What happened
On 9 June 2007, a Vans RV-7A, registration G-CDRM, was participating in a private flight from Halfpenny Green to the Croft Farm airstrip. The weather conditions were favorable, characterized by good visibility and light winds. During the approach to Runway 09, the pilot configured the aircraft with flaps and reduced the indicated airspeed to 80 knots.
The aircraft made a normal touchdown on its main landing gear at the runway threshold. However, as the aircraft decelerated along the grass surface, it began to drift left of the centerline. While rolling down the runway, the aircraft encountered uneven terrain. The nose landing gear encountered a small depression in the grass, followed by a subsequent undulation. This caused the nosewheel to lift and then strike the ground with enough force that the landing gear forks dug into the surface. This sudden resistance caused the aircraft to pitch forward rapidly, resulting in the propeller striking the ground and the aircraft coming to rest inverted.
The investigation
The investigation examined the runway surface and the aircraft's landing gear assembly. The pilot noted that the grass runway was undulating. Post-accident inspection of the site revealed a 10-foot furrow in the grass created by the nose gear. The investigation established that the furrow began at a small depression in the runway where the nosewheel had initially dropped. While the aircraft featured a castering nosewheel design, no mechanical damage was found to suggest the wheel had turned against the direction of travel prior to the impact.
Findings
- The aircraft experienced a sudden nose-down pitch caused by the nose landing gear forks digging into the uneven grass surface.
- The sequence of events was initiated by the nosewheel dropping into a small depression and then hitting a subsequent undulation.
- The pilot's application of wheel brakes may have contributed to the nosewheel's interaction with the runway depressions.
- The crew and one passenger escaped the aircraft without injury after the left wing was raised by bystanders.