N47EB RAF 2000 - Millard airport, Nebraska 7th-Dec-19

Steve_UK

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I'm not a pilot but have been lucky enough to fly in Mi-24 Hind, Mi-2, Mi-17, Lynx HAS3, Gliders, GA
Local news reports a gyrocopter accident at Millard airport - photos show it on its side with broken rotor blades near the perimeter fence. Pilot is said to have walked away before going to hospital.

Plenty of fence in the photo but could this be an RAF 2000/Sparrowhawk type, maybe


News link here


 
Sorry to hear that, hope he’s OK.
 
Well whatever happened.... he sure tore that machine up pretty good
 
N47EB is an RAF registered to Edward Base from Omaha that received its airworthiness certificate 12/15/97.

Edward Base is also listed as the builder and holds the repairman’s certificate.

Edward Base holds a private pilot single engine land with a third class medical that expired in 2008 so perhaps someone else was flying it.

It appears to have an RAF rotor system that is likely timed out.

It looks like a typical tip over to me with no signs of hard impact.
 
Appalling that one rotorblade is missing from the hub bar. It appears from the large photo the firefighter took of the machine that even the blade strap is also gone. Highly unlikely any of the first responders removed those two items from the immediate scene b/4 any investigation had even begun...
 
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One news channel reported that the pilot is 87 yrs. old. He must have a guardian angel!! 👼
Notably missing an H-stab.
Edward Base holds a private pilot single engine land with a third class medical that expired in 2008 so perhaps someone else was flying it.
Or, he may have been flying under sport pilot regs..??
 
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One news channel reported that the pilot is 87 yrs. old. He must have a guardian angel!! 👼
Notably missing an H-stab.
Edward Base holds a private pilot single engine land with a third class medical that expired in 2008 so perhaps someone else was flying it.
Or, he may have been flying under sport pilot regs..??
Most RAF 2000s that have an airworthiness certificate issued before 2007 have a maximum takeoff weight over the limit for light sport (1320 pounds).
 
Todays FAA ASIAS update gives the following,

AIRCRAFT LANDED HARD, OMAHA, NE.

Injury listed as serious - damage listed as substantial

Flight phase - landing
 
Here’s a similar accident from 2004 where an RAF-2000 rotor was being used on a Parson’s trainer and a blade was flung off, killing the student.


This isn't similar at all. This is a non-compliance of a safety directive resulting in blade separation

On the other hand this recent accident is a 87 year old guy who probably should not be flying alone without a safety pilot landing hard in his gyro.
 
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Edward Base holds a private pilot single engine land with a third class medical that expired in 2008 so perhaps someone else was flying it.

Given the date of the airworthiness certificate, this machine almost certainly had the old version of the operating limitations, which did not require rotorcraft/gyroplane category and class. As for the expired medical, I suspect that's routine among pilots in his demographic. Nobody ever checks until you have an accident.
 
Rigid main axles, a la Bensen, work fine in a light machine on pavement. With practice, you can grease it on at virtually zero mph so softly that you may have to look to see if you've landed, but...

A rigid axle, even with softened tires, is a spring, not a shock absorber. When you drop it in, the axle stores all the energy of the drop, then gives it all back to bounce you back up in the air. The resulting second landing is often crabbed and/or accomplished on one wheel. When you finally stick the nosewheel, it's often cocked all the way to one side, making the capsize a certainty.

At the other extreme is vertical-descent-capable landing gear. The Cierva-Pitcairn gyros of the '30's had it. A few modern gyros (such as the Butterfly) have come close. Such gear requires (1) vertical travel of 2 1/2 to 3 feet to keep the G-load on the frame around 2, (2) steady energy conversion via friction as the gear compresses, and (3) strut geometry that provides straight up-and-down travel, to avoid "duck walks," sideways leaps and other uncommanded shenanigans.

Landing gear with some energy absorption sure is helpful to prevent this very common type of splat.
 
Given the date of the airworthiness certificate, this machine almost certainly had the old version of the operating limitations, which did not require rotorcraft/gyroplane category and class. As for the expired medical, I suspect that's routine among pilots in his demographic. Nobody ever checks until you have an accident.

87 year old ... my wife's grandpa had to quit driving and he is in great shape for his age. I think it would be wise for someone that age to start thinking of flying with a safety pilot
 
On the other hand this recent accident is a 87 year old guy who probably should not be flying alone without a safety pilot landing hard in his gyro.

One of my CFI mentors is in that age group and is still a better, more thorough pilot than I will ever be.

We don't even know who was flying the aircraft.

This pilot is not the first to tip over an RAF on landing and probably won’t be the last.

I know plenty of young people who have had a landing not work out and more who have no business being a pilot despite what their certificate says.

When the final report comes out we will know who was flying and what their experience was. We may even find out what happened.

Through my father I was fortunate to know Bob Hoover who lost his medical at seventy and after getting it back flew till he was eighty five and flew in airshows till he was eighty. Bob decided it was time to stop flying airshows when he missed his target speeds for particular points in his loop.

I might not have my medical today if it wasn’t for Bob Hoover.

In my opinion any pilot should asses his fitness to fly every time he flies at any age.

People are individuals and they are not all on the same time schedule.
 
Finally, proof-positive that what I'd heard was correct! Pilots reverse back the hands of time the more they fly!
As I recall John Miller flew his Bonanza until age 101 (the last few years with a safety pilot). It may have been his 35000 hours in a cockpit. Or it may have been his time in the Kellett KD-1 or his own Pitcairn PCA-2 that kept him young.
 
My father-in-law flew his Twin Comanche until age 91. He had about 29,000 hours. Awarded the Wright Brothers award for 50 years of continuous flying.
 
Remember: time spent in the air does not count against your longevity.... Fly more, live longer. :cool:
 
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