Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Owl Canyon Gliderport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wellington, Colorado 80549
Saturday, July 3, 2010 12:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
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.”
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power due to the inadequate design of the engine cowling.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/3/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wellington |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80549 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404810N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1045903W |
| Event Location Airport | Owl Canyon Gliderport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4CO2 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5545 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1215 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 3 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FNL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5016 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.77 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KFNL 031735Z AUTO 14010KT 8SM CLR 31/12 A297 |
| 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) | 27233 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Communications Ce |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 27 2010 2:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N301TW |
| NTSB Number | CEN10CA376 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | WELLS TERRY |
| Aircraft Model | HULA GIRL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 825 |
| Aircraft Category | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 27 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 1 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WELLS TERRY G |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4241 KAHILI MAKAI ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | KILAUEA |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96754-5412 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | WELLS TERRY G |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 4241 KAHILI MAKAI ST |
| Operator City | KILAUEA |
| Operator State | HI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 96754-5412 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | 4CO2 |
| Departure City | Wellington |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 4CO2 |
| Destination City | Wellington |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 20 2010 10:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | latt |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19R |
| Runway Length | 3580 |
| Runway Width | 24 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |