- Joined
- Oct 30, 2003
- Messages
- 18,363
- Location
- Santa Maria, California
- Aircraft
- Givens Predator
- Total Flight Time
- 2600+ in rotorcraft
"One witness who lives 1.25 miles south reported seeing the gyro "kept going around and around".
That, in conjunction with a closer witness only a half mile away on Hwy. 27 who described a "nosedive from about 200 feet "
seems to portray something looking like a graveyard spiral and then fast vertical fall."
From Wikipedia: "In aviation, a graveyard spiral is a dangerous spiral dive entered into accidentally by a pilot who is not trained or not proficient in instrument flight when flying in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC)."
Chris Lord was an instrument trained pilot and conditions were VFR. Graveyard spiral may have a nice ring to it; it is unrelated to anything to do with a gyroplane on a VFR flight.
"The propeller hub remained attached, and the composite blades appeared to be uniformly severed at their roots prior to fire exposure."
"This seems to indicate a pre-crash prop/rotor strike (i.e., rotor flap in those last moments)."
"What this indicates to me is that the propeller was turning when it hit something that broke the blades."
It does not indicate to me that there was a blade flap and the propeller blades were damaged by the rotor.
All it indicates is the propeller was going around when it came in contact with something.
There is a lot more. I am going to give it a rest now.
That, in conjunction with a closer witness only a half mile away on Hwy. 27 who described a "nosedive from about 200 feet "
seems to portray something looking like a graveyard spiral and then fast vertical fall."
From Wikipedia: "In aviation, a graveyard spiral is a dangerous spiral dive entered into accidentally by a pilot who is not trained or not proficient in instrument flight when flying in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC)."
Chris Lord was an instrument trained pilot and conditions were VFR. Graveyard spiral may have a nice ring to it; it is unrelated to anything to do with a gyroplane on a VFR flight.
"The propeller hub remained attached, and the composite blades appeared to be uniformly severed at their roots prior to fire exposure."
"This seems to indicate a pre-crash prop/rotor strike (i.e., rotor flap in those last moments)."
"What this indicates to me is that the propeller was turning when it hit something that broke the blades."
It does not indicate to me that there was a blade flap and the propeller blades were damaged by the rotor.
All it indicates is the propeller was going around when it came in contact with something.
There is a lot more. I am going to give it a rest now.