As you can see from
the photos, there was something going on with Rotor 1. Wear is apparent
down stream from the plug holes and all 3 apex seals are starting to chip in
the center. There is quite a lot of carbon also on the rotors after 170
hours.
Going forward, I have decided to look at resale value for
if/when my RV-12 days arrive. This means putting a (gasp) IO-360 on
it. The rotary has given me a safe 10-year run (til now, of course), so
I have no regrets, but this is an opportunity to make some changes, and parts
are already on the way. I will still be hanging out at the engine tent
at S-n-F and wherever else gatherings happen. Hope to be flying by the
first of next year....
I'm sure some of you will have suggestions about
what might have gone wrong, and I welcome any kind of speculation, but bear in
mind I am just looking at a pile of parts and wires at this point. Both
fuel pumps were on, tanks were over half full, crank angle sensor worked
fine.
Guess it's obvious that I now have a RD-1A, EC-2, EFI Monitor
(Ed's), Felix 68/72 and Props Inc 68/72 wood props and LOTS of engine
parts (my whole 14-year stash) available! And priced to sell!
Bill Eslick
RV-6 13B/NA EC-2 RD-1A
750
Hours
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