REFLECTOR: V-Twin was damaged

[Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list]

Rick Hayes-Roth's V-Twin was damaged this weekend. There were no injuries. Here are a couple of reports.

Reiff Lorenz, Dayton, OH
Velocity XL-RG, 59% complete
Currently working on: Fresh air vents.



Twin-engine Velocity aircraft skids off runway in Sebastian
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2014/jun/02/single-engine-aircraft-slid-runway-sebastian/

SEBASTIAN-A twin-engine Velocity aircraft skidded off the runway at the  Sebastian Municipal Airport Monday while its pilot was practicing a series of touch-and-go maneuvers.

Pilot Rick Hayes-Roth of California was at the Sebastian Municipal Airport for routine maintenance of his aircraft by its manufacturer, which leases space at the airport, according to Sebastian City Manager Joe Griffin. No one was hurt in the incident and there was no fuel leak. Griffin said it would not be classified by the FAA as a crash.

"The pilot just ran off the side of the runway," Griffin said Monday. As of 5 p.m., Griffin said the plane was being cleared from the runway so flight operations could resume.

[cid:image001.png at 01CF8EBD.A80ED060]



>From Facebook poster Justin Prince

Some tough news. The second Velocity V-Twin produced, N360VT, apparently had problems while performing touch and goes in Sebastian with the owner/builder as PIC and crashed.

The aircraft sustained prior damage to one of the propellers recently when items from the storage compartment came out and struck the prop. The aircraft had a new prop installed and had passed all prior tests with John Abraham on board along with the owner. The owner/builder was then performing 3 touch and goes alone.

On the 3rd climb after takeoff the aircraft started having problems with directional control and the PIC noticed one engine was substantially lower in RPM than the other. He attempted to correct this issue throughout the traffic pattern until turning final and cutting power over the numbers.

After floating down the runway a bit the aircraft touched and bounced twice before the PIC attempted to apply full power and abort the landing. Unfortunately with the prior RPM discrepancy not solved, the aircraft stalled and came down hard off the side of the runway, sustaining substantial damage to the gear, fuselage, and props.

No injuries were sustained by the PIC thankfully. I just can't imagine how he's feeling after all the time and money invested and then to have this happen. Just glad he is ok physically if not mentally. I had been following his blog throughout most of the build and early flights. I went to the site today and noticed it was not working correctly and did a search of the tail number and found the crash info.

Justin Prince
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