Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Grass Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Manchester, Michigan 48158
Sunday, September 13, 1992 13:08 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE MID-WING CONFIGURED EXPERIMENTAL AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED FLYING CLOSE TO THE RUNWAY SURFACE. WITNESSES REPORTED THE AIRPLANE EXECUTED A STEEP CLIMBING 360 DEGREE TURN TO THE RIGHT. THE AIRPLANE STALLED AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE TURN AND DESCENDED INTO TREES ADJACENT TO THE RUNWAY. AN ON-SCENE INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE BUILDER OF THE AIRPLANE WAS ALSO THE PILOT. THE BUILDER HAD DEVIATED FROM THE DESIGNER'S PLANS AND MODIFIED THE RUDDER CONTROL SYSTEM. THE RESULT OF THE MODIFICATION WAS A LEFT RUDDER CABLE FAILURE DUE TO CHAFING AND OVERLOAD. THE BUILDER HAD ALSO INSTALLED AN ENGINE WHICH HAD 25 HORSEPOWER (HP) MORE THAN ALLOWED BY THE DESIGNER. THE DESIGNER STATED AN AIRPLANE WITH 65 HP WOULD PERFORM TOO STEEP A CLIMB FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON. THIS, HE STATED, WOULD CAUSE THE PILOT TO LOSE REFERENCE WITH THE HORIZON DUE TO THE AIRPLANE'S MID-WING CONFIGURATION. THE DESIGNER ALSO STATED THE MID-WING CONFIGURATION DOES NOT BLOCK AIRFLOW OVER THE ELEVATOR UNLESS IN A STALL, AT WHICH POINT THE TURBULENT AIR WOULD PASS OVER THE ELEVATOR.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
AN INADEQUATE DESIGN OF THE RUDDER CONTROL SYSTEM BY THE PILOT/BUILDER OF THE AIRPLANE, A PULLUP PERFORMED BY THE PILOT, AND A TOTAL FAILURE OF THE RUDDER FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/13/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1308 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MANCHESTER |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48158 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PRIVATE GRASS FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 920 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1320 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 255 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | YIP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 712 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 720 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | FAA |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2871 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 13 1992 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1530 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 47715 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 3:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | NONE |
| NTSB Number | CHI92DEC04 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | TENNESSEE ENGINEERING & MANF |
| Aircraft Model | Z-MAX |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | Z-MAX |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Not Registered |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 2 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 27 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHARLES E BAKER III |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 12735 BURMEISTER |
| Aircraft Owner City | MANCHESTER |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48158 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CHARLES E BAKER III |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 12735 BURMEISTER |
| Operator City | MANCHESTER |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 48158 |
| Operator Code | N/A |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | M151 |
| Departure City | CLINTON |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1450 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | 600 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |