IAD00FA044

The pilot departed on his first flight in the recently purchased home-built airplane, and crashed into trees and terrain shortly after takeoff. According to his wife, he had never been in the airplane while it was running, and he was only supposed to taxi the airplane and then return it to its hangar. The pilot's wife, son, and witnesses described the wings 'rocking' and the nose pitching up and down throughout the brief flight. According to one witness, 'It just seemed like he couldn't control it. Doggone, he didn't have much control of that thing on Friday. The engine sure seemed alright, he just didn't seem to have control of that damn airplane.' The pilot who delivered the airplane to the pilot and his son said the airplane experienced a pronounced break to the left when stalled. The pilot's exact flight experience could not be determined due to sporadic entries in multiple logbooks. The pilot's most recently documented biennial flight review was 2 years and 6 months prior to the accident. Examination of the wreckage revealed no mechanical anomalies and several pieces of angular cut wood, approximately 4 inches in diameter, were found around and beneath the wreckage. According to FAA advisor circular 20-27D: '...FAA inspections of amateur-built aircraft have been limited to ensuring the use of acceptable workmanship methods, techniques, practices, and issuing operating limitations necessary to protect persons and property not involved in this activity.'

History of flight

On May 26, 2000, at 1800 Eastern Daylight Time, a home-built JU-87 Stuka replica, N87DK, was destroyed during collision with trees and terrain in Urbana, Maryland. The certificated commercial pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local personal flight that originated at the Faux-Burhans Airport (3MD0), Ijamsville, Maryland, approximately 1755. No flight plan was filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

In an interview, the pilot's son said he had purchased the airplane approximately 2 weeks prior to the accident. He said the airplane was delivered to 3MD0 from Elmira, New York, by way of Frederick, Maryland. The pilot's son said he had not yet flown the airplane because he had very little experience in tail-wheeled airplanes, and the JU-87 was a single-pilot airplane. He said his father was experienced with "taildraggers", and that this was a familiarization flight. The pilot's son said that this was his father's first flight in the airplane. He said he did not watch the takeoff, but could hear the airplane during departure. He said:

"I could hear it. Once you lift off, you are supposed to reduce power to climbing power, 3,400 rpm to 2,800 rpm. I heard that power change. That was in line with the checklist. Once he went and reduced the power, the sound was reflected away. Then it was silence, followed by crackling branches and a 'ka-boom'."

The pilot's wife, a certificated pilot, reported that her husband was not supposed to fly the airplane on the day of the accident. She said:

"He was supposed to go out and taxi it up and down the runway. He had never been in it while it was running. He was going to fly it to Reading on Memorial Day. He said, 'I'm going to taxi it, come back, and put it in the hanger. He taxied it, turned around, and stopped."

The pilot's wife said she stood on the runway with the pilot's son, and they each wondered aloud if the pilot was experiencing a problem. She said the pilot's son started towards the airplane when she heard the engine noise increase. She said:

"I heard the RPM increase, and down the runway he went. He was making a climbing left turn and I watched until he got behind the hanger. He got to 300 to 500 feet until he went out of sight behind the hangar. We said, 'Let's go watch the downwind.' We got halfway past the hanger when I heard something that sounded like a shotgun."

When asked to describe the portion of the flight that she witnessed, the pilot's wife said:

"It was kind of going back and forth on the wing tips. The wings had a very slight rock in the turns."

In a subsequent interview, the pilot's son was asked if he expected his father to fly that day, and what he saw. He said:

"I was surprised when he took off. The wings rocked, but it was windy that day. Well, there was wind and the controls were sensitive. The wings rocked."

In a telephone interview, a member of the Civil Air Patrol explained she was riding in a car when she saw the accident airplane. She said:

"We were traveling east, looking up over the hill to the north and east. I saw the plane; it was strange looking. It was arcing from side to side, in big wide arcs, side to side. Downwards, but not in a dive. The wing tips were going up and down in wide arcs on each side. I know I saw it do that at least once on each side, maybe twice. I only saw it for a few seconds and then it flew out of sight."

In a telephone interview, a witness said he was standing in his yard when he heard the airplane. He said:

"I heard the airplane and looked to see which direction it was flying. It was flying north to south towards that cornfield where he crashed. It was flying one wing up and one wing down. Back and forth, up and down. Then the nose pitched up and down. It just seemed like he couldn't control it. Doggone, he didn't have much control of that thing on Friday. The engine sure seemed alright, he just didn't seem to have control of that damn airplane."

The accident occurred during the hours of daylight approximately 39 degrees, 20 minutes north latitude, and 77 degrees, 20 minutes west longitude.

Personnel information

The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single engine land and sea, multi-engine airplane, and instrument airplane. He also held a mechanic's certificate with ratings for airplane and powerplant.

The pilot was issued a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) second class medical certificate on March 7, 2000, and he reported 3,345 hours of flight experience on that date. The pilot's son said his father had approximately 450 hours of flight experience in tail-wheeled airplanes.

The pilot's wife said she recently asked her husband for a recounting of his flight time for insurance purposes, and recorded the times in a notebook. According to his wife, the pilot had accrued 3,259 hours of flight time; 2,462 hours of which were in retractable gear airplanes. He reported 2,200 hours in multi-engine airplanes and 200 hours in tail-wheeled airplanes.

The pilot recorded his flight time in seven different logbooks. Each book had a few sporadic entries, and the times were not totaled. One book had only two entries.

Examination of the seventh logbook revealed continuous entries from November 1978 to August 1983. Entries began again March 4, 1990. Subsequently, there was one entry each in 1991, 1993, and 1994. Entries resumed October 2, 1996, and reflected intensive instrument training with a flight instructor until October 31, 1996.

The next logbook entry was February 1, 1997, and the pilot recorded nine more flights during that year. The pilot's most recent biennial flight review was completed on November 25, 1997. No more flights were recorded after that date.

Aircraft information

Examination of the airplane's records revealed the airworthiness certificate was issued in 1987, and the airplane had accrued 354 hours of total time. The last annual inspection was completed June 18, 1999, and the airplane accrued 5 hours of flight time since that date.

In a telephone interview, the pilot who delivered the airplane from Elmira, New York, to 3MD0 said there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane. He described the engine's pressure carburetor and the airplane's fuel system in detail. He said:

"The airplane ran a little bit on the rich side, but ran real good in the auto lean. I didn't have any trouble with it. It handled very nicely and flew like a dream. The airplane flew great.

"I stalled it at 4,500 feet and it had a very pronounced drop to the left. It was sensitive, but not oversensitive."

During a telephone interview, the builder of the airplane discussed the airplane and its purchase by the pilot and the pilot's son. According to the builder:

"Climb out was about 75 to 80 miles per hour, approach was about 80, and then you slow to 70 over the threshold. Touchdown was about 58 miles per hour. I flew it for about 12 years and never put a scratch on it.

'When they came to buy it, both the father and the son looked at it. They did compression checks and so on, they were both [airframe and powerplant] mechanics and IAs [inspection authorities].

They did not do a flight test, and [the pilot] sat in the cockpit and looked over the checklist and the controls. I highly recommended getting a check-out in something like a Stearman, but he said he had owned a Swift, and had considerable taildragger time."

Meteorological information

The weather reported at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, 34 miles southeast of 3MD0, was few clouds at 7,500 feet with winds from 300 degrees at 9 knots.

According to the pilot's wife, 1 hour prior to the accident the winds reported at Frederick, Maryland (FDK), 5 miles northwest of 3MD0, were from 270 to 300 degrees at 10 knots gusting to