Wells Terry HULA GIRL N301TW

Summary

On 3 July 2010 at about 18:00 local time, a Wells Terry HULA GIRL registered N301TW was involved in an accident near Wellington, Colorado, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 July 2010 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Wellington, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Owl Canyon Gliderport (4CO2)

Coordinates

40.8028, -104.9842

Aircraft

Wells Terry HULA GIRL

Registration

N301TW

Category

Glider

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wellington → Wellington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN10CA376

Nobody was injured.

A partial loss of engine power due to the inadequate design of the engine cowling.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot, who is also the designer and builder of the experimental motorglider, was making his second flight after having completed a number of high-speed taxi tests. The pilot said that several months earlier, on his first flight in the motorglider, shortly after becoming airborne the engine experienced a partial loss of power and he landed immediately. On the accident flight, immediately after takeoff, the pusher-configuration engine again lost power from 6,500 rpm to approximately 4,300 rpm. The pilot was not able to climb and was able to maintain flight at only 100 feet above ground level. Approximately one mile from the airport the pilot attempted an off-field emergency landing and then “did an intentional ground loop” to avoid a fence he had not noticed before touchdown. With the motorglider then moving sideways, the tail impacted a small tree. The carbon-fiber tail boom fractured and separated just forward of the vertical fin, causing substantial damage to the motorglider. The solo pilot was not injured. The pilot reported that there was adequate fuel in the tank and previous testing showed there was adequate fuel flow to the engine. After the accident the pilot reported that that his design of the engine cowling needed to be modified and he thought that “an engine compartment pressure differential from outside air caused the carburetor float bowl to empty.”

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.