The Last Flight of N32YX

Daleandee

Daleandee

Final Approach
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Dale Andee
Here's what can happen to a Sonex if the canopy comes open in flight:

 
Wow! Too bad.

I wonder what made them think the plane was uncontrollable? It may have been - turbulent airflow over the v-tail - but it’s not obvious. IOW, was a return to the airport an option?
 
At the end he wrote that the partially opened canopy created a "parachute effect" that prevented climbing or even holding altitude.

I guess if they could have jettisoned the canopy that may have helped. But that low to ground... FLY THE PLANE!
 
donjohnston said:
At the end he wrote that the partially opened canopy created a "parachute effect" that prevented climbing or even holding altitude.

I guess if they could have jettisoned the canopy that may have helped. But that low to ground... FLY THE PLANE!
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In my open-canopy incident in my Sky Arrow, I was fortunate it waited to open until on final when I put a wing down to slip. I had complete control to continue to landing, but thinking about it that open canopy sure could have had a “parachute effect” had I needed to climb or even hold altitude.

I didn’t mean to second-guess - all’s well that ends well!
 
They should be glad they didn't flip. That cockpit offers zero protection to the occupants. Their headsets frames are basically the only roll cage over them.
 
FastEddieB said:
Wow! Too bad.

I wonder what made them think the plane was uncontrollable? It may have been - turbulent airflow over the v-tail - but it’s not obvious. IOW, was a return to the airport an option?
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In the notes below the vid the pilot comments that they were losing altitude even at full throttle, thus the straight-ahead landing.
 
Brad Z said:
That cockpit offers zero protection to the occupants. Their headsets frames are basically the only roll cage over them.
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Not quite true. That turtle deck behind them is quite substantial ... you just gotta remember to duck! o_O
 
Brad Z said:
They should be glad they didn't flip.
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That is why I never understand airplanes with sliding canopies or a canopy that has to go up to open. Upside down with gas spilling out and looking for a hot spot will make a day completely terrifying.

Did I mention I have a fear of being trapped.??
 
eman1200 said:
FYI fast forward to 30:45 of the 32 minute video.
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Thanks. I only skipped to 30 minutes and still had way too much taxiing to bad techno. I'm glad everyone was ok, but I'm mostly interested in how they filmed to wingtip shots.
 
Daleandee said:
Not quite true. That turtle deck behind them is quite substantial ... you just gotta remember to duck! o_O
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One of my fellow former flying club members seriously injured himself flipping in a taxi run in a Sonex. Serious brain injury and will never fly again.
 
Lindberg said:
Thanks. I only skipped to 30 minutes and still had way too much taxiing to bad techno. I'm glad everyone was ok, but I'm mostly interested in how they filmed to wingtip shots.
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Lots of youtube guys doing it. It's a camera mounted to a pole, the camera can them digitally remove the pole from the video.

 
bfmetcalf said:
Lots of youtube guys doing it. It's a camera mounted to a pole, the camera can them digitally remove the pole from the video.

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Thanks, that's interesting. If I'd just crashed an airplane in a circumstance where normal control of the aircraft was at issue, I might not advertise to the world that I'd mounted something on the aircraft with potential to disrupt airflow over the wing, but maybe that's just me.
 
Lindberg said:
Thanks, that's interesting. If I'd just crashed an airplane in a circumstance where normal control of the aircraft was at issue, I might not advertise to the world that I'd mounted something on the aircraft with potential to disrupt airflow over the wing, but maybe that's just me.
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I agree, but according to their website, they do have "certified, FAA friendly, and safe solutions". Not sure how exactly that works but who knows, I know I don't plan on doing it myself.
 
“Whoa, that didn’t work out the way we wanted it.” Last thing said at the end in a voice with no emotion. That guy be like cool.
 
Armchair quarterback: Looks like a pretty steep deck angle after the canopy comes off - was he trying to climb, while on the 'back' side of the power curve? Wouldn't the plane still be flyable? Granted, the adrenaline was probably flowing strongly at the time.
 
40YearDream said:
Armchair quarterback: Looks like a pretty steep deck angle after the canopy comes off - was he trying to climb, while on the 'back' side of the power curve? Wouldn't the plane still be flyable? Granted, the adrenaline was probably flowing strongly at the time.
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Yeah, my thought as well. Maybe camera angle exaggerated it, but AOA looked seriously steep after canopy opened.
 
luvflyin said:
“Whoa, that didn’t work out the way we wanted it.” Last thing said at the end in a voice with no emotion. That guy be like cool.
Click to expand...

If I ever crash a plane I am pretty sure my last recorded words before the sound of impact will be, ''well sh%t, that didn't work...''
 
Brad Z said:
One of my fellow former flying club members seriously injured himself flipping in a taxi run in a Sonex. Serious brain injury and will never fly again.
Click to expand...

I never said that injuries can't happen I was simply pointing out that the turtle deck behind the pilot is quite a substantial piece of structure.

A fellow pilot was killed some years ago in an off airport crash of a tail wheel Sonex that flipped. His son, in the plane with him, got a few scratches from crawling out of the broken canopy to go and find help. God only knows when your number will be called ...
 
The sonex with two big guys in it on a warm summer day has a pretty anemic climb rate. With the added drag of the air blowing into the turtledeck I can easily see why the had trouble maintaining altitude.
 
kmacht said:
The sonex with two big guys in it on a warm summer day has a pretty anemic climb rate. With the added drag of the air blowing into the turtledeck I can easily see why the had trouble maintaining altitude.
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You can fix that with mo' motor:

 
More motor is always better but the thing sonex brings to the table is its low cost. Being able to build up an aerovee for less than 8k vs a 20k rotax or a 30k lycoming was the driving decision as to why I went with a Sonex.
 
kmacht said:
More motor is always better but the thing sonex brings to the table is its low cost. Being able to build up an aerovee for less than 8k vs a 20k rotax or a 30k lycoming was the driving decision as to why I went with a Sonex.
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Yep you are absolutely correct. At the time I built my tail wheel the Aerovee was ~ 8K (and I had one on an earlier Sonex and needed mo power) and the Corvair conversion was not much coin above that so the decision for me was simple.

I'm extremely glad I went with the Corvair for a host of reasons ... which you are, no doubt, aware of.
 
Completely agree the Corvair is the way to go on the sonex airframe. I considered converting mine and even bought two Corvair cores but the cost of the converting plus a new motor mount, cowl, gear legs and paint was going to be too much. What I don’t understand are the airframes putting 20k rotax and aeromomentum engines on them. By the time you do that you could have built an RV with a midtime engine
 
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