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Safari Helicopter Construction
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Date:  3-13-2010
Number of Hours:  2.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Hard Landing

During the second test flight of the day the engine unexpectedly quit as we headed back from hover testing to the fuel island. The resulting hard landing collapsed the skid legs and damaged the bottom of the oil tank. The bottom of the ship was undamaged.

The cause was determined to be fuel starvation due to a malfunctioning self-vented fuel cap. The gauge indicated just under a 1/4 of a tank remaining. As soon as the cap was removed you could hear a suction sound as the air rushed in. We noticed early in the hovering that the left tank was lagging the right but it did appear to be going down but more slowly than the right tank. I believe that the tank was emptying normally at first due to the weight of the fuel forcing it through the system but at some point the vacuum equalized the weight and the fuel flow stopped. A light should have come on in my head, but as they say "Hindsight is 20/20". What surprised me was the engine just quit. There was no sputtering or coughing. It was like someone turned off a switch. I highly recommend that all safari drivers modify their caps to the older "snorkle" style or provide for a more reliable vent system. You could also vent from the filler neck I suppose.
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Left front skid leg

Left front skid leg

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