Posted on 05/11/2010 10:45:49 AM PDT by JoeProBono
DENVER, - Authorities said a pilot was able to land a kit-built aircraft in Colorado despite the small plane's engine exploding and ripping off its wing.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot, identified as a 54-year-old man from Wellington, Colo., was able to guide the 4-year-old jet-powered Berkut to a field near Loveland and landed without injury at 10 a.m. Sunday, The Denver Post reported Monday.
FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the turbo-shaft engine of the aircraft, which was deemed airworthy by FAA officials in 2006, exploded in mid-flight and the wings separated from the plane.
The FAA said more than 30,000 "amateur-built" planes have been registered in the United States.
Riiiiight. Tryin’ to tell me a lie that this wasn’t a Homebuilt. RIIIIIIGHHHHTTTT.....
I say poo pooh on this. The UPI cannot be trusted to know the difference between a wing and a canard. I say it wasn’t a wing until I see a photo.
is this the X29ski?
Now we have to read the article AND all the posts before commenting?
Don't you just hate when that happens?
Check the alpha. He’s loaded up in slow flight. Nowhere near mach 1. The vapor trails from the wing tips come from high induced drag, as a result of slow flight or pulling G. You can see them frequently where you watch jetliners land, and it’s wet enough to see the condensation caused by the wingtip vortices.
Maybe it was the winglet/rudder on the end of one of the wings.
Those have fallen off of VariEZs before, with fatal results, however. Typically, when something falls off a Rutan design, they don’t wanna fly anymore.
(Of course, this is true of most planes, just moreso on such a highly optimized design)
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