lml@lancaironline.net Mailing List Archive

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 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> << Lancair Builders' Mail List >> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 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 LML website: http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html Builders' Bookstore: http://www.buildersbooks.com/lancair Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.