Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.20000204013338.00b49940@olsusa.com>
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2000 01:33:38 -0500
To: marvkaye@olsusa.com
From: Marvin Kaye <marvkaye@olsusa.com>
Subject: LNC2 N31161 Incident for LNN SDRs
Mime-Version: 1.0

>Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 10:54:20 -0500
>To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
>From: "Lorn H. Olsen" <lorn@mich.com>
>Subject: LNC2 N31161 Incident
>X-Mailing-List: lancair.list@olsusa.com
>
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>Re:	N31161 Incident                       November 11th, 1999
>
>Dear Sirs,
>
>On Friday, November 5, 1999 I took N31161 for the first flight after 
>the annual inspection. I was only going for a 15 short hop. First of 
>all, I ground inspected the plane for about 20 minutes because it had 
>just had its annual inspection. I took off from runway 27L. I flew 
>about 8 miles East South East to the city of Pontiac and then headed 
>back. Everything seemed to work fine.
>
>The tower gave me runway 22(2,400 ft) because the wind was 220 at 25 
>kts. As I approached the runway and slowed to under 100 mph the nose 
>dropped. I porpoised once and then again. I then went around and 
>asked for runway 27L(6,200 ft).
>
>The nose gear light would not come on in this second landing attempt. 
>Although I didn't know it at this time, the front fork had been bent. 
>The tower confirmed that the nose gear was not down at all.
>
>I went up to 4,000 ft and worked with the mechanic's(on a second 
>tower frequency) suggestions of plus and negative g's to try to bring 
>down the landing gear. Nothing seemed to help. I then opted to land 
>without nose gear on 27L.
>
>In a stable run over the runway at 105 mph(normal touchdown 70 mph) 
>at an altitude of about 1 ft., I pulled back on the throttle by 1/2 
>an inch and pulled back on the stick. The stick hit a stop. I tried 
>again. The stick hit the stop again. Pulling any harder, to jerk 
>through the stop, could have caused me to angle up to high. I had to 
>put power back in and touch down. My intention was to touch down 
>fast, hold off the nose and pull power, throttle and mixture to stop 
>the prop. That was the end of my flight.
>
>If there are any questions or problems, feel free to call, e-mail or FAX.
>
>Sincerely,
>Lorn H. Olsen, President
>US MidTel, Corp.
>(248) 771-1010
>
>----------------------------------------------
>
>Accident Follow Up                          Monday, January 31st, 2000
>
>On Friday, January 21, 2000 at 1615 hrs, I prepared N31161 for the 
>first flight after the November, 1999 nose wheel up landing. I did a 
>complete external inspection. No problems were found.
>
>When sitting in the cockpit, I moved the stick control left and right 
>with no binding. I then moved the stick back and forth and felt a 
>slight grating at the far back extension of the control. I tried the 
>back and forth motion several times with different trim settings. I 
>thought that this slight binding may have been what I interpreted as 
>a stop when I landed in November.
>
>Next I fired up the engine and taxied to the runup area. While going 
>through the checklist, I tried to move the stick back and forth. The 
>stick hit a complete stop 3 to 4 inches before the aft most position. 
>I tried all trim settings with both sticks, but nothing helped. There 
>was a complete loss of the last 3 to 4 inches of elevator travel. I 
>was elated. It wasn't me. I had not forgotten how to land. I taxied 
>back to show the mechanics.
>
>When the mechanics came out to inspect the plane, everything worked 
>fine. What could the problem be? Could it have something to do with 
>the prop wash? We had to find out. This was a really serious and 
>dangerous problem.
>
>I had one of the mechanics sit in the right seat and work the stick. 
>As soon as I sat down, we lost the last 3 to 4 inches of stick 
>motion. At last, I thought, the seat must be broken and be 
>interfering with the controls.
>
>I got out and we removed the seat cushions. The fiberglass seat 
>bottom had not been inserted in the forward lip. By laying the seat 
>bottom on the lip rather than inserting it, the seat bottom was 
>allowed to slip forward 1 to 2 inches. The forward motion of the seat 
>bottom and hence the hole that the stick moves through caused the 
>stick to stop 3 to 4 inches before its full back position.
>
>I am writing this long letter to let other LNC2 owners know that the 
>seat bottom installation is very important. If anyone else has 
>inspected your plane, make sure that the seat is seated correctly.
>
> From the accident report above, you will notice that I could not fly 
>below 105 mph. Had the seat slipped any further, I may not have been 
>able to fly under 200. This could be the recipe for catastrophe.
>
>I have since flown the plane twice. Great landings with my new Ong's 
>Debongers. I did notice a slight fishtail when I first touch down. 
>Any comments on this? I will report further on the Debongers in 
>another issue.
>
>Good luck on building and flying.
>
>Sincerely,
>Lorn H. Olsen, President
>US MidTel, Corp.
>248-771-1010
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