lml@lancaironline.net Mailing List Archive

BILL

BOY OH BOY
                     do i agree with you
                                      my first thought was "hell the numbers are the same as what i fly now.

      COULD NOT BE FARTHER FROM THE TRUTH

when the 4P stalls it is unexpected and all at once and you better have experience and lots of altitude to recover.

       and the stick forces are not like anything else

TRAINING AND MORE TRAINING IS VITAL.
   i know that they put 300 hour 19 year olds into the left seat of B-17s; but this aint war and it aint the same.

            i have ten hours in a TBM and it aint the same. for whatever reason the LANCAIR IV stick forces get very big above 160 knots....   not true in the TBM, and TBM stalls are benign.
even though the speeds are similar. the disadvantage (including fuel burn and price) of the TBM is that it is necessary to get up into the flight levels to be economical (sic?)

hell, i get 238 knots at 6,500 feet in my 4P @ 17.5 gph

SAFETY RECORD
   LOUSY
it is my understanding that 11% of the second/subsequent owners crash on the way home from the purchase.

i find that in the regular aviation publications, accidents are regularly reviewed. if there was ever a need for accident discussion it is Lancair pilots.

it is my intention to occasionally review the Lancair accidents

HOW ABOUT THIS ONE
(got if from a radio shop i use; he lost a customer)
20 hours in type; transition from a Bonanza. 7.000 feet, IFR picking up ice. and... killing himself and his passenger.
SHIT, what was he doing there in the first place. 20 hours

HOTROD

i repeat here what my Lady said upon seeing a Lancair 4P: he said it is a HOTROD
Then she asked me about the safety record: A "terrible"

she was comfortable that she could get the C-340 to the ground if there was a problem. NOT the 4P.
     the result is that i will likely have the "safety wing" modification so that she feels safe. (if she feels safe, my life is better)

i have 93 hours in type in eight months and feel at home in the airplane; problem or issue come up i can handle it as the plane and i are already in concert.

WE should create a list of "minimum safety Requirement" for a Lancair pilot. it might save some future lives of second buyers.

THE FUTURE
it is my hope that prospective Lancair buyer will read these thoughts and as result, THINK

peter

Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2013 15:10:02 -0700
From: billhogarty@gmail.com
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Subject: [LML] Re: ACCIDENT INFORMATION IS USEFUL

Peter:

I talked to the owner of this plane shortly after the accident. He was aware of the problem and hired the ferry pilot to take the plane to have the problem fixed. Evidently there were two cells in the wing where the vent holes were not functioning and only one of them was found during the repair. The ferry pilot found the second one on the return trip.

The problem with the inaccessible fuel control in the Lancair has been know for a long time and, like you, I opted for inertia reels in addition to the standard seat belts. Yes, it is a little cumbersome but that's the "belt and suspender" approach.

Too bad we cant require training for new pilots and new owners.

Regards, Bill Hogarty

On Mon, Jun 3, 2013 at 11:25 AM, PETER WILLIAMS <peterpawaviation@hotmail.com> wrote:

ACCIDENT INFORMATION IS USEFUL

While my 4P was being worked on a read about an accident.

WHAT HAPPENED

the pilot was ferrying the Lancair IV or IVP for the owner; he topped the tanks and did his flight planning
He ran out of gas short of the intended airport and died in the emergency landing. he should have had enough
fuel and the gages showed fuel available.(and we can assume that according to fuel flow and time, he perceived that he still had fuel in the tanks)

his head hit the panel

WHY

during the build of the wings a passage between portions of a tank was not open as per the plans;
it should have been. thus there was about 14 gallons that was not available from that tank.

the pilot had unhooked his shoulder belt to operate the fuel selector switch mounted on the floor.

THE PILOT

was an experienced Lancair Pilot and an Airline pilot. Many hours and much experience.

MY SOLUTION

1. I had inertia reel shoulder belts installed in my plane prior to my first flight in the plane

2. on the first long trip going south, we ran one tank dry
2a. on the trip north we ran the other tank dry
3. in both cases we carefully filled the tanks and learned how much fuel the plane would hold and
     that all the fuel was available to the engine. (not just in the tank)
     i sat on one wing tip while we filled the last bit of fuel into the wings. this usually yields an additional
     1.6 gallons in the tanks

ERGO

I now know that my plane can hold 109 gallons in the wing tanks; thus i set my fuel Totalizator at 106 gallons.

I am not likely ever to be as experienced as the pilot of this accident, but i can use the information to insulate myself from the problems that he encountered.
so this is how i have benefited from this accident report; sad that a pilot was lost and sad for our community, a black mark on our airplanes

FINALLY A SOBERING THOUGHT

(the data is a little old, but significant none the less)

as of Jan 2011 the following figures
Lancair 4, 4P & 4PT

Flying airplanes                 297
Airplanes destroyed           56

that is 16% of the signed off airplanes being destroyed in a untimely fashion.

THE ANSWER

Training, Training, Training
and reasonable limits of your flying
(for example: runway lengths, VFR ceiling & vis. requirements. Personal IFR limits)
Annual proficiency flights with a LOBO instructor would be beneficial

fly safe and never stop learning

peter