report I have just received this week of a crash this week
Reversed Aileron Linkage Eyed in Spectrum 33 Crash
According to Spectrum Aeronautical LLC founder and CEO Linden Blue, the proof of concept aircraft that crashed last Tuesday in Spanish Fork, Utah, killing test pilots Glenn Maben and Nathan Forrest, had recently undergone reinforcement of its main landing gear attachment structure, a process that required disconnecting and reconnecting the aileron control linkages. During reassembly, Blue told B&CA Senior Editor Fred George, the aileron control linkages were reversed. Safety checks by engineers, technicians, ground service personnel and, ultimately, the pilots failed to detect the flaw, Blue said. NTSB is investigating the accident; its findings are not expected for several months.
Blue said most of the scheduled test flying of the first aircraft had been completed before the crash, which occurred on its 46th flight, and that construction of a second, ’company conforming‘ aircraft, is well underway with first flight slated early to mid 2007.
The second aircraft will have aerodynamic and structural commonality with production versions, including a conventional elevator and trimmable horizontal stabilizer on the tail instead of the stabilator fitted to the original POC aircraft. He said a third, fully-conforming production aircraft will be built for FAA / EASA flight testing. Production versions will be designed so that the aileron linkages cannot be reversed during initial assembly or routine maintenance, Blue asserted.