Narrative:

I was a pilot in a bellanca 14-19; that was involved in an off-runway excursion. I am the owner of the aircraft involved and had another pilot on board; in the right seat; who was the pilot flying at the time of the runway excursion. The other pilot is an ATP rated pilot; with ratings in multi-engine land and commercial single engine land; with extensive experience in conventional gear aircraft. The bellanca 14-19 is a conventional gear aircraft.the flight originated around xa:30 local time; proceeding southbound for a local proficiency flight just south of the class delta airspace. I performed the takeoff; which was normal. Immediately after takeoff; I transferred the flight controls to the other pilot who flew a series of proficiency maneuvers including turns; steep turns; slow flight and stalls. After about 20 minutes of orientation in the aircraft; the flight returned and a request was made to perform touch-and-go's. Reported winds were 260 degrees at 5 knots (90 degree crosswind). The flight was cleared to enter a left downwind for touch and go's. I took control during the arrival portion of the flight back into the traffic pattern. I flew the first traffic pattern to demonstrate procedures; power settings; airspeeds and landing techniques for the bellanca 14-19 aircraft. After the touch and go; climbing out on the upwind leg; I transferred control to the other pilot.it is appropriate to establish the qualifications and background of the other pilot who is rated in single and multi-engine airplanes. He has worked for several decades as a professional test pilot for several aviation flight test and manufacturing companies. He is a graduate of the USAF test pilot school and has owned and flown his own pitts special biplane; extra 300; and most recently an rv-7A. He continues part-time employment as a test pilot and I can personally attest to his skills and abilities as a pilot.after I transferred control to the other pilot; he flew a traffic pattern conforming to traffic pattern parameters as detailed in the FAA aeronautical information manual. He complied with the airspeed limitations as detailed for the bellanca 14-19. He flew a normal final approach path and maintained an airspeed of 75 mph IAS as suggested by me. The landing flare was normal as was the initial touchdown. Immediately after touchdown; he made pitch inputs that caused noticeable pitch oscillations; while simultaneously over controlling the directional path with excessive rudder inputs. Directional deviations were right; left; then significantly right which took us off the hard surface; off the right side (west side). By the time I came on the controls and took over we were just leaving the hard surface. We likely still had about 30 to 40 mph of ground speed.after taking control; I steered the aircraft to arc back to the left and reenter the hard surface of the runway. At no time during the runway excursion did I sense any unusual roughness of the terrain. It was not as rough as some other unpaved runways from which I have operated. The airplane did not experience any side skidding or side loads. After reentering the runway hard surface; the tower controller asked if we needed any assistance. I replied 'negative'; but subsequently told ground control that we were going to shut down on the taxiway and conduct an inspection to ensure that all was ok. The other pilot and I conducted an inspection of the landing gear and propeller which appeared normal and hadn't experienced any damage. I restarted the aircraft; and requested taxi-back to the ramp. Ground control asked if everything was ok; to which I responded in the affirmative. During taxi back to the ramp; we noticed that the airport maintenance truck was conducting an inspection of the runway near where the excursion occurred. The truck with mr. X met the aircraft at my hangar when we shut down. After we exited the aircraft; mr. X asked if we were ok. We responded in the affirmative and that the aircraft was ok. It was at this point where mr. X pointed out that some fabric on the belly of the aircraft was torn. Mr. X told us that we had run over and damaged a runway light. This was a total surprise to both of us as we did not sense that we had run over anything during the runway excursion and were under the impression that we had simply arced a clear path off the runway; on the side turf; then back on to the runway; never striking anything. During the inspection on the taxiway; I had not stooped low enough to view the fabric of the aircraft belly.during the traffic pattern where the other pilot was pilot flying; I was the pilot monitoring. Due to my considerable experience of flying with him; I had very little concern regarding guarding the flight controls; or 'ghost riding' during a critical phase of flight; as I typically am with any other pilots that I allow to conduct landings in my aircraft (conventional gear). I obviously should have been more 'in-the-loop' to be able to take over control well in advance of the point where a runway excursion became unavoidable. In retrospect; it seems that everything happened so fast that rectifying the directional excursions in time to save the situation would have required being 'right there' at the first directional deviation; which I expected him to immediately correct on his own. From now on; if I invite any pilot to perform a landing in my aircraft; I will be very present; very near; 'ghost riding' the flight controls; so as to be able to immediately correct any deviations from the desired aircraft path....regardless of their flying time; experience; background in like aircraft; and known skills and abilities.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Bellanca pilot experienced a runway excursion while checking out a highly experienced pilot in his aircraft. Minor damage to belly fabric and a runway light occurred.

