Two Jodels.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 517
Likes: 37
From: Kelowna Wine Country
Two Jodels.
This is the second Jodel recently to have in flight structural failure, one old, this one nearly new and apparently home built.
From Vancouver Sun:
Emergency vehicles block off Johnson Road on Forbidden Plateau as a Cormorant helicopter from 19 Wing Comox searches the area for the plane and pilot that crashed into the forest early Wednesday morning.
Emergency vehicles block off Johnson Road on Forbidden Plateau as a Cormorant helicopter from 19 Wing Comox searches the area for the plane and pilot that crashed into the forest early Wednesday morning.
Photograph by: Marcel Tetrault, Comox Valley Echo
A homebuilt plane that crashed Wednesday in Courtenay, killing its 75-year-old owner, was improperly registered, a Transportation Safety Board official said.
With proper registration, the Jodel F-11 craft, built from a kit, would have had to meet stricter airworthiness standards.
Bert Smit, owner of a private airstrip called Smit Field, was flying the homebuilt plane around 9 a.m. when witnesses reported seeing pieces of one wing detach and the plane crash in the Forbidden Plateau area.
Smit had built the plane himself out of wood and fabric about eight months ago and had flown it regularly ever since, said Danny Annand, Smit’s business partner and a board member of the Courtenay Airpark Association.
The Victoria Joint Rescue Coordination Centre dispatched a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter from 19 Wing Comox. Ground search and rescue teams, the Courtenay fire department and the RCMP assisted in the search.
“They found the plane — the wreckage — and found Bert, and he is deceased,” Annand said. “They’re sure it’s him; they found his pilot’s licence and everything on him.”
Bill Yearwood, regional manager for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said such aircraft are normally registered as amateur-built, based on weight, speed and other specifications.
Amateur-built planes must meet strict “airworthiness requirements” and be inspected by Transport Canada before being approved for takeoff.
“This particular [aircraft] is not registered as an amateur-built, but registered as an ultralight,” Yearwood said. “We have to determine how that is, because it is likely that it is not correctly registered.”
It was the second B.C. death involving such a craft in less than a year. Donald William Souter, a 52-year-old Surrey man, died last August when a wing detached from his homebuilt Jodel aircraft. That plane spiralled downward before crashing just five metres away from a residence on Falcon Crest Drive.
Souter’s plane was registered as amateur-built.
“[Smit] is quite a craftsman,” Annand said. “Whether it’s a flaw in the design, who knows. We probably never will know, because when they crash, there’s not much left of a wooden airplane. It’s not like there are pieces left to examine.”
Shannon Gorman was outside pruning her raspberry bushes a little before 9 a.m. when she heard the plane and looked up over the trees.
“It looked like he was going to give me a real neat show with a swoop,” Gorman said. “As he started to come down, yellow pieces just flew everywhere, he just exploded and then crashed down. Before that he looked fine, like he was going to do a fancy little show.”
Another eyewitness said she saw the plane do a couple of loops just before its left wing blew apart and the plane went down.
Annand said he knew it was Smit as soon as he received the phone call.
“It made sense that it was him; he’s only two or three kilometres from our airfield,” Annand said. “I’ve been with the family crying since nine o’clock.”
An investigation is being conducted by the safety board to determine the cause of the crash.
[email protected]
With files from Canwest News Service
From Vancouver Sun:
Emergency vehicles block off Johnson Road on Forbidden Plateau as a Cormorant helicopter from 19 Wing Comox searches the area for the plane and pilot that crashed into the forest early Wednesday morning.
Emergency vehicles block off Johnson Road on Forbidden Plateau as a Cormorant helicopter from 19 Wing Comox searches the area for the plane and pilot that crashed into the forest early Wednesday morning.
Photograph by: Marcel Tetrault, Comox Valley Echo
A homebuilt plane that crashed Wednesday in Courtenay, killing its 75-year-old owner, was improperly registered, a Transportation Safety Board official said.
With proper registration, the Jodel F-11 craft, built from a kit, would have had to meet stricter airworthiness standards.
Bert Smit, owner of a private airstrip called Smit Field, was flying the homebuilt plane around 9 a.m. when witnesses reported seeing pieces of one wing detach and the plane crash in the Forbidden Plateau area.
Smit had built the plane himself out of wood and fabric about eight months ago and had flown it regularly ever since, said Danny Annand, Smit’s business partner and a board member of the Courtenay Airpark Association.
The Victoria Joint Rescue Coordination Centre dispatched a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter from 19 Wing Comox. Ground search and rescue teams, the Courtenay fire department and the RCMP assisted in the search.
“They found the plane — the wreckage — and found Bert, and he is deceased,” Annand said. “They’re sure it’s him; they found his pilot’s licence and everything on him.”
Bill Yearwood, regional manager for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said such aircraft are normally registered as amateur-built, based on weight, speed and other specifications.
Amateur-built planes must meet strict “airworthiness requirements” and be inspected by Transport Canada before being approved for takeoff.
“This particular [aircraft] is not registered as an amateur-built, but registered as an ultralight,” Yearwood said. “We have to determine how that is, because it is likely that it is not correctly registered.”
It was the second B.C. death involving such a craft in less than a year. Donald William Souter, a 52-year-old Surrey man, died last August when a wing detached from his homebuilt Jodel aircraft. That plane spiralled downward before crashing just five metres away from a residence on Falcon Crest Drive.
Souter’s plane was registered as amateur-built.
“[Smit] is quite a craftsman,” Annand said. “Whether it’s a flaw in the design, who knows. We probably never will know, because when they crash, there’s not much left of a wooden airplane. It’s not like there are pieces left to examine.”
Shannon Gorman was outside pruning her raspberry bushes a little before 9 a.m. when she heard the plane and looked up over the trees.
“It looked like he was going to give me a real neat show with a swoop,” Gorman said. “As he started to come down, yellow pieces just flew everywhere, he just exploded and then crashed down. Before that he looked fine, like he was going to do a fancy little show.”
Another eyewitness said she saw the plane do a couple of loops just before its left wing blew apart and the plane went down.
Annand said he knew it was Smit as soon as he received the phone call.
“It made sense that it was him; he’s only two or three kilometres from our airfield,” Annand said. “I’ve been with the family crying since nine o’clock.”
An investigation is being conducted by the safety board to determine the cause of the crash.
[email protected]
With files from Canwest News Service
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 374
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From: Hellfire Corner
Two separate incidents. Not enough detail on either to make a link, IMO.
Sad though these are, the reports add nothing to our understanding with little more than the comments of the neighbours.
I'm not aware on Canadian certification requirements, nor standards pertaining to homebuilts, so would be more interested to see a link to the full reports.
F11? Ah, a sort of D11 copy. I've found this from a quick search: "All in all, the Falconar "Jodel" should not be looked upon as a Jodel, but as a Falconar. This is either good or bad. Just a fact to take into account".
Sad though these are, the reports add nothing to our understanding with little more than the comments of the neighbours.
I'm not aware on Canadian certification requirements, nor standards pertaining to homebuilts, so would be more interested to see a link to the full reports.
F11? Ah, a sort of D11 copy. I've found this from a quick search: "All in all, the Falconar "Jodel" should not be looked upon as a Jodel, but as a Falconar. This is either good or bad. Just a fact to take into account".
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 250
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From: York
"Another eyewitness said she saw the plane do a couple of loops just before its left wing blew apart and the plane went down."
As far as I am aware Jodel's aren't cleared for aeros. The load limit factors on my 117 are +3.8 -1.5g. Not enough margin in it for me I'm afraid.
As has been said it was a falconar not a Jodel, might be just in the name I suppose, but already a striking statement that should ground all the other 2 or 3 thousand Jodels in the world. Just imagine if that ratio were to be applied to Cessna or Piper whatever the model. I guess thats 0.1 of a percent in fatalities.
As far as I am aware Jodel's aren't cleared for aeros. The load limit factors on my 117 are +3.8 -1.5g. Not enough margin in it for me I'm afraid.
As has been said it was a falconar not a Jodel, might be just in the name I suppose, but already a striking statement that should ground all the other 2 or 3 thousand Jodels in the world. Just imagine if that ratio were to be applied to Cessna or Piper whatever the model. I guess thats 0.1 of a percent in fatalities.
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 399
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From: suffolk
There could be more to this than meets they eye at first glance. A Falconar is basically a jodel D11 with a wider steel U/C spaced out on the wing . The trade mark turned up outer panel is closer to the fus with less dihedral.
