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In my opinion based on my experience a good A&P mechanic can do a good annual condition.
And then at the same time you write things like, "I have seen more corroded rod ends on many gyroplanes that have had condition inspections by A&P mechanics"
and "There are mechanics I respect who would not have replaced [those] rod ends for corrosion".

I do not consider missing an already fractured and deeply corroded control rod -- a non-airworthy flight critical part -- as permissible in a "good annual condition".

Are you truly unaware how often you contradict yourself, even concurrently within the same thread?


I don't know when the control rod end broke and it may not have been the cause of the accident.
Fine, everyone can say that same thing. However, we're dealing with "probable cause".
Your version relies upon unseen (and unseeable from the ground) phenomena such as wind shear or PIOs or PPO.
I, however, am sticking with the more rational and provable PC established by the NTSB.

On this point, Bryan Cobb in the N5002E thread made a valuable observation:


Here's what I can contribute based on my being the investigating officer in almost 1500 traffic accidents:

1) Witness reports are rarely reliable unless physical evidence corroborates their statements.

2) Physical evidence never lies.

3) I would not conclude that the blades "folded" in flight, based on a witness report unless I had concrete physical evidence
that proved that happened at a specific time in the sequence of events.
The physical evidence of the previously fractured/corroded rod end cannot be easily dismissed or minimized, as you've tried to do.
You've attempted to pass off the corrosion as the result of the wreckage being submerged for a day, even though other broken rod ends did not also begin to rust.

I'm not buying it. I've seen and handled the wreckage. You haven't.
Rather than wind shear, etc. the more likely scenario is that the control rod end broke in flight, and in doing so N5002E became uncontrollable and chopped its own tail.



go on the NTSB website and read about gyroplane accidents and think about what may have happened and what you can do to keep from becoming an NTSB report.
Yes, and here's one the larger morals of the N5002E story: never buy a used RAF from or through Dofin Fritts.
Whether because of venality or apathy, he simply cannot be trusted.
One should suspect any of his maintenance logbook entries, and personally double-check his alleged work.
That alone will significantly raise an RAF newbie's odds of survival.



For those with poor reading comprehension a brief summary:

Despite what some people claim wind affects gyroplanes and the weather can be radically different just ten miles away.

Some pilots don't understand the most basic concepts and pretend they do.
You seem to nearly always insert such digs.
Not only are they often fake straw-men arguments, they are snotty.

I know that wind affects gyros. I know that weather can vary greatly from just a few miles away.
I never claimed otherwise.
What I did do was disagree with you that wind and weather were likely more of a probable cause than mechanical failure.
However, you seem to often conflate disagreement with ignorance vs. a mere difference of opinion.



Sometimes things just go wrong no matter how careful we are.
That's not the correct lesson here, because key people in the chain were not careful.

I suspect that Mahler performed as well of a pre-flight as Fritts had trained him for.
I believe that Mahler did all that he knew how to do.

But, if Fritts did not care enough to replace the corroded rod ends, and his own twenty CFI PIC pre-flights did not discover the cracked one,
perhaps you could get off Mahler's case for also missing what Fritts missed -- and what your "
respected" A&Ps would have missed.

Regards,
Kolibri
 
Will you guys stop already! Damn, if I wanted to watch Jerry Springer I would stay home and turn on the TV. Every damn thread on this forum has people arguing with each other, and it seems to be the same few people. Discussions are fine, but when it turns into personal attacks, that's when everyone needs to look at themselves and wonder if they should really be posting this stuff in public.
 
AirCommandPilot;n1139016 said:
Will you guys stop already! Damn, if I wanted to watch Jerry Springer I would stay home and turn on the TV. Every damn thread on this forum has people arguing with each other, and it seems to be the same few people. Discussions are fine, but when it turns into personal attacks, that's when everyone needs to look at themselves and wonder if they should really be posting this stuff in public.

Geez, I agree. You 3 or4 people share your phone numbers with each other and argue directly.

smiles,
Charles
 
When two people have died, and a gyro CFI challenges the NTSB probable cause for the crash, I think the topic should bear whatever it needs to.

Besides, nobody is forcing anybody else to read this thread.

But I appreciate your input and patience, thanks.

Safe flying, Kolibri
 
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Kolibri;n1139018 said:


Besides, nobody is forcing anybody else to read this thread.

That's just it though. If you want people to view the thread to get the right info they'll have to sift through all of the bile to find it. Loads of good info here gets covered in shit to often.
 
Well, if it's any consolation, I supsect that the main "sparticipants" (my term, lol) have by now fully expressed themselves.
 
AirCommandPilot;n1139016 said:
Will you guys stop already! Damn, if I wanted to watch Jerry Springer I would stay home and turn on the TV. Every damn thread on this forum has people arguing with each other, and it seems to be the same few people. Discussions are fine, but when it turns into personal attacks, that's when everyone needs to look at themselves and wonder if they should really be posting this stuff in public.

You are one of the people whose posts I always enjoy and learn from Bobby; I take to heart the things you write.

I have not learned to ignore what I feel are dangerous posts.

Too many times I have seen completely wrong information become accepted because no one pointed out it was wrong.

I have learned a lot in more than 2,000 hours of flying gyroplanes and I have learned a lot as a CFI.

Part of what I try to teach is a thoughtful approach aviation safety.

I have learned you can't get there if you think you have all the answers.

I need to give the participants in the Rotary Wing Forum more credit for being able to sift through the misinformation.

I try to keep it simple and on point but apparently I have failed at that.

I don't know what happened to N5002E.

I won't learn as much if I imagine I do.

Lots of things can cause a gyroplane accident.

Pilots are safer when they think about safety and consider what they could do better in their own program.

I have learned from this thread.

I will start a thread about localized weather in Training and hope that the bile doesn't follow me there.
 
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"I will start a thread about localized weather"

I almost started a new thread on wind shear yesterday. Please take the lead Vance. I think many of us are interested in the topic.
 
An annual inspection, well performed by a conscientious A&P or Builder, should be expected to remove
flight-critical control rod ends for further examination if they show significant surface corrosion.

In my opinion, not to expect such creates dangerously low expectations for an annual inspection.
That is not a safe doctrine to preach.

The cracked rod end of N5002E could have been caught before sale, and should have been during its annual.

Even if the rod end did not fail in flight that day, it would have failed later.

Regards,
Kolibri
 
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