Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

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. Airspeed reached 248 kias, well over the never exceed VNE of 200 kias. The pilot died instantly.

True Airspeed 88

True Airspeed Indicated Airspeed Horizontal Stabilizer Aileron 88

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

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. Airspeed reached 248 kias, well over the never exceed VNE of 200 kias. The pilot died instantly.

True Airspeed 86

True Airspeed Indicated Airspeed Horizontal Stabilizer Aileron 86

Chess In the Air

JUNE 24, 2022

The Rifle ASOS recorded a gust of 43 mph from the south: a 100-degree shift in direction, putting it right on his tail. Under normal circumstances Shmulik would have had sufficient altitude to delay the landing by several minutes: his glider’s minimum descent rate in still air was just 100 fpm.

Pilot 52

Pilot AGL Wind Shear Runway 52