- Date
- July 6, 1982, 09:10 local (16:10 UTC)
- Place
- Placerville, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1051KMiller Tufts T-3-160
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 6, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820706026129A
- Case key
- 72243
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The home built acft was of the plt's own design. It was a 4 place, low wing acft with a large canopy & smaller vert tail surfaces and was equipped with flaps, folding wings & fixed tail whl gear. The plt/designer was trying a new concept of lateral control by using "rollerons" instead of conventional ailerons. They operated somewhat like spoilers on a glider. The rollerons were 2 ft long, 6 in wide, instld on the top & bottom of each wing at the tips. For a rgt turn, the rgt top rolleron would move up 8 the lft bottom would move dwn while the otr 2 rmnd immobile. For a hi spd taxi test, the rudder & elevators were tufted with yarn to show airflow & an associate flwd to obsv. He rprtd that the acft bcm airborne, veered off the rwy, went dwn a steep embankment, then crashed & burned. Another associate of the plt rprtd that when he taxied the acft at hi spd, it felt like it was cross-controlled & there was a "dead spot" when the "rolleron" control was at the neutral position.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1051K
- Reported as
- Miller Tufts T-3-160 (TUFTS T-3-)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Airframe hours
- 3
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Warren Tufts
- Registered owner
- Warren Tufts
- Departed
- Placerville, CA
- Destination
- Placerville, CA
- Airport
- runway 23, 4,200 × 100 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 57
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 500 total · 495 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Temperature
- 149 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.