May 9, 2008
From exhilaration to crash
Clarksville man's flight in his home-built plane went up 500 feet before going bad; he survived
At a Laurel airport, Patrick Dean looks over wreckage of the plane he built from a kit. (Sun photos by Andre F Chung / February 20, 2008)
Article tools
E-mail
Print
Single page
Reprints- Text size:
Patrick Dean's first flight in the plane he spent eight years building got under way with a smooth takeoff and ascent.
But only minutes after lifting off from Suburban Airport in Laurel, the small plane suddenly jerked to the left. The wing flaps dropped uncontrollably, the aircraft went into a 180-degree turn, and Dean looked down at the Baltimore-Washington Parkway for a place to make an emergency landing.
"I'm in trouble," the 42-year- old architect from Howard County recalled thinking. The plane went into a nose dive, heading for a patch of woods just off the highway, and Dean closed his eyes.
One of about 29,000 pilots of home-built aircraft in the United States, Dean was lucky on that brisk Friday afternoon last month, coming away from the crash with just a broken nose and bumps and bruises. But the accident damaged his flying aspirations nearly as extensively as his aircraft.
His passion for aviation had driven him to spend 1,000 hours and tens of thousands of dollars to build the sleek, unusual-looking plane. Now he wonders whether he'll ever fly again, much less build another plane.
"To see it broken up like this - it really breaks your heart," Dean, a father of two from Clarksville, said last week as he looked at the wreckage, which sits in a hangar at the Laurel airport.
Experimental aircraft, a category that includes homebuilt planes, make up 10 percent of all general aviation aircraft in the United States. But the numbers have grown steadily over the past 15 years, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association. The pilots must be licensed, but the planes need not be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration the way manufactured small aircraft are.
Still, the safety record of experimental aircraft is nearly identical to that of manufactured small planes, according to EAA, a Wisconsin-based organization of recreational aviation enthusiasts.
"Once they're actually flying them, they're held to the same safety standards as any pilot," Dancy said.
Dean's interest in aviation was sparked years ago when he sat next to a young pilot on a commercial flight who was reading a flying magazine. He took his first lesson in August 1996. Less than a year later, he earned his pilot's license.
After growing weary of expensive airplane rentals - costs can run up to $100 an hour - Dean decided to build a plane.
"I thought about buying a plane, but it's really expensive," Dean said.
Besides, he was up for a project that he could throw himself into.
"I've always been good with my hands," he said. "I can pretty much learn anything as I go."
The kit for the white Genesis aircraft, which Dean purchased on the Web site of a company that also sells used planes, arrived in June 1999. Dean assembled everything except the engine, which he bought separately for $13,000.
After his plane passed FAA inspection in June last year, Dean waited for a day with clear skies and calm winds to go for a test flight. His wife, Lori, didn't know he was taking the plane out that day.
Safety was a priority. Dean had installed a video camera in the cockpit so he could monitor how the plane performed, and he wore a motorcycle helmet. On a lark, he had shoved a knife in his pocket before he left his house.
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
 Recent news |
Popular stories: Maryland News
- Police search Lexington Market area after Dunbar guard robbed
- Anne Arundel couple faces prostitution charges
- Man found guilty in Ohio crash that killed Parkville family
- Mother charged in son's injury
- Teen accused of shooting mother
 | |
My MarylandSubmit photos from around the state and view those from other readers Also see: Charm Cityscapes | |