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Mitch, while regretting the accident, and being very pleased you are OK, I wish to congratulate you on your forthright account and analysis of the event.The importance of Human Factors in these events can never be over-estimated, there is always a temptation to attribute the cause to some factor 'beyond my control'. Nobody likes having to admit to being fallible, but the truth is that we all are. We must all learn from each other's mistakes, we won't live long enough to learn by making them ourselves. This Forum and the final Reports published in Gyro News are valuable learning tools, we must never laugh at others stupidity, we are all just as stupid.Let's work on developing the safety culture where frank and honest information exchange is regarded as essential.It looks like I've done it again, I've posted as Llewella!JohnLlewellaYou shouldn't push your luck. Play it safe and move the ladder..
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Mitch, Sorry about the gyro damage BUT extreamly pleased to hear you are ok. Des
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MitchGlad to hear you are OK, thats the main thing.Don't be to hard on youself, you made a mistake, your human just like the rest of us. I know I felt like crap faced with a bent machine, but I found the best thing was to get stuck into the rebuild, as it gave me a solid goal to work towards. Hope to see you up and flying soonRoss B
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Very sorry to hear that Mitch. There is something in every accident that every one can learn from. Thanks for furnishing such a complete and detailed report.Tim McClure
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Sorry to read the news Mitch. Have a good holiday, come back, put a heater in the shed and get stuck into the re-build.-Didnt like those Bensons anyway did ya.Cam.
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Hey Guys,I appreciate you all. Thanks.Revisiting the accident (as you do), I'd just like to clarify the possible significance of rotating the head 180 degree.Having shimmed the worn side faces of the hub block (30 years of cotton reel wear and to different depths) and got the block centred, when I rotated the head the hub was likely no longer centred, contributing to out of track, reducing the likely hood of bring the blades up at expected rates and the onset of late stage flap due to the excessive forward ground speed.Another thing I thought may be helpfull in the analysis, given previous threads, is that once arriving at the second rise (essentially the abort point), the ground then drops away about 7 degrees. Wind is comming at me off my left hand side. Once I head down hill still with full back stick, I now have more like 11 degrees instead of 18 degrees. This would have put me further behind the 8 ball again. I make the assumption that the wind is parrallel to the ground as the ground is dead flat in the paddock at the end of the down section of runway. And given the relative short distances involved.I'm going to moth ball the engine, try and strip the Butterfly right down and put a list together in the next 10 days or so before I head off."Gee the 'high' is gonna be sitting right over the top of us here tomorrow.[
][
] Perfect for....[B)][
!]Yes Dear, stone pitching, that's what I was gunna say."[8D][]Cheers,Mitch.www.thebutterflyllc.com
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WOW MitchMan thats scarry.You must be tuffer'n nickle whisky to have walked away from that pile of twisted metel.Anyway It's great your ok the Butter fly can be rebuilt. But for now, I think she's right,get out there and pitch some rocks up on the new house
)]C'ya at Mentone Cobber.SonnyPS BTW I had a bit of a stuffup on Friday the 18 myself,weird huh.[B)]Intelligence is not a privilege,it is a gift and should be used for the good of mankind.
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Well Mitch,At least she didnt catch fire, to rub insult into injury!Good to hear you are fineRegards, Mark.
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Good to see you are fine and rebuilding Greg a real shame to have had that happened after all that hard work. Regards Jay Preece
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"Tuffer'n nickle whiskey." Sounds flammable to me.Guys, the right knee is strapped and then there is not a scratch or a bruise to be seen. I was very lucky and thankfully the position the gyro came to rest in resulted in fuel leaking on to me, not back on to the engine.Cleaned out the workshop today and rolled the wreck in ready for stripping down. It will be a major project. I will do a pictorial of the parts as they come off and post in another thread if members are interested in that.Thanks again from all.Mitch.www.thebutterflyllc.com
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Greg,I have no doubt everyone is interested, I certainly am.I don't know if you have the facility, but if you could compare the damaged against a new part it would be even more informative. Flat bench photos showing deflection and deformation from straight will also provide quality information for engineering purposes.As to your knee I'd guess that you had a defensive leg out to take some of the load, you must have got out quickly to avoid a chemical burn from the fuel, Jeff had a bad one after his incident, though he was soaking in it for a sustained period, maybe the presence of two stroke in your fuel mix may have made it less ferocious. Good to know that is all that happened.Have fun with your rebuild, hope it goes smoothly for you.Cheers,Nick.
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"That which does not kill us makes us stronger", Not been on the forum for a while and was shocked to read your tale, glad you're OK. Enjoy Mentone ,I had a ball last year. Say hi to Kerry Cartier for me..Cheers,...Art Spink...
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MitchYou may want to get someone to check out the engine and gearbox for damage. Hate to see the 503 fail after the rebuild.Ross B
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