I agree with Ernesto, David's a nice guy. I've known him since 1994. He
can't talk about rotaries because of who his employer is, put yourself
in his shoes. He will agreeably talk to you about anything else
homebuilt/canard related. I don't think it's a good idea to send him
messages like this and get him upset.
Perry
He sure talked about rotaries to me.
Paul Lamar
I've had civil discussions with him about rotaries. Once after your
exchange with him, and later at Arlington 2003.
I asked him what we could do, his main recommendation was to remove the
Mazda name from all of the aircraft engines. That's not so easy to do,
and I haven't done it yet myself, since it's machined into every rotor
housing. But I did remove any reference to "Mazda" from my website,
referring to the "Rotary" instead.
The other thing everyone should do, is not call your engine a "Mazda
13B" on your FAA paperwork. Call it "<insert your name here> 13B". Mine
is a "Mick 13B". My DAR recommended that during my inspection.
After that Coot crash near Eugene in 2002 (I think), the first thing the
FAA/NTSB people did was take the engine to a Mazda dealer. They don't
know anything about rotaries anyway. I think this was about the worst
thing that could happen. We don't want Mazda involved in these
incident/accident investigations. I'm not sure what we do about that.
Somehow we need to get them to seek out Mr. Lamar as the expert instead.
Perry
I filled out all the paper work for the NTSB as a consultant but I never heard from
them again. BTW that Mazda dealer mis diagnosed the problem. Since the guy was mixing
two cycle oil with his fuel he removed the oil metering pump. The dealer thought this
was the reason for the crash. I sent a bunch of email to the FSDO and the NTSB on this
subject but nothing was ever done. Perhaps if they got email from everybody
they might change the erroneous report. The real cause was a split Griffin oil cooler.
BTW In that instrumented 12A dyno report I got from Dave Lemon at Mazdatrix the oil
pressure was over 120 psi from 5000 to 8500. Dave says the Mazda cooler is the only one
he has found that works.
Paul Lamar
Here is some old stuff on it.
*************************************************************************
Subject: Turbo 3 rotor flying boat crash.
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 15:06:13 -0800
From: ACRE <rotaryeng@earthlink.net>
Organization: ACRE
Here is another loner fatal crash. Ironically also an amphibian.
We need to fix the NTSB report about the erroneous metering pump info.
It is time to write some more letters to the NTSB to get this fixed.
We should not let this stand. Once this report becomes final it is cast in concrete.
Lets all write letters or call to the NTSB complaining about how they handled this crash investigation. That should get their
attention. Here are the addresses.
Mention:
-NTSB Identification: SEA02LA072
Accident occurred Sunday, April 21, 2002 at Creswell, OR
Aircraft:Gallagher Taylor "Coot", registration: N41RG
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
NTSB Headquarters
490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington, DC 20594
(202) 314-6000
Northwest Regional Office
19518 Pacific Highway South Phone: 206-870-2200
Room 201 FAX: 206-870-2219
Seattle, Washington 98188-5493
George Graham forgot to put 2 cycle oil in the gas and flew from Tennessee
to New York state and he is still flying the same engine three years
later as far as I know. A rotary will probably run for hours with out
any apex lube what so ever.
Paul Lamar
***************************************************************************************
NTSB Identification: SEA02LA072. The docket is stored on NTSB microfiche number DMS.
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, April 21, 2002 in Creswell, OR
Probable Cause Approval Date: 6/25/03
Aircraft: Gallagher Taylor "Coot", registration: N41RG
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
During the maiden flight of the experimental aircraft, shortly after takeoff, the engine began to run rough and subsequently quit.
Witnesses observed
the nose of the airplane drop and shortly thereafter, the airplane collided with the terrain in an open flat field located about
one mile from the airport.
Post-crash inspection of the airframe revealed no malfunctions in the aircraft's airframe or flight controls. In discussions with
people at the airport,
the pilot reported that he was having trouble getting the right fuel/oil mixture for the Mazda rotary engine. Each time the engine
was run, the spark
plugs would foul. Examination of the engine revealed that the engine was seized, with both rotors, an oil pump, and the rotor
bearing surfaces
exhibiting galling and burn damage consistent with oil starvation. The metering oil pump, which supplies oil to the combustion
chambers, was
missing from the engine installation, with its drive absent. Further examination disclosed that the oil injection nozzles
associated with the missing
metering oil pump were also missing from the combustion chambers, and that the nozzle holes were plugged with a non-metallic
substance.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
A loss of engine power due to oil starvation followed by the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the initial climb
shortly after takeoff. An
improper engine modification was a factor.
Full narrative available
SEA02LA072
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On April 21, 2002, approximately 1305 Pacific daylight time, a Gallagher Taylor "Coot" experimental amateur-built airplane, N41RG,
was destroyed by
impact forces and a post-crash fire in a collision with terrain following a loss of engine power and subsequent loss of control
near Creswell, Oregon.
The private pilot-in-command, who was the airplane's sole occupant, was fatally injured in the crash. Visual meteorological
conditions were reported
at Mahlon Sweet Field, Eugene, Oregon, at 1254, and no flight plan had been filed for the 14 CFR 91 flight.
Witnesses at the airport who were observing the pilot's first flight in the accident aircraft reported that shortly after takeoff,
the engine began to run
rough and subsequently quit. The aircraft then nosed down and collided with the terrain in an open field about one mile west of
the airport and
caught fire. The flight duration prior to the accident was approximately 1 minute and 15 seconds.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
At the time of the accident, the pilot held a private pilot certificate for single-engine land aircraft. The pilot's flight
logbook was not made available for
review, however, during the pilot's last Federal Aviation Administration medical examination, he reported a total flight time of
250 hours, with zero
hours in the preceding six months.
