Close call for Yak 55

[Stu_D]

It was one of those moments which leave you clod in your boots.

Being Sunday I did my usual hour cross town drive for a perfect
day of flying and relaxation . Something greatly needed with the
coming onslaught of Christmas . With the thought of screaming
kids,ringing phones and annoyed customers starting to drift
from my mind it looked as though it was going to be a pretty
good day .

Upon arrival I unpacked my trusty 2.6 Yak 55 (see avitar) and
also an Extra 330 2.6 , which was set to maiden . The Extra is
made up of old bits that have built up over the years , I just
had to spend a few bucks and bingo a spare plane .

I fly at a pretty quiet field so I was surprised to see a couple other
people there . Turned out to be a retired guy and his son who were
getting back into the hobby after a long lay off . As you can imagine
upon seeing these my two big planes they were full of questions .

While all of this was going on I'm putting my planes toghther , sort of
both at the same time . The retired guy is asking all kinds of questions
about IMAC , what do you do , spins, rolls ,snaps .......... So after
putting the yak together I thought I would put on a bit of a show for him .

I got the old bloke to hold the plane during starting . I thought he was
going to have a heart attack when the engine fired .
So take off was all cool . I go for a pos snap as I cross the edge of the
strip at about 15 feet , then proceed to climb out to base height doing
snap after snap .

Plane is a little out of trim so i give the ali a few clicks and we are back
on track . Now I thought I would do the Iter pattern to show what its all
about . Pull 5/8 loop , 1/2 roll on 45 down push to exit inverted , SHI> we
have a problem . Plane keeps rolling right , seems to be out of trim again ,
so I give more trim and all is back to normal . I have another go at the
5/8 loop and this time the plane will not stop rolling .

I got the plan down using full left ali , all be it a little bumpy she was not
damaged . After getting over to the plane to see what the problem was
I found the left wing did not have any wing bolts in . Being a Comp Arf
friction was the only thing holding the wing in place . The wing had moved
about 15mm away from the fuse which had allowed it to twist only a few
degrees .

I didnt let on just how close I had gone to loosing my plane . The old
bloke and his son were very impressed . He did ask my why I needed
to take off the canopy after the flight . I just told him I needed to check
on the batteries .

As I said at the start it was just one of those moments which leave
you cold in your boots .

Stu

[iflyrc3Dstyle]

Nice recover Stu. Glad to here you made it in ok.

[JoeAirPort]

It's always dangerous talking to people when I'm assembling the planes...Those little clips that go in the antirotation dowels are great as a back up to the wing bolts (if the bolts back out in flight...I know that wasn't your situation).

Glad you got 'er down in one piece.

[adrian]

ouch - did not enjoy reading that - played it like a movie in my head - glad all worked out ok!!!

[Supermod56]

Great cover on the checking the batteries, glad you made it down in one piece!! I airmailed a canopy off once when I forgot to put the bolts in it, because somebody was asking me 8 million questions about the plane during assembly!! I couldn't cover my @ss on that one
Tom

[rcdart]

You might as well forget this weeks Lotto ticket Stu, the luck need has just been all used up! Good result.

[bosshoss]

I had a similar experience with almost losing my EF 87" . I never let ANYONE interupt me during set-up and pre-flight now. And we teach it to our students and newbies as proper field ettiquite not to talk to someone during that time. A polite " May I speak with you when you are done?" is what we teach.

I watched a dear friend lose a vintage airplane that was 30 years old to a setup mistake made during a Q & A session in the middle of pre-flight.

Glad you got to keep your plane, and I WOULD have told them what happened, just to educate them, the hell with you saving face. Think of the next guy they interupt.

GO AWAY is OK to say........

[wifpwcf]

WOW stu lucky mate hate to see that wicked looking yak get hurt in that way.
I dont let no one talk to me on set up & if you are seting up 2 or more planes do 1 at a time fly land do the other i got caught out doing 3 at once 1 dead 120 size plane.
stu i have a 9 point list i POINT at before the canopy goes on my 2.6 yak. I point at these 9 things
4 x wing bolts with blutac around 1/4 of the nuts so they dont come loose
2 x ali wires with tape on them
2 x rear stab bolt
1 x smoke system on
then the canopy goes on & i no that all is good.
CG

[Stu_D]

	Quote: Originally Posted by bosshoss
	Glad you got to keep your plane, and I WOULD have told them what happened, just to educate them, the hell with you saving face. Think of the next guy they interupt. GO AWAY is OK to say........

I know I can be a bit abrupt with people I dont know so I thought it
was better to watch what I said .

As for the lotto ticket Mick I have had a pretty mental week so far .
Had a die set lunch itself in a 45 tonne press today , my head was
30cm away when it off . Looks like I still have more luck to go .

Better go and get that ticket .

Stu .

[CDJ]

Glad everything turned out okay, my friend,..it is a rule in my shop that a Tech is never interrupted while working on a customers car. It just takes one loose bolt to risk injury or worse. Happy flying!

[gsxr]

What happened in the die what are you stamping with it? did a block let go, shoulder bolt, cap screw? I had a couple of near misses like that. I had a guy put a block in between the bumper blocks and brought the 100 ton press down and just missed my face. So I know how you feel.

[3D-Seth]

This is why I ask someone who wants to talk to me while I set up a plane to wait until I am done!!! GLad all is well and nothing happened that damadged the plane!!

-Seth