ANN has completed a very open interview with Lancair Prez Bing Lantis, looking into details about the inopportune loss of a very new prototype Lancair Columbia 400 Wednesday morning, August 27th.

About 1030 Wednesday, after successfully completing a few uneventful stall/spin sets, Test Pilot Len Fox initiated yet another stall/spin investigation at 14,000 feet, noted a resistance to proper recovery and fired off the spin chute... device designed to eliminate a spin's autorotation, force the nose into a pitch down configuration, and upon release, allow for a (hopefully) fast and controlled recovery from the previous condition.

This is where the latest Lancair test diverted from normal spin testing protocol. The spin chute failed to release.

Lantis explained that the aircraft involved, a recently completed conforming production prototype (N166PD), had been fitted with a new set of control surfaces for the tail section, specifically, the rudder and elevator. While these were fairly new to this airframe, the new set of feathers had been used on another airframe and had been spun "about 250 times." In an effort to get the 400 certified for the additional 200 pounds of gross weight and a service ceiling of 25,000 feet, N166PD was fitted with the new control surfaces and went  through an initial series of stall and spin tests to confirm the bird's 61 knot stall speed and the appropriate characteristics in regards to spin resistance and recovery.

In this test, a number of small "tweaks" were induced in the airframe, most notably an increase in rudder travel, and sent off to collect data, flying at nearly gross weight (though no CG detail was available at press time).

That Last Spin Was A Doozy...

Fox started the last spin series at 14,000 feet and initiated the deployment of the spin chute 10,000 feet, as per the flight discipline established in the test protocols. What should have happened, namely the release of the spin chute when the spin was stopped and the flight regime stabilized, did not occur as Fox attempted, first to release the spin chute via a mechanical release and then with an electro-mechanical pyrotechnic device (basically a cable cutter).

When these devices failed, Fox attempted the mechanical release again and noting his hard deck (the decision height for bail-out), opened the door, rolled out on the wing, and out of the airplane, deploying a Para-Phernalia (Yeah, Dan Tarasievich, ya done good again!) emergency rig, landed in a field a half-mile north of Oregon Highway 20, some 25 miles east of Bend, OR. Fox's very minor injuries were, thankfully, confined to scratches and bruises (though the condition of his laundry is yet to be determined... grin). The aircraft descended, trailing the spin chute, to impact, and reportedly caught fire several minutes after it hit the ground. The airframe was destroyed by the ensuing fire. Bureau of Land Management crews, nearby, assisted in putting out the fire, alerted by a motorist who saw the accident from the highway.

Lantis notes that the accident will cause some delays in the certification program for the breathlessly awaited Columbia 400, but that he doesn't expect them to be too lengthy. "This is a setback, surely, but not in the way that most people might think. If the spin chute (release) had worked, we'd have brought the aircraft back, revised some settings and gotten right back in the air. As it is, we expect to be back in the air as soon as we can prepare another conforming vehicle... in about three weeks or so." Lantis notes that the data they have has told them quite a bit and while a lot of detective work remains to pin down the issues involved, that he sees nothing insurmountable in getting the 400 certified early in 2004. "There's nothing unconventional here... we have to test the limits to see what they are in the first place... this is what this testing is all about. If the release had worked, this would have been a real non-event."

Para-Phernalia Scores Again

Apparently; after doing the obligatory body part check, Len's first call was to Para-Phernalia's Dan Tarasievich -- to say thanks. Dan reports that Fox reported that his Para-Phernalia Mini-Softie was equipped with a Preserve One canopy and the deployment went well and resulted in a "really nice landing." Dan says that Len said the landing probably could have been a stand-up but that he wound up on his butt, regardless... whereupon Tarasievich humorously suggested that he just needed "more practice" (Grin). Interestingly; the rig that Fox used was nearly brand new and was a replacement for a MUCH older rig that, upon inspection, was found to be too damaged to safely repack... a solid lesson to those who think that the mandatory 120 day emergency parachute repack cycles are unnecessary. The chute was packed on August 20th... only a week before its use. This is Tarasievich and Co's 11th save in about six years, not including one over a decade ago in which a certain ANN Editor-In-Chief used a Mini-Softie when a photo-flight went a bit awry. That Tarasievich guy does good work...   

We'll have more info, as appropriate and we are still expecting to talk to Test Pilot Len Fox as soon as he becomes available.

FMI: www.lancair/certified, www.softieparachutes.com