The pilot was issued a third class medical certificate on June 14, 2000, with a restriction that he must wear corrective lenses.
AIRCRAFT INFORMATION
The accident pilot, who did not hold a mechanic or repairman/experimental aircraft builder certificate (according to the FAA
airman registry), had
bought the aircraft from a previous owner. The engine installed at the time the accident pilot bought the aircraft, an IO-360
series aircraft engine,
was subsequently replaced with a Mazda 13B rotary automobile engine. An airworthiness inspector from the FAA's Portland, Oregon,
Flight
Standards District Office (FSDO) had approved the automotive engine installation.
According to the FAA aircraft registry, the aircraft was issued an experimental/amateur-built airworthiness certificate on June 7,
2001, and an
airworthiness update was accomplished on September 24, 2001. An FAA inspector reported that the accident flight was the pilot's
first flight in the
accident aircraft.
Prior to the maiden flight, witnesses at the airport reported that the pilot had accomplished several high speed taxi tests.
During one of these taxi
runs, the aircraft was observed to have inadvertently lifted off the taxiway. The aircraft then landed hard and ran off the
taxiway damaging one of the
airplane's main landing gears. The pilot also reported that the airplane had been pulling to the right during these taxi tests.
The pilot's wife and several people at the airport reported that during conversations with the pilot, he had been trying different
fuel/oil mixtures for the
engine. Each time the pilot ran the engine, the spark plugs would get fouled.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION
The 1254 Eugene, Oregon, airport hourly METAR weather observation reported conditions there as: wind from 350 degrees true at 9
knots; visibility
10 statute miles; overcast at 3,200 feet; temperature 13 degrees C; dew point 8 degrees C; and altimeter setting 30.19 inches Hg.
WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION
The accident site was located in a level open field covered with short grass approximately one mile west of the Creswell Airport.
The fuselage was
completely consumed and destroyed by the post-crash fire. Both the left and right wings were laying flat on the ground and
oriented in place to the
fuselage. Fire had consumed the majority of both wings out to the tips.
The engine was positioned at the nose of the airplane. The nose of the engine was pointing straight up. The propeller remained
attached to the
crankshaft.
FAA inspectors who responded to the accident site and performed an on-site examination of the aircraft wreckage reported that they
found no
evidence of malfunctions in the aircraft's airframe or flight controls.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
The Chief Deputy Medical Examiner from the Lane County Health and Human Services Medical Examiner's Office reported that the
pilot's cause of
death was due to blunt force injuries in chest and abdomen.
Samples for toxicology were sent to the Federal Aviation Administration Civil Aeromedical Institute, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for
analysis. The
results of the analysis were negative.
ADDITIONAL DATA/INFORMATION
Following the FAA inspectors' on-site wreckage examination, the aircraft's engine was moved to the service facility of Kiefer's
Eugene Mazda in
Eugene, Oregon, where a disassembly examination of the engine was conducted by a Mazda service technician under the supervision of
the FAA
inspectors on April 23, 2002. The disassembly examination disclosed that the engine was seized, with both rotors, an oil pump, and
the rotor
bearing surfaces exhibiting galling and burn damage consistent with oil starvation. The inspectors reported that a metering oil
pump, which supplies
oil to the combustion chambers, was noted to be missing from the engine installation, with its drive absent. The Mazda service
technician reported
that further examination disclosed that the oil injection nozzles associated with the missing metering oil pump were also missing
from the
combustion chambers, and that the nozzle holes were plugged with a non-metallic substance.
End of NTSB final report.
*******************************************************************************
Subject:
Coot crash
Date:
Sun, 23 Jun 2002 13:53:13 -0700
From:
ACRE NL <rotaryeng@earthlink.net>
------------------------------------------------------
Ken Welter wrote:
Hi Paul
The following letter is one that I wrote to the coot news group as I forwarded the the letter that you sent out.
Ken Welter
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am forwarding a letter that I received from a rotary news group that I belong to. It contains the NTSB report on Jim West, also at the end there is a comment from Paul Lamar that narrates that group and it pretty much sums up my opinion about the the people from FAA and the NTSB that investigated this are compleat incompetent idiots. The FAA and NTSB contacted me as they had some how received the letters that I had sent to the Coot group and the Rotary group.
I told them that the oil metering pump could not cause a engine to seize and that most people remove that pump but they insisted
that if Mazda put that pump on there that it they thought that it would be unsafe to fly without it. My comment was then I have
been flying a unsafe airplane for the last 1000 hrs and am still flying a an unsafe airplane. If they wanted to get a second
opinion they should contact Paul Lamar which they did not and stuck with the incompetent Mazda dealer mechanics opinion and did
not take my opinion. It was the cheap piece of crap oil cooler that I told Jim would not handle the pressure and volume of the
Mazda engine and that it would cause the engine to seize when it blew. I also told them about the weight and balance problem that
I thought it had. They said they needed documentation on paper with numbers and that my eyeball engineering point of view was not
worth anything even though in taxi testing the nose popped up and with full stick forward the plane jumped about 15 ft in the air
and stalled. They still wanted paperwork but that is the FAA for you they live in a paperwork world.
Still if the engine quit Jim should have been able to fly the airplane and land it as there were fields all around the airport
Ken Welter
*********************************************************************************
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