The structure is basically the same, but the U/C may impose different stresses into the spar because of the way it is mounted.
Basically the Falconar range are well respected and proven aircraft.
The jodel d9 is a single seat aircraft that was designed to 10 g ultimate wing strength. Falconar also do a version of this model.
Some d9's are flying in Europe with light weight two stroke engines as ulm's ( microlights ) but very care full attention to weight whist building is needed. Some people are known to aerobat them regularly.
The d9 in the UK is usually VW powered ( I own one) and heavier and certainly not cleared for aeros.
If it turns out that this falconar was a 9 ( i.e. single seat) that might explain why it was being aerobated. If it was an 11 , then significant weight ( I would say impossible) savings must have been made to register it as a microlight and maybe important structural items where compromised and that could explain why it failed structurally.
Either way it has no bearing on the English ( or French ) fleet of Jodels.
The structure is basically the same, but the U/C may impose different stresses into the spar because of the way it is mounted.
Basically the Falconar range are well respected and proven aircraft.
The jodel d9 is a single seat aircraft that was designed to 10 g ultimate wing strength. Falconar also do a version of this model.
Some d9's are flying in Europe with light weight two stroke engines as ulm's ( microlights ) but very care full attention to weight whist building is needed. Some people are known to aerobat them regularly.
The d9 in the UK is usually VW powered ( I own one) and heavier and certainly not cleared for aeros.
If it turns out that this falconar was a 9 ( i.e. single seat) that might explain why it was being aerobated. If it was an 11 , then significant weight ( I would say impossible) savings must have been made to register it as a microlight and maybe important structural items where compromised and that could explain why it failed structurally.
Either way it has no bearing on the English ( or French ) fleet of Jodels.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 517
Likes: 37
From: Kelowna Wine Country
Maoraigh1
No firm report yet but that was the speculation.
In Canada the weight limit for Ultralights is fairly low, not sure what exactly. They must also be single seat and have various speed limitations etc. Advanced Ultralight, two seat, are limited, I think, to 1200 lbs. Tran Can have been a bit sticky about registering aircraft with lack of load capacity as ultralights for the last two or three years. One of our members had an ongoing battle as originally our amphibians (I think 1320 lbs amphib limit) were a registered ultralight buildable but with empty weights coming out around 920 to 950 lbs they said there was not sufficient load capacity for two adults and gas.
Ultralights, built to manufacturers spec or with manufacturer approved mods only do not require a final inspection by a Tran Can. inspector. "Amateur built," our equivalent of USA's "Experimental" do.
I don't have any idea about the circumstances of these two accidents beyond the newspapers' information which, so far, suggests they were in flight structural failure, one plane was older, one recent. Certainly the local safety figures for our amphibians are just as bad but none were in flight separation.
Witness reports, especially second hand through the newspapers, can be very misleading. "Bits exploded off the wing" may be as little as a separated aileron or as much as spar failure, we'll just have to wait and see.
I am not sure how many Jodels there are locally. This is very local to the last one. Maybe a group of Jodel enthusiasts in Courtney.
No firm report yet but that was the speculation.
In Canada the weight limit for Ultralights is fairly low, not sure what exactly. They must also be single seat and have various speed limitations etc. Advanced Ultralight, two seat, are limited, I think, to 1200 lbs. Tran Can have been a bit sticky about registering aircraft with lack of load capacity as ultralights for the last two or three years. One of our members had an ongoing battle as originally our amphibians (I think 1320 lbs amphib limit) were a registered ultralight buildable but with empty weights coming out around 920 to 950 lbs they said there was not sufficient load capacity for two adults and gas.
Ultralights, built to manufacturers spec or with manufacturer approved mods only do not require a final inspection by a Tran Can. inspector. "Amateur built," our equivalent of USA's "Experimental" do.
I don't have any idea about the circumstances of these two accidents beyond the newspapers' information which, so far, suggests they were in flight structural failure, one plane was older, one recent. Certainly the local safety figures for our amphibians are just as bad but none were in flight separation.
Witness reports, especially second hand through the newspapers, can be very misleading. "Bits exploded off the wing" may be as little as a separated aileron or as much as spar failure, we'll just have to wait and see.
I am not sure how many Jodels there are locally. This is very local to the last one. Maybe a group of Jodel enthusiasts in Courtney.
