an interesting Man

[ksandrew]

During a fly in on Saturday I got to talk with Tom Peterson who was the test pilot in Albany,Ga on the Commander 111 and 112,

The has 65 hours in the Commander 111 and to the best of his knowledge only one was ever made. It had a 160 horse engine, I asked him if it was a little sluggish with the fixed gear and he just said that they planned on a larger engine for the production model.

It had a lot of vibration in the engine and he lost the spinner on a journey back to Albany after a demo, not the tail flutter, he said that was later.

Tom is a very interesting fellow. He was Jimmy Carters pilot during the presidential election and flew him out of his grass strip near Plains, Ga. 4GA5 in a Cessna 310. Never got on well with the Secret Service detail.

He would make a great guest at one of annual fly-ins.

Life is a barrel of fun.

 

[mcgrathm]

Re: an interesting Man

I went nosing around the internet. Never knew they made one. I wonder what happened to it?

 

[FS]

Re: an interesting Man

He would make a great guest at one of annual fly-ins.

He was asked, via his wife, to be our guest speaker many years ago and she responded that he declined. Said he wasn't comfortable doing presentations, or something along those lines.

 

[mcgrathm]

Re: an interesting Man

I can understand that... Maybe an informal chat session?

 

[Jamesdub]

Re: an interesting Man

I went nosing around the internet. Never knew they made one. I wonder what happened to it?

(( November 111 Non-Retract ))

 

[ksandrew]

Re: an interesting Man

The Commander 111 was at South Georgia Tech about five years ago, no wings just the fuselage with 5,000 patches on the skin, I have a photo of it somewhere if I can dig it out.

Ken

 

[Jaybird]

Re: an interesting Man

Wikipedia says there were two 111's made.
O-360 180HP engines and fixed gear as has been noted.
Also says the early 112 crash was due to tail failure though and apparently that is wrong per Ken's test pilot. I wish I could have been at that EAA breakfast.

 

[wab003]

Re: an interesting Man

According to Commander lore, the "tail failure" resulted from elevator flutter and was reportedly the reason the incidence angle of the H-stab was modified such that our elevators (factory stock) do not cruise in alignment w/ the stab. It also reportedly resulted in the elevator having two trim tabs instead of one.

 

[Merlin83b]

Re: an interesting Man

According to Commander lore, the "tail failure" resulted from elevator flutter and was reportedly the reason the incidence angle of the H-stab was modified such that our elevators (factory stock) do not cruise in alignment w/ the stab. It also reportedly resulted in the elevator having two trim tabs instead of one.

I wonder how Jim gets around this with the Super Stream tail mod?

 

[atjudge]

Re: an interesting Man

Unless someone talks to the engineers or test pilots there at the time, Sounds like folk lore instead of fact

 

[gmores]

Re: an interesting Man

Unless someone talks to the engineers or test pilots there at the time, Sounds like folk lore instead of fact

It would be nice to find one of the engineers that worked on the project to ask. The only thing we know for certain is that they modified the elevator setup after the incident.

 

[ksandrew]

Re: an interesting Man

I have talked with Harold Kosola about this. He was an engineer on the 112. The accident report in full is on the internet but I can't find it right now.

The tail flutter resulted in the fatal crash close to Albany airport KABY. They were in a hurry to certify and cut a few corners in efficiency to get it done.

Someone else may be able to find the accident report.

Life is a barrel of fun.

 

[atjudge]

Re: an interesting Man

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=2731

 

[atjudge]

Re: an interesting Man

I'm thinking that If I ever get to 208 knots in My Commander, something else is terribly wrong

 

[CenAir]

Re: an interesting Man

I'm thinking that If I ever get to 208 knots in My Commander, something else is terribly wrong

And you will have a lot more fluttering than the tail at 208 Knots and will include the wings fluttering at that speed!!!

 

[wab003]

Re: an interesting Man

I wonder how Jim gets around this with the Super Stream tail mod?

I believe (but have not independently verified) that at the time of the accident, the elevator system had only a single trim tab (instead of the current dual trim tabs) and that there was some thought that the design may have contributed to the problem. Part of the remedial engineering change was to provide the dual trim tabs.

 

[Pat]

Re: an interesting Man

I am sure Jim Richards would have studied elevator flutter when he did the flight testing to get the STC for the Super Stream.