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I know the pic isn't the sharpest etc and it has been cropped BIG time, but it was the closest I could get on the the live side of bankstown in the timeframe I needed to take the photo before they moved the plane off the runway.

This morning while at bankstown waiting for my hubby to get back from a flight this RV-4 colapsed its nose wheel on runway center. The fire crew were already there so this pic is taken approx. 10 mins after the crash as that is how long it takes them to get there. I was in the club house and didn't hear a thing.

$20k-$30k picture or at least that is what it will cost to bulk strip the engine.... ouch

$30k would cover the prop/eng overall then there is the nose wheel. If it is the guy I think that owns the RV I feel for him as he has just shelled out x2 prop/eng overalls on 2 of his duchess'

Hi Ree,

Don't want to sound too picky but I just showed this shot to a guy I work with who's building an RV6. He tells me this is not an RV4, but in fact is an RV6A. Evidently the RV4 is a tail-dragger, not a nose wheel aircraft.

He also said if it's got a metal prop the owner is up for big expense as the engine needs to be stripped and rebuilt and the crankshaft X-rayed for damage. If it's got a wooden prop, it's not as bad. Evidently the wooden prop will aborb the impact a lot better.

He did say that this is the 2nd RV6 he knows of in Aus that has collapsed it's nose wheel and will be following up with the kit manufacturer just in case it's a design flaw. Mind you anything will collapse it's under carriage if you drop it in from 50 feet.

Being an ex pilot myself, I imagine this would have been a bit scary.

Cheers
John

John,

Not that big on the home builts myself. Was speaking to someone today and they were doing ccts when it happened and what she said was it looked like he landed to hard (big bounce) and bang the nose wheel colapsed.

I saw it later parked up near sydney sky drivers and the prop looked bent in but it was under a cover .

It doesn't sound like a great design if there has been others...think I might stick to the duchess and good old robin 2160's