Original Posted By: Steven Dortch
Some of you may know that we have a forum for the builders and flyers of the Pietenpolaircraft and Corvair engine combination. It is called the Pietvair Forum.Recently one of our members, Bill Reynolds, posted a lengthy discussion aboutan accident that we have all heard about, the crash and subsequent death offamed aviator, Ron Alexander. Bill knew Ron quite well, and so this discussionis not an abstract discussion about some guy, but rather it is the reportingof the circumstances surrounding the death of a good friend. Bill felt thatit was important to warn our members about the potential for a deadly choice inbuilding their airplanes. I asked Bill if he would mind if I shared it withthis group, and he graciously allowed me to do so. It is safety-related, and itis important, so I thought that it should be shared with this group as well.Take from it what you will. But I hope that it causes all of us to think throughsome of our choices. It cant happen to me is an unacceptable premise in constructionchoices.Bills post is below-It is with great sadness that I must report the error of using hard lines inappropriatelyto plumb fuel systems. On 17 November of this year, we lost a greataviator and friend, Ron Alexander. Ron was a veteran of the Vietnam war duringwhich he flew C130s and was a recipient of the distinguished flying cross. Ronalso flew for Eastern and Delta Airlines from which he retired. Ron was flyinga recently restored 1918 Curtiss Jenny which belonged to the Candler Fieldmuseum which He founded.The cause of the accident was an incorrectly repaired wood propeller which failedshortly after takeoff. I suppose this post could be about propellers but thatis not what killed him. What killed him was twofold. The first of which wasthe decision to restore the Jenny to original specifications. The second wasthe hard plumbed fuel system that was installed in keeping with the first decision.The preliminary investigation revealed that the violent vibrations resultingfrom the failed prop broke the hard fuel line spraying raw fuel all overthe engine. Unfortunately, the majority of the airframe was engulfed in flameswithin seconds. The Jenny came to rest within feet of a suitable landing place.Neither Ron nor his passenger escaped. Other than the engine and empennagethere was nothing left of the wreckage. The accident happened at my home airport,so I had the opportunity to fly over the accident. From what I could tell,I believe that absent the fire, Ron would be alive today. William Wynne has beenpreaching against the incorrect use of hardline plumbing since his accidentand subsequent injuries and now this lesson has been driven even deeper intomy mind by the death of my friend. Rons passenger that day was Larry Enlow, Mr.Enlow was an FAA antique airplane examiner from Florida. I did not know Mr.Enlow, but I understand that he was a well known and respected aviator in hiscommunity.The propeller in question was a large diameter wood propeller with copper leadingedge attached to a Hispano-Suiza on the nose of a 1918 Curtiss Jenny. An inspectionof the propeller months before the accident revealed a crack in the copperon the leading edge. The propeller was returned to the manufacturer (notSensenich) for repair. The repair consisted of rivets on either side of the crack.On climb out the propeller separated sending a nearly 3 foot piece of theprop into a residential area of the air park. Post accident inspection revealedthat the crack had migrated into the wood from the copper or perhaps the otherway around, we may never know. I was told that the investigator did notethat the crack in the wood was not recent as the wood inside the crack was discolored.I do not know enough about this kind of stuff to comment, but I wonderif it is possible that the engine/propeller combination could produce a harmonicresonance strong enough to cause such a failure? People that knew airplanesincluding one A&P that rode in the accident aircraft said that it did vibrateconsiderably.--------Semper Fi,Terry HandAthens, GARead this topic online here:
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.p ... __________
> > > > > So adding weight to the firewall may not do much good. Adding weight to thefront of the engine (the prop) would really help. This is an interesting problem!Maybe I'm not doing this correctly?> > Ray> > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------> > > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________________________Subject: Pietenpol-List: Please Read - This Is Safety Related And Is Very Important