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An another incident for Finnish Europa around Barkaby Fly-i

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rlborger(at)mac.com
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:38 am Post subject: An another incident for Finnish Europa around Barkaby Fly-i

Raimo,



Thank goodness you and your passenger were not harmed.  Two folks have now shown that it is possible to survive a lightning strike in the Europa.  



Gents, that's enough.  No further need for continued demonstrations!



I appreciate your candor in the description of the event.  We all need to learn from our collective experiences.



Now take a brief rest with the family while you investigate and repair the damage.  Then you'll be ready to get back on that horse and ride again.



Check six,

Bob Borger

 

On Sunday, June 08, 2008, at 05:28PM, "Raimo Toivio" <raimo.toivio(at)rwm.fi> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  



Hi all



My sad responsibility is to report also my incident as follows:



I was flying back from Barkaby to Finland Tampere (EFTP) via Umeå (ESNU).

Two legs, 3 hrs and 1 hrs 20 minutes.

Half an hour from EFTP I met two thunder storm centres. I elected to fly between them.

Seemed for me to be just a normal practise. QNH altitude 4000 feet, airspeed 130 knots,

ground speed 150 knots, air temp 22C, plane was well trimmed and loaded near MTOW

658 kg /1450 lbs.Almost overcast (5/ about 6000 feet. We saw quite strong lightnings

both sides.



Suddenly I got a STRONG electric shock like static or similar  to my right hand from the power lever.

My friend got a similar shock to his ears through head sets.

Very heavy raining started immediately.

Radio started awful whistling and whining.



What the hell was happening we asked each others.

Plane was still flying well.

We saw no damages on the wing surfaces etc.

Radio stopped whistling after five minutes or so.

I was checking all the equipments I could.



During that inspection I noticed I have no trim position display any more (I have those green MAC leds).

I tried to trim but nothing happened.

CB (Europa suplied) was in position.

I tried via change over swith my another lower speed trim adjusting switch but nothing happened.

Just for in case I opened trim CB to avoid possibility of the trim auto-run case.



I have to mention we had with Jos a discussion of that case and he stated that if it goes to the other side,

it is impossible to keep pitch control any more. And that discussion was this morning!



So, I was flying over EFTP. Altitude 3000 feet. There was a whole circus like several fire trucks, police and

ambulances. Carefully I slowed the speed to 80 knots to test what happens during flaps/gear lowering.

You remember I had lost my electric trim and it was trimmed for 130 knots.



During my normal abroach speed 70 knots I can tell you the nose was VERY heavy but still controlable.

Just in case my strong friend helped me by pulling his stick also.

I keeped that speed until touching the runway and it was one of my best monowheel landing ever

(like Jos reported today in his other case EFHF).



ATC men, fire men and all the others congratulated me. We were alive and OH-XRT was still in one piece.



I taxied to the hangar and after half an hour trim motor started to work by itself.

Still there was no its position lights. Trim CB was working normally.



We fast checked the plane and obviously the lightning has gone trough stbd-side stabilator pip-pin to the structure. The pip-pin cover (transparent sticker) was explosed and the head of the pip-pin was black.



That was it. I drove home, kissed my daughters and wife and opened a bottle of bier.



BTW - when we were over EFTP, my friend measured my pulse rate and it was 150.



That was an interesting experience. Some of you know that I made last summer a serioush but super lucky

forced landing in Lappland because my Cessna´s mechanical trim was working uppsidedown.

That was because a service error of certified service company Arctic Airservice.



Trim controls are my nightmares and devils lurking to make me a bad day.



I grounded my Europa of course. I am not sure what to do now.

If I later decide to continue flying, I have to fix it first and and check it carefully.

I called Jos (thank you) and he advised me to check everything.



Have you there any ideas for me, please?



Raimo

OH-XRT, 64 hrs, grounded so far

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raimo.toivio(at)rwm.fi
Guest

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:28 pm Post subject: An another incident for Finnish Europa around Barkaby Fly-i

Thanks Bob and all,



before "I get back on that horse and ride again" I have some guestions for you:



1) I can fly w/o trim position indicator, can I?

Before take-off I trim it middle and rest is just like flying w Cessna´s mechanical trim.

Neutral during take-off and then after how you feel good.



2) With full power my trim travel time is exactly 22 seconds. 

Please confirm that´s ok and normal!



3) I have an Europa original square type 1A CB for trim.

Is it possible it was open but button itself was still in?

I am asking this because I did not have trim ability  and CB button was same time in the IN position.

After in the hangar suddenly the trim motor waked upp and started to operate.

Any other explanations?



4) Is there in the trim motor /servo some kind of inbuilt thermal switch?

If yes - that would be a good explanation for question 3.

I have asked this from RAC but did not got any answer so far.



If I shall end upp to change also servo that will be a little nightmare.

That is because I have fixed it with nylocnuts and bolts and there is no inspection hatch for those nuts.

I wanted to save 15 minutes and elected not to instal fixed wing nuts (4 pcs).

The price will be in that case some lamination and painting practise. 



Raimo

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raimo.toivio(at)rwm.fi
Guest

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:48 pm Post subject: An another incident for Finnish Europa around Barkaby Fly-i

Hi All



Below are my earlier questions - please comments Gentlemen!



My comments  to my questions:



1) I think it is possible to fy w/o trim position indicator. Anyway I have now a new indicator.

2) I guess 22 s is just normal (cannot compare, but Jos thought so). "Full power" means full electric power w/o any trim speed control (I have controlable speed for cruising with changeover switch for full power when landing).

3) No idea

4) How about reed relays? Are there reed relays to control stops?



My trim stops are ok. When travelling to the upper or lower end, current was 0 mA + led consumption.

My servo was ok - changing trim indicator was only fun.

I would like to limit neutral to nose upp travel but that´s another story.



Fly far away from horny clouds, Raimo



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