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The Facts:
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Above:
William
Jerry (Champ) Champion with his newly completed Stoddard Hamilton
Glastar Kit Plane serial number 5043.
- A
easy to fly & great performing experimental aircraft.
- Plane
won the Outstanding Workmanship Award at Evergreen, Alabama's 1998
SERFI fly in.
- From
a kit plane manufacturer known for quality kits.
- On
May 19, 1999 @ 3:33 PM This Glastar kit #5043 Killed two men.
- Elevator
trim was found in full down position.
- Elevator
trim
was capable of 3 times the necessary amount of down trim (18 deg.
instead of 5.5 deg.). The factory after the fact now recommends
limiting the down trim travel. see
service bulletin "GSB46".
- Control
yoke (Elevator/Aileron) Unit at the point of cable connection to the
elevator was broken off. A service bulletin "GSB7"
Had been sent to select serial numbered kit owners stating that the Control
Yoke Unit was
to be returned to the factory for modification. Several kit owners
were not notified of the defect and their kit serial numbers were not
included on the Index of Glastar service bulletins. Including serial
number 5043.
- Information
about the missing kit serial numbers from GSB7
and the index was told to us in our home during a visit to inspect
the wreckage by: Bob Gavinsky & Ted Setzer (Presidents: Stoddard Hamilton). Also
it was stated that the Glastar Prototype which has flown hundreds of
interested customers at many major airshows everywhere, as of : May,
19 1999 was continually flying without the Mandatory
service update and had not failed. Note: Service
bulletin gsb7 was dated 1/15/96.
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Purchase/Release
Agreement: "Purchaser
agrees to RELEASE Stoddard-Hamilton, its owners, employees, agents,
and subcontractors, from liability for any bodily injury or property
damage arising from the construction, maintenance, or options
(including liability arising from design or manufacture, or from
failure to warn of possible dangerous conditions), and purchaser
agrees to INDEMNIFY Stoddard-Hamilton for any such claim from third party".
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My
Interests: To
save lives, Protect yourself !
Kit
planes are an affordable way to get a new airplane and usually with
greater performance than most certified aircraft. A great project for
family and friends as well as 2- 3 years of every nite supper table discussions.
Note:
Even a seemingly reliable kit manufacturer sometimes makes mistakes
that could end in fatal results. In our case, Failure to inform us of
a defective control yoke assembly that may have been the main reason
two men are dead and a fantastic airplane is destroyed.
We
went to every extreme to have a New, Reliable, and Safe aircraft to
last a lifetime. That lifetime only lasted 70 hours.
Send
a message to your kit manufacturer. Let all builders know of a
possible problem in detail! Some one getting left out and put at risk
for whatever reason is INEXCUSABLE. Jeff
Champion
Caution!
Crash Photo, Very Graphic |
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right:
Champ and his Grandson in flight
at Sun-n-Fun.
May they fly forever! |
Link
To:
NTSB
Accident Report
Thank
you for visiting this page. The loss of a Father and a Dear Friend
has been hard to deal with not to mention the impact it has had on
hundreds of other Friends and Family members who knew and loved them.
The
memorial shown to the left Stands today,
Flying high in Remembrance and Respect
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This page is based on
facts and personal opinion
 
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It's
nice to be important, but it's more important to be NICE |
webmaster |
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