By : Michael A Beinhauer

Having been unable to make an earlier IAC contest, my story actually begins later that some day at the local drop zone. Admittedly, I do frequent the local DZ for reasons other than reserve repacks. Now, before you discount the rest of the story, let me say in self-defense that I am not the egocentric-live-life-on-the-edge-Mountain-Dew-drinking-poster-child that the image a skydiving aerobat may conjure up. Rather, I am extremely safety conscious and conservative, jumping or flying only the best equipment. As a matter of fact, the reason for my first skydive was to see if I would actually use that neatly packed, previously all too often loosely worn, parachute strapped to my posterior. Now I know the answer.

Back to the story. After several skydives, I decided to take my relatively new Pitts S-2B (Now 95) out for a spin to at least practice the Known and Free sequences I was unable to fly earlier. Midway during my Free Program rounding out of a loop at 2,000 ft AGL, 170mph, I heard an unmistakable and eerie noise followed by immediate and several stick vibrations. My initial thought was catastrophic failure, something on the order of top wing separation. Without thought and having already rid myself of both harnesses, I found myself glancing out the right side of the aircraft and needless to say, was pleasantly surprised to discover that I was not hopelessly pinned in a spinning twist of machinery as it plummeted toward the ground.

Now was the time to assess the situation. No, the top wing had not let go nor separated just outboards of the ‘I’ strut as initially though. Yes, the flight controls all seemed to be functioning, at least somewhat, albeit the ailerons were fluttering something fierce, and I could see what appeared to be portions of the top wing coming apart. The good news was that I was still flying; the bad news was that I did not know for how long.

What to do now? Airspeed 145mph and decreasing, altitude 2,600 ft AGL and climbing, airport two miles away. I decided to stick with it, remembering what several friends, all military test pilots, had told me about their experiences. Which was something to the effect that I was now flying an experimental aircraft with unknown flight characteristics, and having committed to stay with the ship (that is to say, if nothing got worse), to do so at a speed known to keep the aircraft flying.

As always, the practice area was near an easy out. In this case, within two miles of the airport and over farm land populated only with the associated insects and rodents. In less than a minute I was safely on the ground having been true to my friends’ advice and previous experience. Yes, I had experienced a similar situation years back when a cockpit crew door decided it had seen enough of a routine 135 check ride and decided it wanted to depart early. In that case, I also few the approach at a sufficient airspeed to keep the machine flying. While this technique in both cases burned up an awful lot of runway, logic did seem to dictate that it would probably be best to test any major design changes to the aircraft’s stall characteristics within close proximity of the ground.

After thanking my guardian angel and promptly downing a frosty cold one (Mountain Dew that is), I took the time to look at what all my friends were starting at. The damage to the aircraft was significant in that it had experienced what can be considered a major fabric malfunction. A three to four foot "L" shaped section of fabric had torn on the top wing immediately in front of the aileron (see photo). The cause is currently under investigation by Aviat Aircraft. However, preliminary indications are that the cause may be attributable to a design change in the covering process. The change, introduced several years ago and recently reinstated, apparently eliminated a leading edge tape previously though unnecessary. The people at the factory have been wonderful and have assured me affected owners would be notified.

Equally interesting to the above may very well be a study of my reaction and response (right or wrong) to the situation. I challenge everyone to contemplate what they would do if faced with a similar predicament. Admittedly, I am satisfied with the fact that I had no reservations about being the hero. I was prepared to leave the aircraft without hesitation and to make the most of my insurance premiums. Just think of how many times a different mindset may have contributed to disaster. I am, however, a disappointed in the fact that I drill to remove the canopy before the harness something I did not do this time, but am sure would have figured out sooner or later.

While no one knows precisely how they will react when faced with an emergency situation, I am a firm believer in training, preparation and conditioning. Believe me when I say that any error in skydiving is not very forgiving and hurtling toward the ground with a partial or full malfunction while at terminal does not allow one a whole lot of time for contemplation. Without a doubt, it is one’s preparedness that saves the day. As of late, I have been trying to convince my brother, also an aerobatic pilot, to skydive. At least to build his confidence and remove any concerns he may have about going for that "D" ring should the need arise. Who knows, it may save a life.

By the way, since I also took up skydiving to get over my fear of heights, does anybody have any ideas on how I can get out of cleaning the gutters ? Now when I complain, my wife just tells me to be quiet, put on my rig and get up the ladder.

Blue Skies

Reproduced from Sport Aerobatics