May 2014 19th Annual Safety Issue OFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB OFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB OFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB Vol. 43 No.5 May 2014 A PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB CONTENTSOFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB “At this point, there was no doubt in my mind that the plane could break the record if the pilot doesn’t prevent it from doing so.” –Spencer Suderman FEATURES 6 2014 Election 11 What We Learned About Farming From That by Todd Ashcraft and Andrew Helfer 17 Inverted Flat Spin World Record by Spencer Suderman 22 Giles G202 by Richard Hood and Andrew Wright 24 2013 Accident Recap by Steve Johnson DEPARTMENTS 2 / Letter From the Editor 3 / President’s Commentary 4 / Letter to the Editor 5 / Contest Calendar 26 / Brilliance and Buff oonery 29 / Ask Allen THE COVER Andrew Wright fl ies 32 / FlyMart & Classifi eds his Giles 202 on a beautiful afternoon. Photo by Glenn Watson (machpointoneaviation.com) OFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB REGGIE PAULK COMMENTARY / EDITOR’S LOG OFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB PUBLISHER: Doug Sowder IAC MANAGER: Trish Deimer-Steineke EDITOR: Reggie Paulk OFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB EDITITOR IN CHIEF: J. Mac McClellan SENIOR ART DIRECTOR: Olivia P. Trabbold May Is Safety Month CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS: Authors recounting lessons learned Todd Ashcraft Allen Silver Andrew Helfer Doug Sowder Richard HoodOFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the INTERNATIONALBeth Stanton AEROBATIC CLUB Steve Johnson Spencer Suderman May is traditionally referred the beans for effect—he says we Reggie Paulk Andrew Wright to as safety month, and we have don’t have enough humor when IAC CORRESPONDENCE International Aerobatic Club, P.O. Box 3086 brought a few good stories for your talking about the serious business Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086 perusal. One safety problem ad- of accidents. He and Andrew’s ac- Tel: 920.426.6574 • Fax: 920.426.6579 dressed in this issue is a potential count is certainly not funny—but E-mail: [email protected] fault in the canopy latch mecha- there are elements of levity to be ADVERTISING nism on the Giles series canopies. sure. Vice President of Business Development: A recent canopy departure luckily Spencer Suderman brings us his Dave Chaimson [email protected] ended up only damaging the air- account of breaking the record for Advertising Manager: Sue Anderson [email protected] craft, but any number of factors most number of turns during an Business Relationship Manager: could have conspired to turn the in- inverted flat spin. It would seem Larry Phillip [email protected] cident into a tragedy. I give thanks that the third time was definitely MAILING: Change of address, lost or damaged to the gentlemen who kindly shared the charm, as he plummeted from magazines, back issues. their stories and photos of both the 23,000 feet over the California des- EAA-IAC Membership Services problem and recommended fix. ert to claim his hard-earned title. Tel: 800.843.3612 Fax: 920.426.6761 E-mail: [email protected] You may see a video if you visit EAA.org/intheloop, and click on the The International Aerobatic Club is a division of the EAA. Conditions can sneak April issue. For those of you who EAA® and SPORT AVIATION®, the EAA Logo® and Aeronautica™ are don’t know Spencer, he’s got quite registered trademarks and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft up on you rapidly— a sense of humor. His serious at- Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly tempt at the world record stands in prohibited. Copyright © 2014 by the International Aerobatic Club, Inc. have an escape plan for sharp contrast to his hilarious per- All rights reserved. those moments when sonality. Congratulations, Spencer! The International Aerobatic Club, Inc. is a division of EAA and of the Steve Johnson brings us an NAA. accident summary of the 2013 indecision clouds flying season. Over the years, A STATEMENT OF POLICY The International Aerobatic Club, Inc. cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy of the material the numbers and types of ac- presented by the authors of the articles in the magazine. The pages your thinking. cidents have remained relatively of Sport Aerobatics are offered as a clearing house of information constant. Please take a moment and a forum for the exchange of opinions and ideas. The individual reader must evaluate this material for himself and use it as he sees Todd Ashcraft and Andrew to consider that your safety ulti- fit. Every effort is made to present materials of wide interest that will Helfer once again share their story mately depends on your decision- be of help to the majority. Likewise we cannot guarantee nor endorse of bailing out of their ailing Chris- making and skill. A recent accident any product offered through our advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained ten Eagle biplane. The story ini- involving a highly skilled airline through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken. tially appeared in the 2003 safety and air show pilot highlights this Sport Aerobatics (USPS 953-560) is owned by the International issue. If you look closely, you can point. Although there is no prob- Aerobatic Club, Inc., and is published monthly at EAA Aviation Center, Editorial Department, P.O. Box 3086, 3000 Poberezny Rd., Oshkosh, clearly see the outline of Todd’s able cause as of yet, it appears he WI 54903-3086. Periodical Postage is paid at Oshkosh Post Office, body in the bean field where he impacted the side of a mountain Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901 and other post offices. Membership rate for impacted spread-eagled on his while skirting some springtime the International Aerobatic Club, Inc., is $45.00 per 12-month period of which $18.00 is for the subscription to Sport Aerobatics. Manuscripts back after an ultra-low bailout and weather. Conditions can sneak up submitted for publication become the property of the International canopy deployment. He was hop- on you rapidly—have an escape Aerobatic Club, Inc. Photographs will be returned upon request of ing we could draw the outline of plan for those moments when in- the author. High-resolution images are requested to assure the best IAC quality reproduction. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sport his body Wile E. Coyote style in decision clouds your thinking. Aerobatics, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. CPC 40612608 Please submit news, comments, articles, or suggestions to: [email protected] 2 Sport Aerobatics May 2014 DOUG SOWDER COMMENTARY / IAC PRESIDENT, IAC 14590 Please send your comments, questions, or suggestions to: [email protected] The Simple Propeller It’s not all as simple as it appears My propeller is at the propeller linkage to either a push-pull knob or important to keep close watch on shop for overhaul, an every 500-hour a quadrant lever. The pilot sets the the behavior of your constant-speed event for an MT prop used for seri- compression of the speeder spring propeller. If it’s counterweighted, a ous aerobatics. For the safety issue of to provide a desired rpm, and if rpm drop in rpm at high temperatures or Sport Aerobatics, I think a few thoughts increases due to, say, airspeed, the on extended uplines can mean in- on propellers may be in order. An air- fly weights “fly out,” causing the oil sufficient engine oil is reaching the plane’s drivetrain seems so simple: a valve to change the pressure in the governor, or it can mean that the en- two- or three-blade propeller and an propeller hub to return the engine to gine’s forward bearing is worn and engine to rotate it by burning copious the desired speed by increasing the governed oil pressure is leaking out quantities of fuel. However, it’s not all pitch of the blades. through excessive bearing clearances as simple as it appears. Most constant-speed propellers before it gets to the prop hub. There are two fundamental classes on single-engine aircraft use increas- Fixed-pitch propellers seem sim- of propeller used on single-engine ing oil pressure to force the blades pler than the constant-speed vari- piston aircraft—constant speed and to coarse pitch, thus tending to de- ety, and physically, they are. There fixed pitch. The constant-speed pro- crease rpm. Centrifugal force act- is no hydraulic mechanism; it’s just peller’s pitch (the blade angle, mea- ing on the blades tends to rotate the a slab of wood, metal, or composite sured in degrees, or the theoretical blades toward fine pitch; the balance formed into a pair of blades with a “advance” of the blade per revolu- of these forces maintains a constant suitable hub to bolt onto the crank- tion, usually denoted in inches) can rpm as set by the pilot. This arrange- shaft. The downside is that the en- be varied in response to operating ment is light in weight and allows gine rpm now will be directly related conditions. For the engines we use, a small propeller hub and spinner. to true (yes, not indicated) airspeed. horsepower is a product of torque For us aerobats, there is one disad- So, as you push the nose of your and rpm, and in the usual rpm vantage…our engines run in all atti- Pitts down and accelerate through ranges of 2300 to 2700, at wide open tudes and despite the efforts of the 180 mph, you could see well more throttle (WOT), it happens that the inverted oil systems, sometimes lose than redline rpm.