That's Why They Call Them, 'Test' Flights
No matter how much work goes into a project, there will be
things that will happen. A case in point was made on Saturday, as
the brand-new Adam A500, which had its maiden flight Thursday, hit
a glitch, on its fifth, as the nose gear folded up on landing
rollout.
The pilots for first three flights were Bruce
Barrett and Glenn Maben; the fourth and fifth were flown
by Glenn, with Steve Martin.
Adam Aircraft President John Knudsen told ANN, "On rollout, the
nose gear just folded back on them. We're still looking at that. We
don't know exactly what happened, yet." Damage was minor. "We did
the cowl, and dinged the prop. There was really very little
damage," John said, early Monday. "We'll probably be flying
tomorrow."
The gear had not been cycled yet, in these early
test flights; it was pinned in place. John continued, with the
pilots' reports: "Other than that landing, the pilots said it flew
like a dream. They're very happy with the handling, so far. The
initial tests are going great -- no reason to make any mods, that
we know of. It rotated right on speed; approach to stalls were as
predicted -- we're really happy with that." The flight manners of
the A500, as the M-309 CarbonAero is now called, are looking to be
all the designers and builders predicted -- and that's a very good
thing.
Luck seems to follow John Knudsen around. The finish painting
was scheduled for this week, so the new lower cowl can get paint,
along with the flaps, rudders, and the fuselage stripe -- no time
lost, as the minutes trickle away before Oshkosh. "They're painting
it today -- the timing was perfect," laughed John.
The new (spare) engine was already installed,
before breakfast on Monday, as the flight engine gets a
routine check. "The plane will most definitely be at
Oshkosh," said the prez. "This was a minor hiccup" in the
schedule.
Although the FAA Preliminary (below) says there were two
"passengers," that's not what happened. Only two were aboard; they
were the test pilots, Maben and Martin.
** Report created 07/15/2002 Record
14
**
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 500AX
Make/Model: EXP Description:
EXPERIMENTAL A500
Date: 07/13/2002 Time: 0102
Event Type: Incident Highest Injury:
None Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
City: ENGLEWOOD State: CO Country:
US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT ON TEST FLIGHT, NOSEGEAR COLLAPSED DURING LANDING,
ENGLEWOOD, CO
INJURY DATA Total Fatal:
0
# Crew: 1 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Pass: 2 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: L 0129Z 09010KT 10SM FEW090 BKN140 28/06 A3016 VIRGA DSNT
ALQDS CB DSNT WNW
ACSL DSNT SW
OTHER DATA
Activity: Other Phase:
Landing Operation: General
Aviation
Departed: ENGLEWOOD,
CO
Dep Date: 07/13/2002 Dep. Time:
Destination: ENGLEWOOD,
CO
Flt Plan: UNK
Wx Briefing: U
Last Radio Cont: RIGHT DOWNWIND RWY 35R
Last Clearance: CLRD FOR TOUCH/GO RWY 35R
FAA FSDO: DENVER, CO
(NM03)
Entry date: 07/15/2002