Two more discoveries. First, the passenger was James Ricker, not Richer. Bad reporting in the local paper got his name wrong. Still almost nothing about him online.
Second, James Weener was not the owner of the airplane. It belonged to Kenneth A. Hannum, 107 Earls Court, Sebring FL. (863) 382-2163 I ordered the FAA CD. Anybody want to give Mr. Hannum a call? Maybe ask him about bucket seats? Dave --- In [email protected], "bigbrownpi...@..." <bigbrownpi...@...> wrote: > > Or maybe not. Google up "James Weener", and you will learn that the NTSB > states there is no reason to suspect coronary, stroke, or pilot > incapacitation. You get the picture of an active, fit, 70-years young > missionary pilot who would not intentionally go out and perform unauthorized > aerobatics many are speculating led to an over-G. And definitely not a > profile that lends itself to suicide. I think looking at the pilot is a dead > end. He may have maneuvered in response to an airplane problem or avoiding a > bird, or his passenger may have been flying and put the aircraft into an > attitude that required a violent recovery. That's happened, too; where a > Russian Airbus was being flown by the airline pilot's son and lost control in > 2006. I tried Googling the passenger, James Richer, but too many hits came > back and I couldn't find anything for the right James Richer. But there's > nothing in the pilot's background to suggest he was "high risk" for a mishap > like this. > > > --- In [email protected], "bigbrownpilot@" <bigbrownpilot@> wrote: > > > > Plausible theory, Art. Hopefully that would show up in an autopsy, > > although it could have been missed if the M.E, was focusing on post-inpact > > trauma. In any case, there should have been an autopsy-- can't we get the > > results? Anyone? > > > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected], Art Langston <n2666h@> wrote: > > > > > > Sometimes it's helpful to re-imagine a scenario, least we become > > > fixated. Since there were no adverse conditions, much of our conjecture > > > has focused on the plane and wondering why it would spontaneously break > > > up. > > > > > > So far we have conflicting statements of eye witnesses, but we may > > > assume the mechanic is correct in his evaluation of the planes > > > condition, and eye witnesses are correct in reports of unusual > > > maneuvering. I have seen no reports of the weight of the two men, or the > > > amount of fuel. That there was no fire was probably due to the seams of > > > the tanks opening in the air and released the gas in a hurry. > > > > > > After meditating on the eye witness accounts, I can visualize the pilot > > > losing consciousness or passing away, slumping forward and falling > > > hard against the yoke. The passenger (who may never have touched > > > aircraft controls before) reacts in an instant by pulling back, perhaps > > > very hard. > > > > > > It would all take less than a second, and at this point, the aircraft > > > has been fatally damaged. > > > > > > The results are tragic and incredibly sad, but the aircraft is > > > blameless. This seems more likely than the plane just breaking apart. > > > > > > The only other thing I could imagine would be a bolt falling out of the > > > mixer or one of the short push rods, leaving the aileron free to > > > flutter. Wish we knew what the shiny thing was they saw. > > > > > > All just conjecture. > > > > > > Art > > > N2666H > > > > > > PS I'd just buy another plane before replacing the center section - I > > > don't think it's cost effective, and you can sometimes part an airplane > > > out for more than you can often sell one. > > > > > >
