March 26, 2019
In preparation for water testing of Privateer™ to be held at Leesburg Airport (LEE), Rob has “singled-up” the landing gear so that we can retract the gear into the hulls.
During the first week of March, the aircraft was making a final test of gear retraction at Melbourne (MLB) when an unexpected crosswind gust made for a “hard landing”. The starboard main gear collapsed, causing Privateer™ to veer off the runway, which collapsed the remaining gear. A photo is available in the gallery (“Hard Landing MLB”).
It should be noted that this was the second incident of the day. A Piper Seneca had a similar experience earlier, causing it to lose both props and necessitate a tear-down of both engines as well as destroying antennae and wiping out the landing gear.
I note that Privateer™ suffered very little damage from the incident. With the exception of the landing gear, which is being remanufactured, we will have completed “road rash” repairs to Privateer™ by the end of this week. Privateer™ is a tough nugget.
I will be at Sun-N-Fun from April 2nd through April 5th or 6th, even though I cannot exhibit Privateer™. I will be part of an Aviation Network interview at Sun-N-Fun on April 5th at 12:30 P.M., and will be available to discuss partnering/joint venture in order to manufacture/market the Privateer™ Aircraft with interested parties.
Stay tuned,
John