By Vic Syracuse, EAA Lifetime 180848
This piece originally ran in Vic’s Checkpoints column in the August 2024 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
Well. That’s a title that should get everyone’s attention. I know by now some of you are wondering if you are going to be in one of my columns, as I hear that comment almost every time I take a picture. My hope is by addressing a particular facet of stupid decisions, none of you will ever be in my column as an example. The consequences of this one are almost always fatal.
When the webinar schedule for Homebuilders Week 2024 was published recently, I received an email from an FAA Safety Team coordinator. He mentioned that I should check with an accident team coordinator out of the Las Vegas office who was in the process of authoring a Van’s RV aircraft safety recommendation. That certainly piqued my interest, so I immediately set out to make contact.
John Waugh is his name, and I’m sure he has one of the toughest jobs in the FAA — investigating fatal accidents. Both of our schedules were a little on the busy side, so it was a couple of days before we were able to speak with each other. John is certainly a dedicated individual, as the only time we could make our schedules work was on a Saturday afternoon.
He had recently been involved with the investigations of a couple of fatal RV-7 accidents, both due to low-level aerobatics. This really got my attention as I have lost several friends due to this issue. More about that later. In more than one case, the aircraft came apart in midair, most likely due to the onset of flutter caused by exceeding VNE (the never exceed speed). John’s thinking was that perhaps we needed a way to warn pilots that they were approaching VNE with some kind of cockpit alarm.
I agreed with the need for a warning but somewhat sarcastically stated that it needed to happen before the pilot got in the cockpit. John agreed, and we had a really good conversation. I mentioned that I had already written about this topic, but it seems like it needs refreshing every so often.
Why was he thinking the RVs could be the problem? Quite candidly, they are no different than any other airplane in that when you point them downhill, they are going to gain speed. The difference between a draggy biplane and a clean, low-drag RV makes all the difference in the outcome.
The gain in airspeed in a high-drag airplane can happen somewhat slowly. Some high-drag airplanes can be pointed straight down and not even reach VNE. Not so with the RVs. Point them downhill without reducing the throttle and it is just a matter of seconds — or less — before you can reach VNE, with drastic consequences.
Couple the rapid increase in speed with a view of the ground that most pilots have never seen, and you can guess the results. Unfortunately, the first reaction of any pilot is to pull back on the stick. This just adds to the g-load and makes things worse. There is no time for any warning. It all happens in the blink of an eye.
Almost all the low-level fatal crashes are rolls. Why is that you ask? Well, for one, the roll looks to be one of the easiest aerobatic maneuvers. We see them at air shows all the time. In movies, the star pilot usually rolls the airplane to impress his girlfriend in the back seat. Heck, even Tex Johnston rolled the Boeing Dash 80 707 prototype on a demonstration flight. Plus, the airplane you just built/bought is aerobatic, so thinking “I’ll be fine” mitigates any rational doubts about self-preservation.
The real problem is that rolling the airplane at 3,000 feet can look and feel substantially different than performing it at treetop level. Most airplanes flown by nonaerobatic pilots cannot do a wings-level roll easily without some proper training. As soon as you roll the airplane to the inverted position, it will “fall out” of the roll with a nose-down attitude that can approach 30 degrees down before you even recognize it. Guess where the throttle is? Almost 100 percent of the time it is still in the cruise power setting. The speed gain happens so fast you can’t catch it before it’s too late.
But for sake of argument, let’s say you do try some of these rolls up high. They start working out okay, and the airspeed and g-load are kept within limits. What’s next? Well, since nobody can see what a great pilot you are up there, you need to fly down lower where they can see you, right? Well, perhaps what you didn’t notice up at 3,000 feet is that you were 200 feet lower when you came out of the roll. How many of us even notice a 200-foot altitude change when we are cruising along VFR in level flight unless we have the altitude alert set?
Now, at treetop level, that 200-foot loss is about 150 feet below the ground! Boom! It’s over before you can blink, but forever indelibly burned into the eyes of those on the ground. It’s one of the most horrible sights and sounds imaginable, especially when it is someone you know or love.
I mentioned this subject hit home to me. So far, two of the aircraft I’ve built, the RV-4 and the Kitfox Speedster, have been involved in accidents due to low-level aerobatics. Each of them had two fatalities.
Another hangar mate with a Christen Eagle that he and his father built killed himself doing a loop on takeoff. He was a low-time private pilot with no aerobatic training. This one hit me hard as I had spoken to his father and was very pointed that his son was going to kill himself one day. Both ceased talking to me and moved out of my hangar.
After his son crashed, the father rebuilt the airplane, telling me at the funeral that there must have been something wrong with the airplane. I just shook my head. A few years later, the father was killed in the same airplane, along with his pastor, while doing low-level aerobatics.
Looking at the number of fatal accidents due to low-level aerobatics, my guess is that more than a few of you have your own stories to tell. I will also bet that none of you were surprised at the outcome. The common theme that they all have is that we saw it coming. The other common theme is that no one speaks up. I even heard this recently at a local airpark when a comment was made about another newly minted pilot “pushing the limits.” I asked if anyone had said anything. Crickets.
I’ve made at least two interventions in my life, speaking directly to the pilot about their antics. In both cases, I was the one who was ostracized. Would I do it again? You bet. I can at least look at myself in the mirror and know I tried. We all own this. There is no warning bell that we can put into the cockpit that is going to save any pilot from a failed aerobatic maneuver. It starts on the ground with the right attitude.
Luckily, today there are great aerobatic training courses around the country with some recognized aerobatic pilots. If you are planning to do aerobatics or know someone who is, please take the time to attend the training or recommend it to the other pilot. I know it will save lives.
By the way, this column purposely has no pictures. They are too awful and put a real damper on the fun factor. Please don’t make yourself, or allow someone you see or know, to be a statistic. For those who are interested, you can read the details by searching for these NTSB reports: NYC07LA148, DEN06LA026, CHI86FEX05, and BFO94LA161.
Vic Syracuse, EAA Lifetime 180848, is a commercial pilot, A&P/IA mechanic, designated airworthiness representative, and EAA flight advisor and technical counselor. He has built 11 aircraft and has logged more than 11,000 hours in 75 different types. Vic founded Base Leg Aviation, has authored books on maintenance and prebuy inspections, and posts videos weekly on his YouTube channel. He also volunteers as a Young Eagles pilot.