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Split-S Decision

Plane and Pilot

Missing its tail, pointing almost straight down, a Van’s RV-7A single-engine, two-seat homebuilt plummeted out of the blue and into the rocky ground. This wasn’t the first Van’s homebuilt to experience an in-flight tail separation. I did my first aileron roll in an RV-4. The pilot died instantly. Was the breakup cause or effect?

article thumbnail

Split-S Decision

Plane and Pilot

Missing its tail, pointing almost straight down, a Van’s RV-7A single-engine, two-seat homebuilt plummeted out of the blue and into the rocky ground. This wasn’t the first Van’s homebuilt to experience an in-flight tail separation. I did my first aileron roll in an RV-4. The pilot died instantly. Was the breakup cause or effect?