Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Pilot of Experimental Aircraft Killed in Crash
TULSA WORLD (FINAL HOME EDITION Edition), Page N8 of NEWS | 05/16/1995 | Ed Farrell

Posted on 11/22/2002 12:01:25 PM PST by honway

BRAGGS -- A Pryor man was killed Monday afternoon when a small experimental aircraft he was flying hit a power line and crashed at Camp Gruber.

Oklahoma National Guard Staff Sgt. Robert Louis Harding, 45, was pronounced dead at 5 p.m. Monday at St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, where he had been transported following the 12:30 p.m. crash.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. Gary Rogers said Harding's homemade aircraft had been airborne for about one-half mile before clipping the power line and crashing upside down on Central Europe Road.

Col. Charles Frasier, chief of staff of the Oklahoma National Guard, which oversees operations at Camp Gruber, said the Federal Aviation Administration would begin investigating the crash Tuesday morning. Camp Gruber is an Oklahoma National Guard training site.

Harding worked at the Whitaker Education Training Center in Pryor. An employee of Mid-America Aviation in Pryor said Harding was an excellent pilot with more than 20 years flying experience and had at least 100 hours flying time in the light single-engine plane.

The employee, who asked to not be identified, said Harding's plane, while considered experimental, was FAA certified. "My kids have flown with (Harding), a lot of people around here have. I've flown that plane. There was nothing wrong with it," the employee said, adding that he hadn't seen Harding depart Pryor earlier in the day.

Copyright © 2002, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gruber; harding
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 next last
To: honway
I think it is in the weight and performance. Seems like 360lbs and a Max speed under 60mph or something like that.
21 posted on 11/22/2002 2:46:52 PM PST by Dead Dog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: honway
Here's the one I'm going to build come next spring:

Van's RV-9

Mine will be the RV-9a trigear model.

22 posted on 11/22/2002 3:02:25 PM PST by hattend
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: hattend
Cool airplane. I got a demo flight in the RV-8 about a year ago. They are absolutely fantastic machines. Vans has come along way from his old garage/shop.

Sadly, the fiance wants a 4 place family truckster first.
23 posted on 11/22/2002 3:04:46 PM PST by Dead Dog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: hattend
That's my dream. Thanks for the picture. I'll have to buy one already built
after I win the lottery. The MiniMax at 316lbs is more in my price range.
24 posted on 11/22/2002 3:17:22 PM PST by honway
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Dead Dog
It was between the RV-9 or a Velocity.

I'm a low time pilot (just started) and have worked with metal and not much composite. The RV is much less complex.

I'll build time in the RV and eventually move up to the Velocity.

The Velocity is a nice 4 place family truckster. :-)


25 posted on 11/22/2002 3:18:24 PM PST by hattend
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: honway
Sounds like he was 45 and in need of better glasses - RIP!
26 posted on 11/22/2002 3:18:49 PM PST by A CA Guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Comment #27 Removed by Moderator

To: honway
That's my dream. Thanks for the picture. I'll have to buy one already built after I win the lottery. The MiniMax at 316lbs is more in my price range.

It's more affordable than you think! How's 24K (excluding engine) for the kit sound? That's the quick-build version (cuts build time in half). Full kit is only around 15K.

Very reasonable. Figure 45-68K ready to fly...you can spread that out over years!

I saw one of those MiniMax planes fly at an EAA airshow. I was very impressed. Only drawback is one seat...more fun to fly with friends. :-)

28 posted on 11/22/2002 3:25:11 PM PST by hattend
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: hattend
What engine are you considering?

I was talking to a guy awhile back who was building an amphib and his plan was to put in an engine that used standard gasoline. Is that rare in the home-built world?

29 posted on 11/22/2002 3:36:18 PM PST by honway
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: honway
The plane is designed for the Lycoming O-320 160hp. That's what I will be getting. Haven't decided whether to go new or look for a mid-time engine yet.

You can go smaller (down to 120hp).

