 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
An instructor pilot flying an experimental piper pacer equipped with a tailwheel lost control on landing and ground looped the aircraft.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1017555 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201206 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | PA-20 Pacer/PA-22 Tri-Pacer |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Landing |
| Route In Use | None |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Tail Wheel |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 22.5 Flight Crew Total 7873 Flight Crew Type 1 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control |
Narrative:
Ground loop after landing in experimental tailwheel aircraft due to loss of control authority of rudder and brake. The spring connection of tailwheel to rudder cable was set to too low tension; causing loss of tail wheel control authority even when rudder pedal fully depressed. The copilot's left wheel brake failed; causing loss of left main wheel brake control authority; even when fully depressed.possible corrective actions include: re tensioning the rudder/tailwheel spring connection tension--which is a builder/owner decision in experimental aircraft--to insure sufficent tailwheel to rudder coupling authority. Re-bleed the brake as there is a possibility of an air bubble in the copilot's brake line because the brake system had recently been bled.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An instructor pilot flying an experimental Piper Pacer equipped with a tailwheel lost control on landing and ground looped the aircraft.
Narrative: Ground loop after landing in experimental tailwheel aircraft due to loss of control authority of rudder and brake. The spring connection of tailwheel to rudder cable was set to too low tension; causing loss of tail wheel control authority even when rudder pedal fully depressed. The Copilot's left wheel brake failed; causing loss of left main wheel brake control authority; even when fully depressed.Possible corrective actions include: Re tensioning the rudder/tailwheel spring connection tension--which is a builder/owner decision in experimental aircraft--to insure sufficent tailwheel to rudder coupling authority. Re-bleed the brake as there is a possibility of an air bubble in the copilot's brake line because the brake system had recently been bled.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.