The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled a plane crash near Van Alstyne two years ago was due to a design flaw that dates back more than 100-years
The Sopwith 9400, N5539, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident when the pilot lost control of the “aileron control due to movement of a control connector,” the final report by the NTSB read. The aileron controls the plane’s ability to roll, lifting one side up and the other side down.
The replica plane was built from scratch from factory designs, according to Kip Lankenau, the owner and pilot of the biplane. It was on its 23rd test flight when problems developed. Lankenau had “moved the control stick to the right to bring the wings level from a left turn, he noticed no resistance and the stick continued until it had reached its maximum travel,” a final report from the NTSB read.
The Sopwith 1 ½ Strutter was initially put on the market in 1916 as a two-seat plane with a single set of controls in the front seat. But in order to train pilots, the design was modified to put the second set of controls in the rear seat. The design flaw was in the cables and fittings.
“The flaw probably wasn’t caught 100 years ago because they were only using training versions and training pilots probably crashed on such a regular basis you never looked for faults in the aircraft,” Lankenau said.
He says there are only a few of the aircraft built with the factory design that is still flying, and he may have the only model in existence that has the duel controls.
Lankenau and a second pilot were on the test flight when the problems developed.
“In the moment that I realized that I lost aileron control I realized that it was possible, probably, to land on the original airfield, but that would come at a very high risk to myself and the passenger on board,” Lankenau said. “There was a large cornfield in front of me. I decided at this low altitude it was probably safest to land in the cornfield where we wouldn’t be risking anyone else or any other structures and where myself and my passenger had a very good chance of survival.”
He and his passenger walked away.
Lankenau, who restores vintage European cars, has not lost his love for the vintage, replica plane. He has been rebuilding the aircraft and hopes to have it back in the air this fall.
“When you fly a 100-year-old plane….you are there in the moment," Lankenau said. "You know exactly what it was like. The engine sounds the same. The castor oil, as you are breathing it, smells the same. It has the same feeling. So you know exactly what it was like when your grandfather or great-grandfather was flying one of these things. So it’s really cool to step back in time and be a part of that.”
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