Ricardo Lopez RAF 2000 GTXSE N282SL

Summary

On 11 September 2005 at about 17:00 local time, a Ricardo Lopez RAF 2000 GTXSE registered N282SL was involved in an accident near Wickenburg, Arizona, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 September 2005 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Wickenburg, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Wickenburg (E25)

Coordinates

33.9689, -112.7986

Aircraft

Ricardo Lopez RAF 2000 GTXSE

Registration

N282SL

Category

Gyrocraft

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wickenburg → Buckeye

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05CA295

2 people had minor injuries.

the pilot's failure to obtain and maintain an adequate airspeed and rotor speed during takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The gyrocopter collided with terrain and rolled over during takeoff. The pilot departed his home field with a 240-pound passenger and full load of fuel. The performance was not good, but the flight was successful. He landed on runway 05 at the destination airport uneventfully. He departed on runway 05 in no wind conditions, and flew in the local area for an hour. When he returned for landing, other aircraft in the pattern were using runway 23, which had a left 90-degree crosswind. He filled the gyrocopter with fuel, and taxied to runway 23. He started to take off and noted that the nose wasn't light. He pulled back on the control stick and the gyrocopter popped up off the ground. He thought that he was behind the power curve and nosed over to gain airspeed. He did gain some airspeed, but the gyrocopter settled to the ground. He pulled back on the control stick to prevent landing on the nose gear. The gyrocopter lost airspeed and rotor speed. It was right of centerline when a gust of wind pushed it forward and to the right. The pilot said that he felt that if he had taken off downhill, the accident would not have happened, and he would have had adequate power and control movement to maintain control. He thought that performance would have been drastically better if he had added 6 gallons of fuel instead of 14 gallons. He felt that he failed to control the gyrocopter and did not consider the problems associated with marginal performance or ways to increase that performance. The pilot said there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.