---------------------------------------------------------- RV9-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Sat 11/19/05: 1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 12:45 PM - A very bad day at the airport (Merems) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 12:45:21 PM PST US From: "Merems" Subject: RV9-List: A very bad day at the airport INNOCENT GLOBAL 0.0000 1.0000 -4.4912 --> RV9-List message posted by: "Merems" Fellow builders, I want to share with you a very bad day at the airport. I was attending a pancake breakfast with our local EAA chapter at La Cholla Airpark just north of Tucson AZ. A dozen or so aircraft arrived and another two dozen or so visitors arrived for a wonderful morning of food and airplanes. One of the aircraft that arrived was a turbine Legend (composite, high performance aircraft). It announced it's arrival with a high speed flyby and landed. However when it went to takeoff, something went wrong, very wrong. It appeared to lift off the runway way too early (about 1/3 what you would have expected) pitch up and roll sharply to the port side. At about 75-100' it was still nose high and rolling sharply to its port side. Then the nose pitched down. The aircraft was now heading towards the ground but my view became obscured by a house and tree line (yes we do have trees in Arizona). A second later was impact followed by smoke. Both soles on board died. No houses or people on the ground were hurt. Since it was a EAA breakfast fly-in there were pilots all around speculating on what had happened. What went wrong. Some are speculating it was a high performance takeoff the pilot lost control due to the torque effect and the 700+ horse power engine. I don't know if we will ever know. 15 years earlier an RV-4 pilot decided to do a roll on takeoff at this same airport and killed himself and his passenger. I hope I never have a day like this again. Paul