Lancair Evolution Down, Mesa AZ

Wow close to home...seems like it's been extra rough with the plane crashes lately...makes you wonder sometimes.
 
CC268 said:
Wow close to home...seems like it's been extra rough with the plane crashes lately...makes you wonder sometimes.
Click to expand...
Definitely wonder how a pilot can have a stall/spin after an electrical problem and flying past Dvt and SDL to get to the shop at FFZ. I hope it's not the case but it may just reveal itself that the screens went out and the pilot lost SA.
 
NJP_MAN said:
Definitely wonder how a pilot can have a stall/spin after an electrical problem and flying past Dvt and SDL to get to the shop at FFZ. I hope it's not the case but it may just reveal itself that the screens went out and the pilot lost SA.
Click to expand...

The article above says it was mechanical trouble?
 
CC268 said:
The article above says it was mechanical trouble?
Click to expand...
Maybe an alternator. The things I was reading had the pilot telling tower they were probably going to lose the radios
 
NJP_MAN said:
Maybe an alternator. The things I was reading had the pilot telling tower they were probably going to lose the radios
Click to expand...

LiveATC has the archived feed. The pilot also indicated to the tower he'd had an electrical problem in the aircraft last Friday; FlightAware shows a pair of short round-robin flights from FFZ on that date.
 
Wow...too bad about that. But I have to wonder, did he spin it in or something? Seems to me if he just left the field he should be able to put it down pretty easily on that course.
 
Caramon13 said:
Wow...too bad about that. But I have to wonder, did he spin it in or something? Seems to me if he just left the field he should be able to put it down pretty easily on that course.
Click to expand...
He didn't just leave the field. It was a diversion of over 100 miles to get back to falcon to go to the shop.
 
NJP_MAN said:
He didn't just leave the field. It was a diversion of over 100 miles to get back to falcon to go to the shop.
Click to expand...

Ah..missed that in the article. In that case, looks like he was really close to an airport there. Too slow on approach and spin it in?
 
I didn't know him, but he was a trainer in the automobile business, always heard good things about it, sad. RIP
 
Caramon13 said:
Ah..missed that in the article. In that case, looks like he was really close to an airport there. Too slow on approach and spin it in?
Click to expand...
Possible. With power maybe didn't have air data info. But should have had a standby instrument.
 
I think it is useful to read these accident reports for what I can learn. Rather than think "What should he have done?" I ask myself, if something similar happens to me what would I do and what should I do.
 
This is being discussed on the lancair forum also. perhaps unrelated, it appears this plane was just purchased a month ago. an unfortunate incident regardless of the cause.
 
FORANE said:
This is being discussed on the lancair forum also. perhaps unrelated, it appears this plane was just purchased a month ago. an unfortunate incident regardless of the cause.
Click to expand...
I don't think it's unrelated. I wish that it was. I wonder how much turboprop time the new owner had.
 
NJP_MAN said:
I don't think it's unrelated. I wish that it was. I wonder how much turboprop time the new owner had.
Click to expand...

Or Lancair time in general...my understanding is that the Lancairs in general are unforgiving in an engine out and/or lower-than-ideal-speed scenario. I recall someone on here with experience in them remarking that stalls were particularly nasty.
 
Omalley1537 said:
Or Lancair time in general...my understanding is that the Lancairs in general are unforgiving in an engine out and/or lower-than-ideal-speed scenario. I recall someone on here with experience in them remarking that stalls were particularly nasty.
Click to expand...

The discontinued Lancair IV and IVP(resurized) allegedly have nasty stall characteristics. The Evolution, which is the subject of this thread, is a much newer design and is supposedly much more forgiving.
 
Justt guessing here but it reads to me like he lost his airspeed/altimeter and let it go too low and too slow causing a stall/spin.


Question from a stupid pilot of only certified airplanes (so far)...

Does the Evolution typically have redundant instruments or are all basic instrumentation electrically dependent? IE. is there a pitot/static system that allows for basic instruments to still work with a power loss?
 
Last edited:
NJP_MAN said:
Definitely wonder how a pilot can have a stall/spin after an electrical problem and flying past Dvt and SDL to get to the shop at FFZ. I hope it's not the case but it may just reveal itself that the screens went out and the pilot lost SA.
Click to expand...
Replying to my first post here, Request to divert at 16:17 and crash at 16:50. Seems like I was right on the money with my first conclusion. I hope if one thing people can learn is that you shouldn't fly past 10 airports to get to the shop. Let the shop come to you. Also a good reminder to go and practice flying the pattern without your instruments.
 
NJP_MAN said:
Replying to my first post here, Request to divert at 16:17 and crash at 16:50. Seems like I was right on the money with my first conclusion. I hope if one thing people can learn is that you shouldn't fly past 10 airports to get to the shop. Let the shop come to you. Also a good reminder to go and practice flying the pattern without your instruments.
Click to expand...

My understanding is this pilot had very little time in that Lancair. This story reeks of little pilot proficiency in this particular airplane. Very sad.
 
CC268 said:
My understanding is this pilot had very little time in that Lancair. This story reeks of little pilot proficiency in this particular airplane. Very sad.
Click to expand...
Yea I think you're right. Need to always know the configuration and pitch attitude for approach and landing. Learn the way its looks and sounds when you're in different phases of the traffic pattern. This isn't easy at first so being new to the plane makes it a bit more challenging.
 
At a minimum, have the airspeeds in a given configuration memorized. Know the flap settings, gear settings, RPM/MP required to achieve a particular airspeed/vertical speed combination. If you know that final approach at 1,500RPM with flaps at 20 and gear locked results in 80kts with a 500FPM descent, you can probably assume the 80kts if you know the other factors without an ASI.
 
33 minutes? sounds a bit like he lost the electrical farther out but he had the screens because they went to backup battery power. i am willing to bet just before the crash the backups went dead and the screens went dark. new airplane limited system knowledge, not the builder so he probably did not understand the electrical system as well as he should have. but all pure speculation on my part.

bob
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top