19980623015009A

Acft veered off the right side of the rwy on landing and flipped over. Twin Lakes, NC (.4) on June 23, 1998, about 1230 eastern daylight time, a stroud sky bolt, experimental airplane, N2951C, veered off the right side of the runway and nosed over while landing at Twin Lakes Airport in Mocksville, north coarolina. The local flight was operating under the provisions of title 14 CFR part 91, and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. There were no injuries to the pilot or passenger, and the aircraft received subatantial damage. The flight originated about 1150 EDT. According to the FAA, during landing on runway 09, the aircraft veered off the right side of the runway and flipped over. The inspector found a 300 foot skid mark made by the left main landing gear, and a 150 foot skid mark, made by the right main landing gear. The aircraft received substantial damage to the propeller, vertical stabilizer, rudder, and left wing. During the investigation, the FAA investigator found that when the occupant of the front seat put his feet in front of the landing gear strut bungee, and the person in the back seat (usually the perso n flying) applied left or right rudder, the front occupant's foot became fammed between the landing gear strut bungee attachment point and the rudder/brake peddle. This prompted inadvertent, full braking on the side opposite that of the applied rudder. According to the pilot, he applied right rudder to get the airplane onto the runway centerline, after he touched down to the left of center, the foot of the occupant in the front seat was pressed onto the opposite brake peddle causing the airplane to react slowly. As the airplane crossed the centerline the pilot applied left rudder to follow the track of the centerline. This had no effect, due to the inadvertent force being applied to the right rudder/brake pedal by the passenger, and the airplane continued off the right side of the runway. The harder the pilot applied the rudder, the harder the opposite brake was actuated. As the airplane started to depart the runway, the pilot said he applied left brake in a final attempt to steer the aircraft back onto the runway. Inertia caused the airplane to nose over. The pilot shut the airplane down and he and the passenger egressed from the inverted airplane. (-23) this is a full account of the events of Tuesday June 23rd, to the best of my recollection. At about 11:30 I was getting ready to fly danny strouds Skybolt. I had talked to fred yeager who had delivered a J-3 to the airport and was waiting for a flight back home and had some time to kill. He also has a Skybolt and asked if he could go along as I was just going for a short flight around the airport area. After my preflight I got another headset and helped him get settled in the front seat. I started the aircraft and taxied the aircraft to the run-up area. After a normal before takeoff check we departed and flew around the area for about 30 to 40 minutes. Everything was normal on the approach and the landing was normal except that we touched down on the left side of the runway. I applied right rudder to bring the aircraft back to the centerline. It seemed to be slow in responding to the control inputs. As we came to the center line I applied left rudder to get the airplane tracking on the centerline. At this time the plane failed to respond to the inputs all together. I then applied full left rudder and the aircraft seemed to pull to the right. As we were about to exit the runway I applied left break to try and get the airplane to respond. At that time the airplanes tail started to rise. As we left the runway the tail continued to come up and the prop contacted the ground and the airplane flipped onto its back. I turned off the master switch and opened the canopy and told fred to get out. I released my seatbelt while trying to brace my fall with my other hand. As I fell onto the canopy my head hit the locking latch and I received a cut that required stitches to close. I was taken to the emergency room by the airport manager. When I got back to the airport the aircraft was in the hanger. That night I called fred to make sure he was ok. He told me he did not have his feet on the rudder peddles, but when I started correcting, that his feet seemed to be tangled in the rudder peddles. On our inspection of the rudder peddles it was observed that when one side was pushed by me in the back that the person in the front had his foot in front of the tubbing for the landing gear. It could be trapped there and would apply break to that side. This is to the best of my memory as it all happened in such a short period of time. (Pilot's statement)