Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Several of you have brought this too my attention today. Time to report some sad news. Looks like another stall/spin.

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TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - A small home built airplane carrying two passengers crashed Thursday morning near the Cochise County Airport in Willcox.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the single engine Thorp T-18 crashed under unknown circumstances at 9:20 a.m. in southeastern Arizona.

Both men onboard were killed.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor in Los Angles says members of the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA will investigate the crash.

The names of the crash victims has not been released.

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WILLCOX, AZ (KOLD) - A small homemade airplane carrying two people has crashed about a half-mile from the Cochise County Airport at Willcox, officials said.

A Cochise County Sheriff's spokesperson said the two men onboard were killed.

The aircraft, a single-engine Thorp T-18, crashed at about 9:20 a.m., a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.

Cochise County Airport Manager Louise Walden told KOLD News 13 that the plane attempted to land, but went around to try again.

She said it crashed on the second landing attempt.

Walden said the plane was not from the Willcox area.

Witnesses saw the plane fall "straight down" just northwest of the airport, Cochise County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Carol Capas said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane's tail number is N467JF.

National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration investigators are en route to the scene of the crash.

An online record search shows the last registered owner of the aircraft was in Oklahoma.

It also revealed a craft with the same tail number was involved in an accident in October 2006 in San Diego.

Those records indicate the aircraft had since been sold.

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http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=76510







A personal note ...

I saw a Thorp go in at Oshkosh years ago (I was about 10) ... another classic stall spin, right in front of ~10K people ... I was right on the line watching planes land and he went in right in front of me. Didn't scare me away from the Thorp but it taught me to respect the bank angle close to the ground. I fly the Thorp no different than I do a King Air or Lear ... nice steady constant rate turn from (downwind or whereever) to final ... still don't understand why private pilots are taught the "box" approach ...

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Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

This aircraft was at Porterville last year. I talked to the owner a bit and he said at that time he had just finished a rebuild of the aircraft. His name was Glen, didn't get the last name and I believe he was from the San Diego area. I had a bit of interest in this aircraft as my POH came from a copy of this airplane's, plus it is listed as a Finney Thorp. If I remember correctly it was built by John Finney, no relation, of Bremerton, WA in 1970, serial number 467



Image Insert:


On the ramp at Porterville 2009.

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Bruce Finney
N18JF T-18C #262
Yelm, WA USA

Now that this thread has been brought to the forefront by the spam post, I thought I would share that I was a previous owner of the beautiful N467JF. She was a good ship...still not sure why I sold her. Wasn't real comfortable with the wood prop or how to maintain it, so I let her go.

Looks like I bought her from Ross Mahon in Renton WA at the time, in 2003, sold her in 2006. (I could be off by a year, here or there.)

I have emails from a Mark Peterson, who my or may not have owned her but definitely flew her, in northwest WA at the time (Arlington area, north of Seattle) from 1984-86, approximately. Also have pics both from Mark in the 80's and my own from the early 2000's, in case anyone is interested.

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Philip Mandel
N118BC
S/N 957
Beaverton OR