Narrative: I was a pilot in a Bellanca 14-19; that was involved in an off-runway excursion. I am the owner of the aircraft involved and had another pilot on board; in the right seat; who was the pilot flying at the time of the runway excursion. The other pilot is an ATP rated pilot; with ratings in multi-engine land and commercial single engine land; with extensive experience in conventional gear aircraft. The Bellanca 14-19 is a conventional gear aircraft.The flight originated around XA:30 local time; proceeding southbound for a local proficiency flight just south of the Class Delta airspace. I performed the takeoff; which was normal. Immediately after takeoff; I transferred the flight controls to the other pilot who flew a series of proficiency maneuvers including turns; steep turns; slow flight and stalls. After about 20 minutes of orientation in the aircraft; the flight returned and a request was made to perform touch-and-go's. Reported winds were 260 degrees at 5 knots (90 degree crosswind). The flight was cleared to enter a left downwind for touch and go's. I took control during the arrival portion of the flight back into the traffic pattern. I flew the first traffic pattern to demonstrate procedures; power settings; airspeeds and landing techniques for the Bellanca 14-19 aircraft. After the touch and go; climbing out on the upwind leg; I transferred control to the other pilot.It is appropriate to establish the qualifications and background of the other pilot who is rated in single and multi-engine airplanes. He has worked for several decades as a professional test pilot for several aviation flight test and manufacturing companies. He is a graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School and has owned and flown his own Pitts Special biplane; Extra 300; and most recently an RV-7A. He continues part-time employment as a test pilot and I can personally attest to his skills and abilities as a pilot.After I transferred control to the other pilot; he flew a traffic pattern conforming to traffic pattern parameters as detailed in the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual. He complied with the airspeed limitations as detailed for the Bellanca 14-19. He flew a normal final approach path and maintained an airspeed of 75 mph IAS as suggested by me. The landing flare was normal as was the initial touchdown. Immediately after touchdown; he made pitch inputs that caused noticeable pitch oscillations; while simultaneously over controlling the directional path with excessive rudder inputs. Directional deviations were right; left; then significantly right which took us off the hard surface; off the right side (west side). By the time I came on the controls and took over we were just leaving the hard surface. We likely still had about 30 to 40 mph of ground speed.After taking control; I steered the aircraft to arc back to the left and reenter the hard surface of the runway. At no time during the runway excursion did I sense any unusual roughness of the terrain. It was not as rough as some other unpaved runways from which I have operated. The airplane did not experience any side skidding or side loads. After reentering the runway hard surface; the Tower controller asked if we needed any assistance. I replied 'negative'; but subsequently told Ground Control that we were going to shut down on the taxiway and conduct an inspection to ensure that all was OK. The other pilot and I conducted an inspection of the landing gear and propeller which appeared normal and hadn't experienced any damage. I restarted the aircraft; and requested taxi-back to the ramp. Ground Control asked if everything was OK; to which I responded in the affirmative. During taxi back to the ramp; we noticed that the Airport maintenance truck was conducting an inspection of the runway near where the excursion occurred. The truck with Mr. X met the aircraft at my hangar when we shut down. After we exited the aircraft; Mr. X asked if we were OK. We responded in the affirmative and that the aircraft was OK. It was at this point where Mr. X pointed out that some fabric on the belly of the aircraft was torn. Mr. X told us that we had run over and damaged a runway light. This was a total surprise to both of us as we did not sense that we had run over anything during the runway excursion and were under the impression that we had simply arced a clear path off the runway; on the side turf; then back on to the runway; never striking anything. During the inspection on the taxiway; I had not stooped low enough to view the fabric of the aircraft belly.During the traffic pattern where the other pilot was pilot flying; I was the pilot monitoring. Due to my considerable experience of flying with him; I had very little concern regarding guarding the flight controls; or 'ghost riding' during a critical phase of flight; as I typically am with any other pilots that I allow to conduct landings in my aircraft (conventional gear). I obviously should have been more 'in-the-loop' to be able to take over control well in advance of the point where a runway excursion became unavoidable. In retrospect; it seems that everything happened so fast that rectifying the directional excursions in time to save the situation would have required being 'right there' at the first directional deviation; which I expected him to immediately correct on his own. From now on; if I invite any pilot to perform a landing in my aircraft; I will be very present; very near; 'ghost riding' the flight controls; so as to be able to immediately correct any deviations from the desired aircraft path....regardless of their flying time; experience; background in like aircraft; and known skills and abilities.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.