Posted on 02/03/2012 7:42:20 PM PST by EveningStar
Hey I know what that second picture is and who was flying that experimental airplane I wonder how many other freepers do?
It was Tex Johnson, flying the Boeing 367-80, or Dash 80, which was the prototype of the 707.
He aborted his 1st takeoff, was having problems with the plane. Taxied back to the hanger, then crashed 20 minutes later attempting to take off again. Doubt if it was an engine problem, probably a control issue.
Any plane or jet that is overloaded or NOT loaded properly.
If you take say a cargo jet and put a pile of feathers in the back and a ton of gold in the front you will NOT get off.
If you have say a light plane, Cesna 170, theoretically a 4 person plane and put four wide bodies in it instead of two regular folks and two small kids you will NOT get off.
Also if you have mechanical troubles on take off you may not get off.
Loads of possibilities.
Then again he could have done a John Denver and taken off in his toy without fuel.
Lancair IV is a monster plane, as it seems are all Lancairs.
Safe and very fast.
That does not ever necessarily reflect the mechanic.
RV6A here.
61 mph is the FAA's number for certified aircraft's stall speed that must be met from a design standpoint for a reason. Read in Kitplanes or try to find Barnaby Wainfan's slide presentation of survivability above 61mph it is not good. I lost a very good friend last yr. to stall/spin, so I am sorry to make this a bit personal, but if it was stall/spin, the pain the families and friends will go through will be very diffcult. Prayers up for them all....
Also not likely that the plane was overweight. With only the pilot and full fuel the plane was well below takeoff max weight. True that many if not most 4 seat planes will be overweight with 4 occupants and full fuel what is normally done is the plane takes off with less than a full tank of fuel to be under weight limits.
It appears this crash was because of mechanical problems, he aborted his 1st takeoff after getting only a few feet off the ground and told ATC that he had problems and was going back to the hanger. He returned about 15 minutes later for the fatal takeoff wrongly believing he had the problem resolved.
Correct you are on each point but I was not trying to diagnose this accidents fault, just answering the question asked, in this day how can this happen, LOTS OF WAYS.
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