Kim. This is very sad. After all the effort and money put into the plane.
Even more sad, because I know this Ercoupe from actually flying it over the Sierra Nevada and back into the San Francisco Bay area. Kim was so kind to let me fly his Ercoupe last spring when I was there for a short visit. It is a nice flying Ercoupe. But this should not be the end to this. First no one got hurt. Second the firewall forward is messed up and if luck has it only the firewall forward. There is a good looking nose bowl on Ebay right now. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170430811103 . If that is not working out, I am having one laying around (not so good looking) that I can send you. The same person sells an engine mount that looks usable to me. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170430807409 And with some more luck the nose gear is rebuildable. Propeller & engine issues can be sorted out later ones the plane is on its feet again. Yes this grounds you for quiet some time, but it should not end your flying career. I wish I could come over and help. Hartmut from Berlin To: [email protected] CC: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] From: [email protected] Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:50:14 -0800 Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Kim Blackseth's Ercoupe Crash [6 Attachments] [Attachment(s) from kim Blackseth included below] Unfortunately my plane (N2332H) crashed shortly after takeoff yesterday afternoon at Napa Airport. No one was injured, but the plane is severely damaged. The engine stopped producing power at about 300' shortly after take off to a flight to Calavaras Airport. It was being flown by a friend who walked away, but he was pretty shook up. It was too low to "turn back", so he put it down in a field/marsh about 1/4 mile from the airport (see pictures below). The plane had been recently rebuilt completely from "stem to stern" and had a new 0-200 Continental engine. The new engine had about 40 hours and was working perfectly until late Weds afternoon. On Weds the engine "stuttered" a few times and was quickly landed. On Tuesday morning I called the A/P mechanic who built the new engine and does most of the work on the plane. He flew down from Calaveras with his tools and assistant to check the plane to make sure it was safe before anyone flew it again. He arrived (Paul David from David's Aviation) and checked the engine carefully. It ran up fine, good oil pressure, good temp, etc. No sign of any problem. He said he suspected carb icing and proclaimed it safe to fly. He did see a small oil leak and said he would like to take it to his hanger, fix the leak and make "double sure" there were no other issues. After assuring us it was safe, my friend agreed to fly it to David's Aviation in Calaveras. As I was at work, my friend, Josh Grey agreed to fly it. He took off and at 300' high or so it stopped making enough power to climb, but was still running. There was no altitude to turn and little time to do anything but look for a place to put it down. As the photos show, its badly damaged. I'm very grateful no one was hurt. As most of you know, I'm disabled and spent the better part of three years re-building and modifying the plane to work for my disability (C-6 quad). I got my Private Pilot Certificate one year ago almost exactly. It's likely this will end my flying, as the resources and energy I (and my friends and family) put in this plane were tremendous and I'm not sure where they would come from to replace the plane. I'm pretty disappointed and depressed this morning, but thankful no one was hurt.... Kim Blackseth, ICC, CASp 310 17th St Oakland, CA 510-839-1760 _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live: Keep your friends up to date with what you do online. http://www.microsoft.com/middleeast/windows/windowslive/see-it-in-action/social-network-basics.aspx?ocid=PID23461::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-xm:SI_SB_1:092010
