A Little Incident

[jiott]

I recently had a little incident which proves you can never be complacent or quit flying your tail-dragger until you have it in the hangar. I had just landed on a friend's private grass strip on his christmas tree farm. Its kind of short and narrow and a little rutted and rough but not too bad. Made a good landing and was rolling out. It was drifting a little to the right, maybe due to ruts or roughness, but I was very slow by then-probably less than 10 mph. In hindsight I should have reacted sooner, but finally decided I need to correct to the left. Way to slow for any help from the rudder, so used my left brake. Well the grass was long and slick so the wheel just skidded rather than turning the plane to the left. So I just kept going kind of slow motion to the right where the trees were planted alongside the runway. My right wingtip caught the top of a christmas tree which was so flexible that the treetop just bent and slid under the wing doing no damage whatsoever to the wing; no dent or even a scratch. However it hit the front edge of the right flaperon and creased it good. This swung the plane around in a 180 and the trailing edge of my left elevator then contacted another christmas tree lower down (where it is sturdier) and made a small bow in the trailing edge tube, cracking two of the wooden ribs inside. I was going so slow at this time I was surprised that any damage at all had occurred. After a thorough inspection, it looked airworthy so I flew it home (not very far) without further incident or any noticeable change in flying characteristics.

I am now in the process of replacing the flaperon (it couldn't be straightened) and have removed the fabric from the left elevator half to replace the two wood ribs and straighten the trailing edge tube. Fortunately that tube was only gently bowed and was easily straightened. Still there are many steps to take to repair just this minor damage and repaint. Hope to be ready to paint in a week or so.

Bottom line is: don't get complacent and wait too long; keep flying that plane to a stop. They say the 300-500 hour pilot (that's me at 370 hours) is the most likely to get complacent and have an incident. I'm just glad it was only minor damage and not life threatening at all. No prop strike thank goodness.

Fly safe.

[Dave S]

Jim,

Sorry for the deal you had; but, glad it was minor and you are getting right on it getting it fixed. Gotta stay on the horse!

[DesertFox4]

Also sorry to hear you have an injured Kitfox but glad for no structural damage. Complacency is a sneaky devil always looking for an opportunity to inflict his will no matter how many hours one has logged.
Thanks for the reminder.

[jrevens]

So sorry to hear that, Jim, but I hope you can take a little solace in the fact that many of us have been down that road. When I had an "incident" quite a few years ago, I was amazed by the outpouring from friends who told of similar happenings to them that I was totally unaware of. It really helped to ease my embarrassment and disappointment in myself. Statistics aside, like Steve said - it can happen to anyone. Sometimes, no matter how good a pilot you are, things will happen which may or may not be within your control. I know you'll fix it right and start enjoying that beautiful bird again real soon!

[Floog]

Oh, crap. I'm sorry to hear you banged up your beautiful ship. I know it will look better than it was when you have it in the air again soon. Just happy YOU, my friend, did not get banged up. I appreciate you sharing this. There are those of us who 'have' and those of us who have 'yet' to fall victim to the complacency you mention. Remember too, the greatest aviators in history have all banged up airplanes. Not that it's necessary or inevitable, it just made me feel better when I heard that :-)

[HighWing]

Add me to the chorus of "sorries". Also glad it was minor. I would guess that more often than not, this type of experience goes unreported along with the take care advice. Thanks for the heads up to all of us.

[rosslr]

Thats a bummer Jim! Must have been frustrating to see it all happening in slow mo!! Anyway, thanks for the reminder no to get too complacent and I am sure you will have it all back as new before long! I was surprised to hear it just skidded though and didn't grip at all - especially in your summer up there. I am going to do a few tests on wet grass using one brake to see how it responds.

best wishes for getting back in the air soon.

r

[efwd]

Sorry to hear this Jim. So glad it wasn't worse.
Eddie

[jiott]

6"-8" long dry grass is slicker than I thought. Thanks for the condolences. I was keeping it quiet for about a week, embarrassment and disappointment in myself. But then I kept getting questions from friends about not flying since I normally fly several times a week. Then this big long box arrived in my driveway from Kitfox with the new flap and the cat was out of the bag-couldn't hide it from my wife anymore. Things got kind of funny and I had to fess up to my family, so I figured why not fess up to my Kitfox family; maybe someone will get some good out of it, I know I sure have.

Am making good progress, have the elevator half ready to recover and have about half the work done on assembling the new flaperon. Starting to think about repainting soon. Am antsy to get back on that horse.

[jiott]

I certainly want to post kudus for Kitfox, Debra and Brandon Peterson, for getting my replacement flaperon shipped in short order. When I ordered it I was told they didn't have any extras in stock and would have to make it, but it would be touch and go whether it could be shipped before they all left for Oshkosh. Well Brandon busted his butt and got it done early and shipped nearly a week before they left for Osh. A public thanks to Kitfox customer service.

[jmodguy]

Thanks for the reminder Jim... Sounds like you are making good progress too!
Lets all be careful out there...

[jiott]

One more days work and will be ready for paint.

[rosslr]

Good for you Jim! I was wondering how you were going.

All went well?

r

[Poney]

Unfortunately, such accidents happen very often. Glad that everything is OK with you!

[jiott]

Yes everything went well. The elevator half was easily straightened and a couple of new wood ribs glued in. The fabric covering went like clockwork since I have been thru it before (sure like that 3" bias tape for the trailing edge rounded corners). The flaperon had to be completely replaced with new because the old one was creased too deeply to be straightened or filled. I salvaged the old balance weights, but bought new end caps. They are all assembled now and faired in ready for paint.

Not much real damage, but its been over a month now getting parts and going thru all the many little steps as you all know.

[jiott]

Glad to report that I am back in the air. The test flight after the repairs went perfectly and she flies just like she did before. Nearly two months grounded in the best flying weather-glad that's over. Thanks again to Debra and Brandon at Kitfox for their quick responses in getting parts shipped. I got to thinking how great it is to have a healthy factory in business with the support and parts you need. What a hassle it would be to find salvage parts for even a minor repair such as mine if they were out of business. Let's be sure and continue to support these people whenever we can with our parts orders.

[efwd]

That's great Jim! Now you can spend the gas money you saved the past two months. Get busy!

[Floog]

Great to find you at the gas station yesterday! We had a good romp on the Oregon coast after lunch. It's amazing how you got your plane back to new again so quickly! See you at WAAAM!?

[jiott]

It didn't seem so quick to me.

Yes, I plan to be at the Hood River WAAAM.