FTW97LA009

According to the pilot, he was practicing slow flight and stalls at 5,000 feet above ground level (10,000 feet msl). The only thing he could recall was that the 'main wing stalled' and that the canard was supposed to stall first. The nose pitched up, and he was unable to break the stall. After examining the wreckage, the airplane designer and an FAA airworthiness inspector concluded (1) the canard wing had too low an angle-of-incidence, (2) three of six vortilons had been removed from the main wing, (3) the pilot erroneously calculated the empty weight center of gravity (CG), making all other CG calculations incorrect, and (4) as fuel flowed towards the aft portion of the fuel tank during the stall, the CG moved 1.1 inches beyond the aft CG limit. The designer concluded that the aircraft had not been built according to the plans, but rather was 'converted' to an 'Aerocanard...an unauthorized, unapproved, rip-off design.' The pilot had about 400 hours of flight time in various Cozy aircraft, but he had accrued only about 17 hours in the Cozy MK IV.

On October 4, 1996, approximately 1730 mountain daylight time, a Young Cozy MK IV, N96PJ, was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain at Pueblo, Colorado. The airline transport-rated pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Pueblo, Colorado, on October 4, 1996, at 1704.

According to the pilot, he was practicing slow flight and stalls at 10,000 feet msl (5,000 feet agl). The only thing he could recall was that the "main wing stalled" and that the canard is supposed to stall first. The nose pitched up and he was unable to break the stall.

An examination of the wreckage at the pilot's Pueblo, Colorado, residence by an FAA airworthiness inspector, the airplane's designer, and an NTSB student intern on November 14, 1996, revealed the following: (1) Data supplied by the pilot on the elevator position he had to maintain in cruise flight indicates he used too low an angle of incidence on the canard wing. This would allow the airplane to attain too high an angle of attack. (2) Three of the 6 required vortilons (used to restrict spanwise air flow and prevent the main wing from stalling at high angles of attack) had been removed from the main wing. (3) Incorrect calculation of the airplane's empty weight center of gravity, resulting in the center of gravity being 0.1 inches beyond the aft limit. (4) Fuel flowing towards the aft portion of the fuel tanks during a climb to altitude and followed by an accelerated stall resulted in the center of gravity moving 1.1 inches beyond the aft limit.

The designer concluded that the aircraft had not been built according to the plans, but rather was "converted" to an "Aerocanard...an unauthorized, unapproved, rip-off design."

The aircraft was certificated in the experimental category.

The pilot had about 400 hours of flight time various Cozy aircraft; however, he had accrued only about 17 hours of flight time in the Cozy MK IV.