Old message.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Jim West fatal coot crash
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 12:50:38 -0700
From: ACRE NL <rotaryeng@earthlink.net>

Ken Welter wrote:

  It is always sad to hear about a crash but this one is especially
sad in that this one could have been avoided. The engine installation
in this plane was a compleat abortion from the exhaust system that
was made from stock auto mufflers and pipes that cannot stand the
temp of the rotary to the cheep after market oil cooler that I told
him that would not cool it and was prone to cracking.
  On top of this his coot had a aft CG problem that I told Jim would
be prone to stalling and spinning in the event of a engine failure
and that if he flew it in that configuration that he may die and at
that point he got mad and hung up the phone. I did not hear from him
for a couple of months when he called and asked if I had a nose gear
leg, he said that when he was taxi testing it and lifted the nose
wheel off that the nose popped up and with full stick forward that he
could not keep it down and it stalled at about 10 ft off the ground
and broke a main gear hinge and the nose gear leg driving it through
the bottom of the hull, still Jim still insisted that the CG was
correct and that the fuel had shifted in the tank and caused the
problem. On top of that Jim had not flown in nearly twenty years and
I have taken him flying three times in my coot and I made it clear
that I did not think he was capable of flying the coot and that he
needed to put some serious time in a C-150 before he tried test
flying his coot.
  I am very sad and will miss Jim as I was looking forward to flying
around with him and my condolences go out to his wife, family and
friends.
  Ken Welter
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