REFLECTOR: Velocity Crash at Sebastian - Zen and the Art of Aircraft Maintenance

[Peter Braswell]

+1 ... I can relate.  I had a hard time initially with my Glastar too
thinking "sheez, I built this thing ... what did I miss?"  I let it get the
best of me for quite a while but eventually got very comfortable with the
airplane.

Peter
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On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 10:07 AM, Scott Derrick <scott at tnstaafl.net> wrote:

> **
> Really excellent advice John, thanks....
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Velocity Crash at Sebastian - Zen and the Art of
> Aircraft Maintenance
> From: <aminetech at bluefrog.com> <aminetech at bluefrog.com>
> To: Brett Ferrell <reflector at velocityxl.com> <reflector at velocityxl.com>,
> Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list <reflector at tvbf.org><reflector at tvbf.org>
> Date: 10/06/2011 07:15 PM
>
>  Every time an accident happens, I hope that it will be the last one for a
> long time, but that doesn't seem to be working.  So, I've decided to share a
> philosophy I came up with after having an incident that spoiled my day at
> the beginning of my Velocity flying career.  I decided that if I was going
> to continue flying I needed to do something different.  I'm a believer in
> hindsight and second-guessing.  "If only I had done this, or checked that,
> then things would have turned out much better."  I wondered what was
> preventing me from following a more successful path.  And I came up with
> something that I believe turns hindsight into foresight.  Whenever I felt
> less than comfortable about a flight, (which was often at first, not so much
> after 800 hours) I would visualize a safe, successful landing at my desired
> destination.  I would visualize a snapshot of being in the pattern with the
> runway off to my left.  Then a second snapshot on short final when I had the
> runway made.  And the warm, fuzzy of a nice touchdown.  I would replay this
> over and over until I bought into it and felt comfortable about the flight.
> Then I would just forget about it an go about my normal business.  I believe
> this creates a kind ot destiny to success.  Over the years I've gotten
> "lucky" and found problems before they became big ones.  One time I noticed
> a light oil spatter on the firewall and wondered where it was coming from.
> I looked over the engine very carefully and never did find the source, but I
> did discover that the bracket that holds the throttle cable was broken on
> one end.  Had I not found that It would have been only a matter of time
> before the other end broke and I would have lost throttle control.
> I don't know if anyone else will find this helpful, but it would be really
> nice if some accidents can be prevented.
>
> John
>
> --- reflector at velocityxl.com wrote:
>
> From: "Brett Ferrell" <reflector at velocityxl.com><reflector at velocityxl.com>
> To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list <reflector at tvbf.org><reflector at tvbf.org>
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Velocity Crash at Sebastian
> Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:17:56 -0500
>
>
> All of the reporting says he was unhurt.  And does anybody know what
> airplane this was?  Looks like the cowling is an SE, but the only Davenport,
> Iowa Velocity I see is an XL registered to Shea....
>
> Brett
>
>
>  -------Original Message-------
> From: Mark Riley
> To: reflector at tvbf.org
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Reflector Digest, Vol 79, Velocity Crash at
> Sebastian
> Sent: 06 Oct '11 18:42
>
> Does anyone have more info on the Velocity that crashed at Sebastian today?
> Is the pilot definitely unhurt? What was he doing there, flight training or
> just passing through, etc?
>
>
> On Oct 2, 2011, at 11:25 PM, reflector-request at tvbf.org wrote:
>
> > Send Reflector mailing list submissions to
> > reflector at tvbf.org
> >
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> > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> > than "Re: Contents of Reflector digest..."
> >
> >
> > Today's Topics:
> >
> >   1.  Plane painted - wow, that was a lot of work! (Geoff Gerhardt)
> >   2.  Trim (Izzy Brownfield)
> >   3.  Trim (Izzy Brownfield)
> >   4. Re:  Plane painted - wow, that was a lot of work! (Erik Franks)
> >   5.  Fw: [c-a] crash at RR (Lou Stedman)
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2011 19:08:53 -0700
> > From: Geoff Gerhardt <geoff.gerhardt at gmail.com>
> > Subject: REFLECTOR: Plane painted - wow, that was a lot of work!
