At about 08:00 EDT, a homebuilt Volksplane crashed during takeoff from a private airstrip near Westmore, killing the pilot. The pilot had recently completed building the airplane and conducted a ground test prior to making a test flight. He decided to change the original propeller to one with a smaller diameter in order to prevent ground strike damage. The accident flight was to be the first flight in the airplane. A witness said the airplane lifted off after a ground roll of about 1,000 feet but did not climb enough to make it over 50-foot trees at the far end of the airstrip.
Sept. 6, Westmore, Vt. / Volksplane VP-II
At about 08:00 EDT, a homebuilt Volksplane crashed during takeoff from a private airstrip near Westmore, killing the pilot. The pilot had recently completed building the airplane and conducted a ground test prior to making a test flight. He decided to change the original propeller to one with a smaller diameter in order to prevent ground strike damage. The accident flight was to be the first flight in the airplane. A witness said the airplane lifted off after a ground roll of about 1,000 feet but did not climb enough to make it over 50-foot trees at the far end of the airstrip....
Key Takeaways:
- A newly built Volksplane crashed during its first test flight near Westmore, resulting in the pilot's fatality.
- The aircraft failed to gain sufficient altitude after a 1,000-foot ground roll, striking 50-foot trees at the end of the airstrip.
- The pilot had previously changed the propeller to a smaller diameter one, a modification potentially impacting climb performance.
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