Do you assemble your glider paying good attention to it?

Earlier, ContestID67 wrote:

> 4) If the plane never left the ground, why was the FAA and NTSB
> contacted? Insurance purposes?

The answer to that probably lies in 14CFR 830, section 2:

- As used in this part the following words or
- phrases are defined as follows:
- "Aircraft accident" means an occurrence associated with the
- operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time
- any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight
- and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any
- person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the
- aircraft receives substantial damage.

To my way of thinking, that makes what's shown in the video an
"aircraft accident."

As to why it was reported, I'd imagine that some responsible person was
complying with 14CFR 830, section 5, which says:

- The operator of an aircraft shall immediately, and by the
- most expeditious means available, notify the nearest
- National Transportation Safety Board (Board), field
- office /1/ when:
- ...
- (a) An aircraft accident or any of the following listed incidents
occur:
- ...

Thanks, Bob K.

Contestid67 wrote:

2) The NTSB report says that the wing separated 'at
the
wing-to-fuselage attachment point.' Wrong, it was clearly
outboard of that. Seems like an odd place for a multi
part wing to be coupled.

- John

The glider in the video has a 3 piece wing. The connection
where the wing seperated is the tip of the center section
and the root of the outer panel.

I have helped put one of these together. I do not
know if the wing would stay in place if the 'pin' had
not been rotated to expand and lock. A very worthwhile
test for the FAA to have run would have been to fully
extend the pins, then apply load like the spar would
have, and see if the pin would push out of the way.
If the pin is tapered, and the screw that drives it
into place allowed the pins to spin the jackscrew,
that could certainly have caused the pin to back out
under load. Since the aircraft has been sold for salvage,
we will probably never know.

Steve

> 5) What is the tow plane?

A Maule?