> > To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list <reflector at tvbf.org>
> > Message-ID:
> >
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> >
> > Folks,
> >
> > Over the last few weeks I painted my plane.  What a huge amount of work.
> > You can see the pictures and read about it here
> > <http://thegerhardts.com/velocity/?p=299>(
> > http://thegerhardts.com/velocity/?p=299) if you're interested.  Basic
> white
> > with burgundy/silver stripes and around the windows.  Tons of prep work,
> > many late nights masking stripes and N-Numbers, but great to see it all
> > finished.  It turned out great - I'm very pleased.  Its now out of my
> home
> > shop, and at my hangar at KORH (Worcester, MA), which is ~20min drive
> away.
> > Its a bit tougher to work on it out there instead of my basement shop so
> it
> > might go a little slower...I'm on the home stretch now, though!
> >
> > Geoff
> > http://thegerhardts.com/velocity
> > -------------- next part --------------
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> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 2
> > Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2011 21:43:46 -0500
> > From: Izzy Brownfield <iznstacy at yahoo.com>
> > Subject: REFLECTOR: Trim
> > To: "reflector at tvbf.org" <reflector at tvbf.org>
> > Message-ID: <D649CE0D-7A06-4093-9C1E-BC5026A85BB7 at yahoo.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> >
> >
> >> I put the shim on the lower outbd bolt do you think shimming the inbd
> bolt would make more of a difference
> > Izzy
> >>
> >> Just for a frame of reference, for first flight I had one .065" washer
> on
> >> each of the two top right wing attach bolts because that is what it took
> to
> >> get the incidence gauge level. After I started flying I think the yaw
> was
> >> off by more than half a ball and it wanted to roll. I removed the
> washers
> >> and the ball still wasn't centered, so then I put one of the washers on
> the
> >> top inside left wing attach bolt.  After that the ball was almost
> centered--
> >> it was between the lines but closer to one line than the other. I added
> >> another washer to the left wing but then the cowl wouldn't fit right
> >> anymore, so I removed it and now fly with a slight yaw. I suppose I
> should
> >> trim the rudder to get it perfect. Would I save a little gas if I did?
> >>
> >> The shims did change the interface at the strake-wing leading edge, but
> that
> >> didn't matter on my plane. When I originally installed the strakes the
> >> leading edges didn't match up with the wings by about 3/4". I could have
>
> >> glassed it all in to match, but instead I installed "cosmetic
> vortillons" in
> >> the seam between the strake and the wing leading edges. Because there's
> a
> >> wall between the leading edges you don't notice that they don't line up
> >> unless you're looking for it. I am so glad I didn't go to all the
> trouble of
> >> glassing them up perfectly because I would have had to do it all over
> again
> >> after I re-shimmed the wings. (pictures attached.)
> >>
> >> Doug Holub
> >> Standard FG
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Izzy Brownfield" <iznstacy at yahoo.com>
> >> To: <reflector at tvbf.org>
> >> Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2011 7:21 PM
> >> Subject: REFLECTOR: Trim
> >>
> >>
> >>> I shimmed the right wing lower bolt with one thin washer approx .025
> in.
> >>> Flew airplane and really could not tell a difference it may have helped
> a
> >>> bit but not what I expected. Still required left rudder and right
> aileron
> >>> to center the ball. Wing to strake mismatch at the leading edge was
> quite
> >>> a bit.
> >>> I removed the shim and now I'm going to shim the the left rudder out
> and
> >>> see what that does.
> >>> Izzy
> >>>
> >>> Sent from my iPhone
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> To change your email address, visit
> >>> http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/listinfo/reflector
> >>>
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> >>> user:pw = tvbf:jamaicangoose
> >>> Check new archives: www.tvbf.org/pipermail
> >>> Check old archives:
> http://www.tvbf.org/archives/velocity/maillist.html
> >> -------------- next part --------------
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> >>
> >> ------------------------------
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Visit the gallery!  tvbf:jamaicangoose
> >>
> >> End of Reflector Digest, Vol 79, Issue 4
> >> ****************************************
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> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 3
> > Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2011 22:11:04 -0500
> > From: Izzy Brownfield <iznstacy at yahoo.com>
> > Subject: REFLECTOR: Trim
> > To: "reflector at tvbf.org" <reflector at tvbf.org>
> > Message-ID: <071E1B1A-8469-4F2C-BB62-1D98924B6322 at yahoo.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> >
> > Sorry just noticed my typo I used a .065 washer not .025
> > Izzy
> >>
> >>
> >> I shimmed the right wing lower bolt with one thin washer approx .025 in.
>
> >> Flew airplane and really could not tell a difference it may have helped
> a bit but not what I expected. Still required left rudder and right aileron
> to center the ball. Wing to strake mismatch at the leading edge was quite a
> bit.
> >> I removed the shim and now I'm going to shim the the left rudder out and
> see what that does.
> >> Izzy
> >>
> >>
> > -------------- next part --------------
> > An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> > URL: <
> http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/private/reflector/attachments/20111002/c23f0474/attachment-0001.htm
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 4
> > Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2011 19:57:33 -0700
> > From: Erik Franks <efranks at frugalmedia.com>
> > Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Plane painted - wow, that was a lot of work!
> > To: geoff.gerhardt at gmail.com, Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders
> > list <reflector at tvbf.org>
> > Message-ID:
> >
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> >
> > Very nice, congrats
> > -Erik Franks
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 7:08 PM, Geoff Gerhardt <geoff.gerhardt at gmail.com
> >wrote:
> >
> >> Folks,
> >>
> >> Over the last few weeks I painted my plane.  What a huge amount of work.
> >> You can see the pictures and read about it here
> >> <http://thegerhardts.com/velocity/?p=299>(
> >> http://thegerhardts.com/velocity/?p=299) if you're interested.  Basic
> >> white with burgundy/silver stripes and around the windows.  Tons of prep
> >> work, many late nights masking stripes and N-Numbers, but great to see
> it
> >> all finished.  It turned out great - I'm very pleased.  Its now out of
> my
> >> home shop, and at my hangar at KORH (Worcester, MA), which is ~20min
> drive
> >> away.  Its a bit tougher to work on it out there instead of my basement
> shop
> >> so it might go a little slower...I'm on the home stretch now, though!
> >>
> >> Geoff
> >> http://thegerhardts.com/velocity
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> To change your email address, visit
> >> http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/listinfo/reflector
> >>
> >> Visit the gallery!  www.tvbf.org/gallery
> >> user:pw = tvbf:jamaicangoose
> >> Check new archives: www.tvbf.org/pipermail
> >> Check old archives: http://www.tvbf.org/archives/velocity/maillist.html
> >>
> > -------------- next part --------------
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> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 5
> > Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2011 23:25:36 -0400
> > From: "Lou Stedman" <stedmanlou at roadrunner.com>
> > Subject: REFLECTOR: Fw: [c-a] crash at RR
> > To: "Velocity Reflector" <reflector at tvbf.org>
> > Message-ID: <3B7B1D49D56E415FAF112B6290311AD8 at LouPC>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
> >
> >
> >
> > From: DON JONES
> > Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2011 10:07 PM
> > To: canard-aviators
> > Subject: [c-a] crash at RR
> >
> >
> >
> > I've been helping the NTSB and FAA with their investigation of the crash
> at RR. I'm trying to establish if the pilot of the Glassair was making radio
> calls during his takeoff and short flight until the crash. I've pulled the
> following N numbers from my photo files of the first few planes to land just
> after the crash. Please e-mail me if you heard anything over the radio from
> pilot, either yes or no and what you remember him transmitted if anything.
> Thanks in advance for helping. Please forward this e-mail to the Cozy and
> Velocity list.
> >
> > Don Jones
> > Berkut FG
> >
> >
> > N321VE     Velocity
> >
> > N103MH     LongEze
> >
> > N25KF       Race 99
> >
> > N271J         LongEze
> >
> > N197DL     COZY MK 4
> >
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> > ------------------------------
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Visit the gallery!  tvbf:jamaicangoose
> >
> > End of Reflector Digest, Vol 79, Issue 5
> > ****************************************
>
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>
> --
> It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
> Albert Einstein
>
>
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