What surprises me is that there is no mention of a spin chute. We never did a spin series without a spin chute and even though, we lost 2 aircraft during some spin testing as the pilot assigned did not deploy the chute.... Guess it got confusing at high rotational rates about 2 axis and pitching in the third, but kinda gets you doesn't it.
----- Original Message ----
From: John Hafen <j.hafen@comcast.net>
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 6:33:26 PM
Subject: [LML] SkyCatcher flat spins and crashes......
At the risk of reigniting the discussion about practicing stalls in the Lancair, it is Interesting to note that a light sport aircraft would be designed such that it is susceptible to the dreaded flat spin.
“The SkyCatcher entered an unintentional flat spin and continued to 5,000 feet, where the test pilot bailed out.”
John Hafen
SkyCatcher prototype crashes
By Alton K. Marsh
One of the first Cessna 162 SkyCatcher light sport aircraft prototypes crashed Sept. 18 during a test flight 30 miles southeast of the Cessna Aircraft Company factory in Wichita, Kan.
The aircraft crashed near a wooded area, but the pilot landed safely by parachute about 400 yards from where the SkyCatcher crashed, according to a news report by a KAKE television news team. The pilot reportedly received only minor
injuries.
Witnesses told the news team that they heard a pop and saw sparks before the airplane crashed. The SkyCatcher is the company’s eagerly awaited entry into the LSA market, with nearly 1,000 on order. The aircraft, one of several built for testing, had 100 flights totaling 150 hours, according to comments made by a Cessna spokesman during a KAKE news interview. The aircraft is to be built in Shenyang, China, by Shenyang Aircraft Corp.
A spokesman from the National Transportation Safety Board said it was an Experimental category flight test to conduct a stall series at 10,000 feet. The SkyCatcher entered an unintentional flat spin and continued to 5,000 feet, where the test pilot bailed out.
While it is unusual for the NTSB to investigate Experimental test flight accidents, the spokesman said his agency is gathering information from the FAA and Cessna. “This is the light sport aircraft category, and it is something we want
to understand,” the spokesman said. The NTSB began paying special attention to light sport accidents in October 2007 that will conclude in January 2009, the spokesman said.
On Sept. 19, NTSB officials decided to assign investigator Craig Hatch of the Chicago office to prepare an official NTSB report on the SkyCatcher accident. He does not plan to travel to the accident scene.