Engine/prop choice is probably a year or so down the road...it will definitely be an O-320, still debating the cost and additional complexity of a constant speed prop.
30 posted on 11/22/2002 3:47:21 PM PST by hattend
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: honway
I was talking to a guy awhile back who was building an amphib and his plan was to put in an engine that used standard gasoline. Is that rare in the home-built world?

I am by no means an expert in the homebuilt world. My experience is helping to build a Thorpe T-18 in the 70's and helping rebuild a wrecked Super Cub.

You can get engines certificated for car gas. Since this is my first plane I will be following the directions to a "T".

Like you, if I win the lottery and can get a fleet of planes to experiment on, I may start thinking outside the box. :-)

31 posted on 11/22/2002 3:52:25 PM PST by hattend
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: hattend
Hey, good luck and have fun building the RV-9A - it's a great plane. There is a very active RV builder's group - definitely hook into it if you haven't already.
32 posted on 11/22/2002 3:59:35 PM PST by bootless
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: honway
Take a look at the Quad City Challenger. Very low build time. Excellent track record for ultralight type.
33 posted on 11/22/2002 5:48:34 PM PST by Bob Mc
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: honway; Dead Dog
Ultralight definition is single passenger, empty weight max of 254 lbs, top speed at level flight 55 knots, max fuel capacity 5 gallons.

Any configuration, fixed wing, parasal, hang glider trike, even helicopter if it meets these 4 criteria is an "ultralight".

Most "ultralights" are way over the weight limit, and the FAA seldom enforces it. Unless you injure someone else or damage other property, the FAA typically doesn't want to know or get involved. If there is an "ultralight" accident and no one dies or no other property damaged, they won't even come out to investigate.

34 posted on 11/22/2002 5:55:28 PM PST by Bob Mc
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: All

The Oklahoma National Guard confirmed Friday that the aerial photos were indeed taken above Camp Gruber in the fall of 1994 and said the classified project involved weapons sensors and was overseen by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (view of area on Central Europe Road discussed in Washington Post article)

35 posted on 11/24/2002 5:49:22 AM PST by honway
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: honway
1st I've seen this. thanx for the posting.
36 posted on 11/25/2002 5:21:19 AM PST by thinden
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: hattend
I'm a big fan of the RV series. Best performance for the buck in aviation. There are few airplanes that are as much fun to fly, they really handle nice.

Velocitys are pretty nifty also, although not as good in short field. Every man, and woman, needs a minimum of two airplanes.

I'm going to be looking for a Cessna 180 rebuild project next fall. I need the Queen Family Truxter for the wife and dog, once that is done, then I'll move on to the RV-8.

37 posted on 11/25/2002 7:37:35 AM PST by Dead Dog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: swampfx
Link

But there was more than explosives in the portfolios of the CIA agents who surrounded Riconosciuto like moths around a candle. Both Robert Booth Nichols, the shady head of Meridian Arms Corporation (with both CIA and organized crime conections), and Dr. John Phillip Nichols, the manager of the Cabazon reservation, were involved in bio-warfare work-the first in trying to sell bio-warfare products to the army through Wackenhut, the second in giving tribal permission for research to take place at Cabazon. According to Riconosciuto, the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)b was in charge of the classified contracts for biological warfare research. Riconosciuto would later testify under oath that Stormont Laboratories ( http://www.stormont-labs.com/ ) was involved in the DARPA-Wackenhut-Cabazon project. Jonathan Littman, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle would relate: "Cabazons and Wackenhut appeared to be acting as middlemen between the Pentagon's DARPA and Stormont Laboratories, a small facility in Woodland near Sacramento

38 posted on 01/15/2003 4:44:51 AM PST by honway
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: OKCSubmariner
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/cnet/stories/980889.htm

Pentagon database plan hits snag on Hill

If fully implemented, TIA would link databases from sources such as credit card companies, medical insurers and motor vehicle departments for police convenience in hopes of snaring terrorists. It's funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

39 posted on 01/15/2003 8:11:57 PM PST by honway
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: thinden; OKCSubmariner

At least the office implementing Total Information Awareness has a sense of humor. This is their new logo. Interestingly they included the All Seeing Eye.

40 posted on 01/15/2003 8:22:20 PM PST by honway
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson