RandyL
Posts: 366
Joined: 2/1/2002
From: Silver Lake, KS, USA
Status: offline
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Hi guys... Sorry for the delay in getting back to the board with more info. but I was wanting to try and find the source of the problem before judging the situation.
After thinking it over, talking with the pilot at the controls, and checking with most everyone around at the time I have formed an opinion of what caused the flight problem.
The actual flight problem was that it rolled down the runway, lifted off, went fairly nose high and left, dipped down and flattened out a bit, then back nose high / left, and landed on the nose and left engine in a tall grass field surrounding the flying site.
Even at low speed and low altitude when better than 30 pounds lands on the nose there is an ugly looking crash scene. The aircraft is certainly repairable and I only view this as a setback and learning experience. All hardware parts are undamaged and I'm only in need of the plastic front canopies, balsa, and paint to be back together when time permits. From the wing saddle back there is not even a scratch, the outter wing panels have some very light cosmetic damge and one cowl is in need of repair.
The plan of repairs is to buildup and new nose section and blend it to the fuse and repair the damage to the wing center section. All my sub-assemblys such as the lighted control panel, working turret, machine guns, etc are all fine and will be reinstalled with no mods.
Cause of the crash ( in my opinion )... wing stall. The stall was brought on by several possible causes or all of them combined. Grass runway, too short of runway, partial flap deployed during takeoff. The ailerons were useless as it tipped left and not enough rudder was applied quick enough to flatten things out.
The silver lining to it all is that I still have a repairable airplane and will be certain to fly it differently next time with great results. I had enough power out of the Ryobi's and will certainly reinstall them again..they ran incredibly smooth. They were turning the 16-8 Graupner 3 blade props @ 7000 rpm and ran up perfectly all the time. Sorry to say, even that much power won't hover a stalled B-25! : )
I hope some of this info helps make better flights for each of you. I've posted it here as accurate as I can so you can make your own judgements of the situation. I thought I'd wait until after the first of the year to start repairs but I'm already itching to saw out a few new formers for the nose.
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Randy
Flying the Friendly Skies of Kansas
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calling - 
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