Modesto City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Modesto, California 95351
Tuesady, July 11, 2006 11:33 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The landing gear collapsed during a touch-and-go landing. The pilot/builder explained that the airplane ballooned after initial touchdown due to too much elevator trim. The airplane then landed "very hard" farther down the runway. The landing gear collapsed, and the rudders sustained substantial damage after contacting the runway. The pilot/builder conducted maintenance on his airplane, and believed that he had set the landing gear extension/retraction cables too tight. Coupled with the hard landing, this caused the main gear over-center linkage to release from the over-center position.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's misjudged flare and improper recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a hard landing and landing gear collapse. A contributing factor was the pilot/builder's inadequate adjustment of the landing gear cable tension.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/11/2006
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1133
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Modesto
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95351
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 373755N
Event Location Longitude 1205727W
Event Location Airport Modesto City
Event Location Nearest Airport ID MOD
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 97
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID MOD
Elevation of weather observation facility 97
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.04
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 22388
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 11 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 29 2007 8:02AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Federal Aviation Administration

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N992PC
NTSB Number LAX06LA229
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Velocity
Aircraft Model 173/RG-XL
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 3RX045
Certified Max Gross Weight 2700
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 9
Airframe Hours 89
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Paul Calhoun
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Modesto
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95351
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Modesto
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code MOD
Departure City Modesto
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1125
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 4 2007 4:45PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 28L
Runway Length 3459
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --