Re: Parts vs Parts Was:Re: FW: WRB Re: [COUPERS-TECH] POH.

[WDELROSSI]

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In a message dated 10/25/2005 9:12:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

It is likely that your assertion that the manufacturer is no longer in business is total BS.

 

Your argument was really going well but you picked an example to illustrate your point from the homebuilt segment where certified parts are not required and you used specious facts to lend credibility.  The result is a total lack of credibility.

Respectfully,

 

Dick 

Dick,

 

Thanks for reading my posting so carefully!  I guess I didn't fully explain the point that I was trying to make, thinking that most readers would already be aware of the facts of the John Denver accident.  You are right, of course, approved or certified parts are not required in experimental aircraft.  And you are right, the fuel valve didn't cause the accident, and the valve manufacturer was not at fault. 

 

But I didn't say that certified parts are required in experimental aircraft; and I didn't say that the fuel valve caused the accident.

 

What I said was "Building fuel pumps and other aircraft parts in today's legal environment is a risky business.  Just ask the people who built the fuel selector valve in John Denver's Long-Eze.  No, wait, that company doesn't exist any more." 

 

The point that I was trying to make is that even though the valve manufacturer was NOT at fault, and the NTSB determined that they were not at fault, they STILL got sued, along with several other entities that had nothing to do with the accident. 

 

And as far as my assertion that the manufacturer was put out of business being "total BS",   I can't find Imperial Eastman Corporation in any internet yellow pages listing, I can't find their web site, and I can't find any current references to them being in business when I search the internet.  If they are still in business they are doing a great job of hiding that fact.  I have heard from 3 different sources that they were put out of business by this law suit.  I don't have documented proof of that.  But I sure can't find them anywhere either.  Can you?

 

Info from NTSB report:

TESTS AND RESEARCH INFORMATION

The fuel selector, linkage, universal joint, handle, and handle bearing block were recovered. The brass selector stem/shaft was found fractured between two opposing drilled rivet holes that attach the hollow portion of the shaft to the torque tube/handle linkage. The Safety Board's Materials Laboratory examined the stem/shaft fracture. Although the stem/shaft was severely weakened by the rivet addition, there was no evidence of pre-impact failure on the stem. A copy of the laboratory report is attached.

The brass 3-port Imperial fuel selector valve assembly was examined and found in an intermediate position, which was one-half open between the engine feed line and the right tank fuel supply line. The port to the left tank was also observed to be open about 10 percent to the engine feed line. The valve was found frozen in place and could not be moved. The fuel valve was plumbed into an engine test cell, with the fuel supply connected to the valve's right tank fuel port. At that point, the left tank port was open to the atmosphere and was subsequently capped. An exemplar Lycoming O-320 engine was installed in the test cell, started and run to maximum power. The one-half-open right port position had negligible effect on the engine power output; however, when the cap was removed from the left port (simulating the effect of an empty left tank) the fuel pressure dropped to less than one-half, and within a few seconds the engine quit because of the fuel/air mixture resulted in a vapor state.

 

Info on the law suit:

 

AP - Monterey, California
    John Denver's family believes a faulty fuel selector valve
in his experimental plane caused the crash that killed the
singer in 1997. Denver's plane lost power after the valve got
stuck, said Bill Wimsatt, a Los Angeles lawyer representing
the singer's children and mother in a lawsuit against several
companies.  "You've got a situation where a fellow is trying
to do nothing more than switch tanks on his aircraft, it
results in a loss of power and a loss of control, with
nothing, likely, that the pilot could have done to prevent it"
Wimsatt said in today's Monterey County Herald.
    The lawsuit, which was filed in October, names as
defendants Imperial Eastman Corporation, Mark IV Industries
and Dayco Eastman, along with others.  Denver died Oct. 12,
1997, off the coast of Pacific Grove, Calif., when his
home-built Long EZ airplane ran out of fuel and fell into the
ocean.
    The National Transportation Safety Board concluded Denver
took off with too little fuel in one tank, had trouble
switching to his backup tank and inadvertently put his plane
into a roll while his attention was diverted.  Wimsatt, a
licensed pilot, said the valve was working before Denver took
off.  Mark IV lawyer, Ed Green, recently received a photograph
of the valve and said he was still trying to identify whether
it was manufactured by the company.  "If it was, then we'll
inspect the valve to see if anything is wrong with it" Green
said.

 

You wrote: 

This was a case where the original builder departed from the published plans and changed the design for what he considered to be a good reason, keeping fuel out of the cockpit area (my Citribria uses a similar scheme for the same apparent reason).  This and the location of the fuel quantity site guages proved to be the root causes of the accident.  The manufacturer of the selector valve was not mentioned, nor was it a factor.

 

I beg to differ.  The location of the fuel quantity site gauges was NOT the "root cause" of the accident, it was one of the "factors in the accident".  And the manufacturer of the valve WAS mentioned in the accident report:

 

"The brass 3-port Imperial fuel selector valve assembly was examined and found in an intermediate position"

PROBABLE CAUSE

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause of this accident was the pilot's diversion of attention from the operation of the airplane and his inadvertent application of right rudder that resulted in the loss of airplane control while attempting to manipulate the fuel selector handle. Also, the Board determines that the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and preparations, specifically his failure to refuel the airplane, was causal. The Board determines that the builder's decision to locate the unmarked fuel selector handle in a hard-to-access position, unmarked fuel quantity sight gauges, inadequate transition training by the pilot, and his lack of total experience in this type of airplane were factors in this accident.

 

Sorry you thought that my comments were "total BS" and that I have a "total lack of credibility".  To each his own I guess.  Nice thing about living in the USA is that you can say and think anything you want to! 

I stand by my original comments, specious or not.

Best Regards,

Wayne DelRossi
Alon N5618F

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