There's an article on this Plane and builder, Terry Morris in the last April
issue of SportAviation on page 54.
Here is what a local paper's opinion on both crashes wrote:

SUN 'N FUN FLY-IN

Two Injured in Fly-In Crashes
Experimental plane dives into runway; man, parachute fall 60 feet to ground.

By John Chambliss
The Ledger
john.chambliss@theledger.com

LAKELAND -- Two people suffered injuries in two separate aircraft crashes
early Sunday at the Sun 'n Fun Fly-In, Lakeland police reported.

In the second and more serious crash, a Michigan pilot suffered a broken leg
when his powered parachute fell about 60 feet and crashed into the ground
after taking off about 8:45 a.m. Sunday, according to his employer.

Chad Teachout, 31, of Lyons, Mich., was at Lakeland Regional Medical Center
on Sunday, said his boss, Jim Medsker, the president of Destiny Aircraft
Corp.

"He's got a broken leg," Medsker said. "He appears to be doing fine."

Earlier, Terry Morris of Tamarac crashed the nose of an experimental plane
into the runway about 8 a.m. when he attempted to land at Lakeland Linder
Regional Airport, said Timothy Monville, a Miamibased investigator with the
National Transportation and Safety Board.

"Experimental aircraft" is a term the Federal Aviation Administration uses
to classify homebuilt aircraft.

The nose of Morris' Glasair III plane snapped off, and the plane overturned
then slid several hundred feet into the grass, Monville said.

Passenger Karen Barton was taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center with
scrapes and bruises and was later released, Lakeland police said. Morris was
not hospitalized, police reported.

About 45 minutes after the Glasair crash, Teachout crashed a one-seat
powered parachute just after taking off from the grass runway at Paradise
City, the Fly-In's ultralight aircraft section. The plane crashed in windy
conditions made worse by an ultralight flying next to Teachout, Medsker
said.

"The winds were swirling in the trees," Medsker said. "It was an unfortunate
accident."

When Teachout topped the tree line at the end of the grass runway, the right
side of the opened parachute collapsed, causing the aluminum and chrome
alloy steel machine to veer 180 degrees toward the ground, said Medsker, who
said he spoke with about 15 witnesses about the crash.

A certified, experienced pilot, Teachout has flown powered parachutes
numerous times, Medsker said.

In the first crash, there appeared to be some confusion with the air traffic
controller about which of the two parallel runways at the airport Morris was
going to use, said Monville, the NTSB investigator.

In the past, Morris, who took off from an airport in Fort Lauderdale, had
always landed on the right runway at Lakeland Linder, Monville said.

But it was unclear whether the runway confusion led to the crash.

The crash caused a leak in the fuel line, and workers closed the runway for
90 minutes, police said.

The plane was taken to a hangar and will be inspected by the NTSB, Monville
said.

Mike Mullens, an employee with Lakeland Air Service, grabbed a video camera
from his truck and filmed the emergency vehicles as they rushed to the
mangled wreckage.

"He was lucky he made it through it, but I guess not so lucky that he
trashed his plane," Mullens said.

The two crashes were the first air accidents at Sun 'n Fun this year.

Since 1986, 12 people have died in aircraft crashes at the Fly-In.

John Chambliss can be reached at john.chambliss@theledger.com or
863-802-7539.

"nose of Morris' Glasair III plane snapped off"

Stuffing a heavy 8 cylinder O-720 in the nose of an airplane structurally designed to
accept an O-540 is an accident waiting to happen. Airplane structures are carefully
designed taking in consideration the weight of the engine and all other objects
in the airplane such as fuel, passengers and baggage. As I frequently pointed out
landing is one of the worse case scenarios for motor mounts. You mess with this
at your peril. This is why I emphasize making structurally calculations on motor 
mounts. We discourage anybody attempting to use a rotary engine that is too heavy 
for a particular kit airplane.

Paul Lamar
 
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