Saint Radial Kitfox Off-field Landing

[SaintAero]

:(Bad news on my project. The aircraft was damaged after I executed an off-field landing on a Par 3. I could not get it stopped in time. However, I walked away with only a few scratches. Keep those shoulder belts tight. Damage is being assessed and options being considered.
More later when the cause is understood, Don

[DesertFox4]

Don, so sorry to hear about your Kitfox. So glad you are unhurt. Keep us posted.

[Dick B in KY]

Don, Glad you are well and no serious injuries. Hope acft is repairable with out too much damage.

Dick B

[Agfoxflyer]

Don, I feel your pain. I put my 5 down in a beanfield in October after a engine failure. Glad you had no serious injuries. My kitfox flying days are over, but at least my brother lets me fly his RV-9A.

[Dorsal]

SaintAero, glad your OK, always troubling posts but good to know about, hope that beautiful planes flies again before too long.

Agfox, did you ever determine the cause of your engine failure?

[Iceflyer]

I put my 5 down in a beanfield in October after a engine failure.

Yeah agfoxflyer.. what happened. did you have the 912ULS?

p.s. found your post about the incident http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=891

[SaintAero]

I'm glad I was in a Kitfox for this. Even though I am not that proficient in Kitfox power-off short-field landings, I managed to land on the fairway right in front of the green. I used full flaps and full right rudder for the slip to the landing. According to the Dynon recorded data, my airspeed for the slip was 43 MPH which was 5 MPH above a wings-level stall. GPS track was 090 with a 120 heading at a 800 FPM descent. I would not want to try this in my Glasair. Also, the shoulder belts and the steel frame worked well. My minor scratches could have been much worse in many different airplanes. Kudos to steel tubes, TIG welders and low and slow airplanes ! - Don

[Paul Z]

Don,

It sounds as if you did an excellent job at safely bringing it to a stop just before the Green. Did you get out an 1 putt? Personally I would recommend using a Golf Cart next time at the par 3. Joking aside, it sounds as if you had some help from above, and I am truly glad to hear you safely put her on the ground!

I hope you did not damage the plane too badly! What type of damage landing gear, tail wheel, prop strike (Ohh, that would leave a nasty divot!)??

Paul Z

[Agfoxflyer]

Dorsal & Iceflyer;

I had a 912ULS with 76 hours on it. Best guess is a fitting failure that allowed the oil pump to inject air into the system. The engine seized and the prop free wheels, so the gear box is broken internally. I guess there is a possiblity of gear box failure that caused the engine to suddenly stop and then fitting failure, but doubtful.I am a commercial general contractor and given the current economic climate with business off 80% from 3 years ago I could not justify spending any money on the plane so I have given up on Kitfox flying. All my recent attention has been on getting my brothers RV-9A into the air. Maybe the new owner will chime in someday and I'll know for sure what happened. The plane apparently is in storage with no work being done. I had done the annual a few weeks before the failure and went over the engine carefully with no problems observed. Also the engine had retained all its oil at landing. Maybe one day in the distant future I will fly a Kitfox again. As great an airplane the 9A is, you just can't beat a Kitfox for pure fun flying (IMHO).

[SaintAero]

I share the same sentiments on Flying a Kitfox. The 20 hours of flying this project was with the fun meter pegged far to the right.

I can say for sure with the Dynon-recorded data that High Fuel Pressure to the carburetor flooded the engine and caused the loss of power. I still do not have the "smoking gun" on what caused the high fuel pressure. The Dynon was only collecting data every 10 seconds, so much pertinent data was not collected.

I have decided to sell this project "as is" to a good home. I am offering this to the Kitfox community before I make this available at OSH. See attached flyer.
Don

[Pilot4Life]

Just to clarify...Any Par 3 is typically Cart Path only and there's no centerline, so that'll test the skills of any operator.:D

SaintAero,
I know you loved flying that beauty. With all that hard work, and experience, building it the first time, why sell it? No matter the time it would take to rebuild, you would at least have a jump on it. Economy being what it is, we'd all love to have the resources (time & money) to enjoy KF flying. Hope all works out for you and that you (as well as AgFoxFlyer) get back into a KF soon.

Clear, Blue, and 22!

[ME2]

Don,
Sorry to hear about the airplane- Thank goodness you were flying a Kitfox.
All that matters is you are OK. Congratulations an handling an emergency situation properly. We should all be as prepared as you obviously were.
Best Regards
Bill

[cardinal flier]

Have you determined what caused the engine failure?
Bruce