Christensen Steve WHEELER EXPRESS N3FC

Summary

On 28 July 2015 at about 00:47 local time, a Christensen Steve WHEELER EXPRESS registered N3FC, operated by Christensen Steven J, was involved in an accident near Holland, Minnesota, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 July 2015 at 00:47

Classification

Accident

Location

Holland, Minnesota, United States

Coordinates

44.0717, -96.1906

Aircraft

Christensen Steve WHEELER EXPRESS

Registration

N3FC

Category

Airplane

Year built

2008

Engines

1

Operator

Christensen Steven J

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pipestone → Pipestone

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15FA321

3 people died.

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed during a high-pitch, steep right turn, which resulted in the exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle-of-attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall, loss of control, and impact with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the airplane’s design, which resulted in poor yaw stability at low airspeed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot departed with two passengers for a personal, local flight in a Wheeler Express amateur-built airplane. Air traffic control data indicate that, after departing the airport, the airplane climbed and performed several maneuvers. A review of onboard flight data revealed that the airplane then maneuvered into a nose-high attitude while in a steep, right turn. As the airspeed decelerated below stall speed and the turn steepened, the airplane pitched nose down and entered a prolonged, right-turning spin until ground impact. Examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Previous flight testing of a Wheeler Express kit airplane similar to the accident airplane revealed that it had poor yaw stability at low airspeed due to the aerodynamic design of the tail section. The testing also revealed that, during poststall and high-yaw maneuvering, the horizontal tail and elevators appeared to have an inadequate effect. Following bankruptcy of the original kit manufacturer, a variant of the Wheeler Express kit airplane was developed using the same wing and fuselage as the accident model but with a larger tail that had 40 percent more wetted area to provide additional yaw stability at low airspeed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.