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she did what she was supposed to do

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thomas(at)scherer.com
Guest

Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 8:58 pm Post subject: she did what she was supposed to do

it is my sad duty (well, glad - I am reporting it myself) that N81EU was 

lost tonight on a take-off failure with me and Kim Prout aboard.,



The Rotax 912 failed on take-off and running out of options I had to put her 

down at the end of the runway with a droop and fence ahead.



Plane came to a rest in a quarry after shearing off the landing gear 

(trigear) and tearing off the firewall foward.



It is a miracle that Kim and me walked away and I fully attribute it to the 

design of the central tunnel and the wheel attachment that we're not only 

alive but walked away unharmed from a complete crash,



The flying surfaces seem unhamarmed as well as the fuselelage except the 

firewall foward (which broke off  1oo %) and the gears which were lost about 

2oo feet short off the crash site.



It is very early to say anything - the engine was fine - we worked on it the 

entire afternoon and found it to be very smooth - I fear I installed as new 

fuel filter which should not have been there - more later.



Anyway - we're alive (and having our share of Whiskey) and I promise you ... 

you will hear again of N81EU.



Thanks to the designer who made her this crashworthy - N18EU now has 890 hrs 

under her belly and never missed a beat (Rotax 912).



more later



<Thomas N81EU>



PS: the only pain we can report of is on our feet - after the firewall 

sheared off our feet were in the void and got hurt on the last impact. She 

was flying right to the end. Europa rulez !

Paul Boulet

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 57
Location: Malibu, California

Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 9:35 pm Post subject: she did what she was supposed to do

Wow.... my empathy to you and Kim.... congrats are in order not just to the designer but to the pilot for cool thinking in a crisis situation.  Thank you for your candid report of this terrible situation.  May you quickly get your bird repaired and into the air soon!



Paul Boulet, N914PB, Malibu, California



---

Kevin Klinefelter

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 11
Location: Bishop CA

Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 10:04 pm Post subject: she did what she was supposed to do

Very happy to hear you are both OK.Wow.

Did it happen at Cable? Nevermind... have another drink you two... very 

happy indeed.



All the Best to you both,  Kevin Klinefelter



Thomas Scherer wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   



 it is my sad duty (well, glad - I am reporting it myself) that N81EU 

 was lost tonight on a take-off failure with me and Kim Prout aboard.,



 The Rotax 912 failed on take-off and running out of options I had to 

 put her down at the end of the runway with a droop and fence ahead.



 Plane came to a rest in a quarry after shearing off the landing gear 

 (trigear) and tearing off the firewall foward.



 It is a miracle that Kim and me walked away and I fully attribute it 

 to the design of the central tunnel and the wheel attachment that 

 we're not only alive but walked away unharmed from a complete crash,



 The flying surfaces seem unhamarmed as well as the fuselelage except 

 the firewall foward (which broke off  1oo %) and the gears which were 

 lost about 2oo feet short off the crash site.



 It is very early to say anything - the engine was fine - we worked on 

 it the entire afternoon and found it to be very smooth - I fear I 

 installed as new fuel filter which should not have been there - more 

 later.



 Anyway - we're alive (and having our share of Whiskey) and I promise 

 you ... you will hear again of N81EU.



 Thanks to the designer who made her this crashworthy - N18EU now has 

 890 hrs under her belly and never missed a beat (Rotax 912).



 more later



 <Thomas N81EU>



 PS: the only pain we can report of is on our feet - after the firewall 

 sheared off our feet were in the void and got hurt on the last impact. 

 She was flying right to the end. Europa rulez !

_________________
Europa XS, Mono Wheel N211KA
Intercooled 914, Airmaster Prop

ptag.dev(at)tiscali.co.uk
Guest

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 12:05 am Post subject: she did what she was supposed to do

Hi! Thomas.

Sad to hear the news about the a/c and pleased you are generally OK.

Unfortunately on take off it only needs to miss "one beat", I'm

wondering if you had been able to do a long full power test prior to

departure? When I had my fuel blockage (due to drilling restrictions in

the tank connectors) I had been unable to restrain the a/c on the trike

gear brakes on full power for longer than to "bounce" the max. RPM on

the tacho. I then resorted to lengthy full power checks with one brake

only (so long as folks are clear!)

It does look like you are a lunatic but allows an extended full power

run up. Anyway Having done it I still had first main tank engine fail

followed by reserve tank engine fail in the same take off run but with a

runway about 2 miles long ! (no damage occurred)However ................

I am still in the repair process of G-PTAG since a nose wheel yoke

departure last May so take some comfort that you aren't alone in your

trials! 

Hopefully your replacement Rotax becomes available quicker than mine

which is due in April.

Regards

Bob Harrison G-PTAG 



Do not archive.



--

willie.harrison(at)tinyon
Guest

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 1:12 am Post subject: she did what she was supposed to do

Hey, Thomas, any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.



What is the story regarding the fuel filter?



Hope you get back on the horse soon.



Cheers



Willie Harrison

On 26 Feb 2007, at 04:57, Thomas Scherer wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   

 <thomas(at)scherer.com>



 it is my sad duty (well, glad - I am reporting it myself) that  

 N81EU was lost tonight on a take-off failure with me and Kim Prout  

 aboard.,



 The Rotax 912 failed on take-off and running out of options I had  

 to put her down at the end of the runway with a droop and fence ahead.



 Plane came to a rest in a quarry after shearing off the landing  

 gear (trigear) and tearing off the firewall foward.



 It is a miracle that Kim and me walked away and I fully attribute  

 it to the design of the central tunnel and the wheel attachment  

 that we're not only alive but walked away unharmed from a complete  

 crash,



 The flying surfaces seem unhamarmed as well as the fuselelage  

 except the firewall foward (which broke off  1oo %) and the gears  

 which were lost about 2oo feet short off the crash site.



 It is very early to say anything - the engine was fine - we worked  

 on it the entire afternoon and found it to be very smooth - I fear  

 I installed as new fuel filter which should not have been there -  

 more later.



 Anyway - we're alive (and having our share of Whiskey) and I  

 promise you ... you will hear again of N81EU.



 Thanks to the designer who made her this crashworthy - N18EU now  

 has 890 hrs under her belly and never missed a beat (Rotax 912).



 more later



 <Thomas N81EU>



 PS: the only pain we can report of is on our feet - after the  

 firewall sheared off our feet were in the void and got hurt on the  

 last impact. She was flying right to the end. Europa rulez !

rogerabc

Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 11

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 1:13 am Post subject: she did what she was supposed to do

Glad to hear you are both OK, it sounds like you did a good job Thomas.



I think that for even the most careful of us "fate is the hunter".



Good luck with the rebuild, aufweidersehn



Roger



On 26 Feb 2007, at 04:57, Thomas Scherer wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   

 <thomas(at)scherer.com>


	




		

___________________________________________________________ 

http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

gcrowder2

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 136
Location: Golden, Colorado USA

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 9:37 am Post subject: she did what she was supposed to do

Wow Tom - glad you're OK.  Just shows you can turn into a glider at any 

time.

Sounds like the Europa is the plane I want to be in when I do an off field 

landing!

  I'm headed to the bar right now to celebrate your adventure!



                                         Glenn



 	  Quote: 	
		  From: "Thomas Scherer" <thomas(at)scherer.com>

Reply-To: europa-list(at)matronics.com

To: <europa-list(at)matronics.com>

Subject: she did what she was supposed to do

Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 20:57:05 -0800






it is my sad duty (well, glad - I am reporting it myself) that N81EU was 

lost tonight on a take-off failure with me and Kim Prout aboard.,



The Rotax 912 failed on take-off and running out of options I had to put 

her down at the end of the runway with a droop and fence ahead.



Plane came to a rest in a quarry after shearing off the landing gear 

(trigear) and tearing off the firewall foward.



It is a miracle that Kim and me walked away and I fully attribute it to the 

design of the central tunnel and the wheel attachment that we're not only 

alive but walked away unharmed from a complete crash,



The flying surfaces seem unhamarmed as well as the fuselelage except the 

firewall foward (which broke off  1oo %) and the gears which were lost 

about 2oo feet short off the crash site.



It is very early to say anything - the engine was fine - we worked on it 

the entire afternoon and found it to be very smooth - I fear I installed as 

new fuel filter which should not have been there - more later.



Anyway - we're alive (and having our share of Whiskey) and I promise you 

... you will hear again of N81EU.



Thanks to the designer who made her this crashworthy - N18EU now has 890 

hrs under her belly and never missed a beat (Rotax 912).



more later



<Thomas N81EU>



PS: the only pain we can report of is on our feet - after the firewall 

sheared off our feet were in the void and got hurt on the last impact. She 

was flying right to the end. Europa rulez !


	


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karelvranken(at)hotmail.c
Guest

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 9:50 am Post subject: she did what she was supposed to do

Dear Thomas and Kim,

We realy feel sad for the accident and admire your courage.

Wish you both a quick recover.

Karel Vranken # 447  F-PKRL

----- Original Messaadmire your couragege ----- 

From: "Thomas Scherer" <thomas(at)scherer.com>

To: <europa-list(at)matronics.com>

Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 5:57 AM

Subject: she did what she was supposed to do

 	  Quote: 	
		   


	


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fklein(at)orcasonline.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 10:36 am Post subject: she did what she was supposed to do

Thomas,



I salute your airmanship skills in that suddenly very quiet moment and 

hope that "the morning after" has you still walking around.



I'm looking forward to reading your debriefing which I'm sure will be 

thorough. I'm particularly interested in knowing whether or not you had 

installed any means by which the height of your shoulder straps was 

raised as others have done to alleviate possible compression of 

vertebrae in the event of the kind of accident you've experienced.



Fred

kpaviat(at)verizon.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:11 am Post subject: she did what she was supposed to do

Hi Roger!

Wow, what a ride....

There were a thousand things that could have gone really wrong, but only one

way this was going to work out OK for me and Thomas. Looking at the initial

impact point at the end of the runway and where the aircraft hit a second

time below that level in a gravel clearing is certainly sobering. Anyway, I

feel blessed, with a small scratch, a small bruise and a bit of a sore neck

(probably from taking a bad tumble playing raquetball earlier that morning

anyway). Getting out of the airplane was simple. The firewall forward broke

open and tilted downward leaving a large (enough) opening that I could just

stand up and walk out through. No need to open the canopy!

This hasn't disheartened me in any way from continuing flying my Europa.

Thanks to everyone for their concern and condolences.

 I will be at Sun and Fun this year (flying out commercial) to help my

friend at IK Technologies and to visit my Uncle and my niece and her family

in Bradenton. Then June 5 through June 21, I will travel to Sweden (Gotland)

to visit Gert and Inger Martinsson at the old military airbase there that

they bought a few years ago. We're thinking about how to set up a small

Europa fly-in there.

Anyway, I hope you and your family are doing well!

Mom and Dad always ask about you and enjoy remembering the times we had

together here. 

Cheers and ....happy skies!

kp

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