Titan T-51 Texas Toye hard landing / crash - more information
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- This upload adds video from a prior test day and immediately before and after the hard landing / crash of the Titan T-51 Texas Toye. Not everyone will be interested in this, so please don't complain if it seems too long.
This is not my airplane and nothing here concerns me directly. My purpose is just to contribute information.
Time stamps of interest:
1:27 Bill says they need to adjust the governor because if you lose an engine like it is you're f---ed.
6:50 Bill says he's going to taxi it out to see if it will miss (because the circuit is overloaded by the O2 sensor heaters and is pulling over 40amps)
9:55 The engine stumbles when Bill turns on the Avionics.
12:03 The mechanic asks "Were you up?"
12:53 Bill explains that the plane came down hard because "You can't get any pitch in it because I didn't adjust the governor."
Posting this video shocks me! As a licensed aircraft mechanic, it is abundantly clear to me this individual not only does not know what he talking about, (no understanding of how a prop governor works) but is also grossly unqualified to perform any sort of flight test. Electing to take off with the cowls off of the aircraft tells exactly the sort of judgement and decision making ability this guy has. I could go on but am choosing not to……..great video if you want to know how to do everything wrong! To bad the FAA isn’t interested in this material.
Why would they install an underrated mag?
No cowl no flight period! Makes me nutz when people do these types of things!
@@giggleherz It's a t51 they use LS chevy v8 automotive engines. They have a alternator and ecu like a car. No mags on it.
He was trying to do a crow hop that was way more then a crow up the funny thing was what happend to him was exactly what he told those guys would happen if he lost the engine with that big prop windmilling in fine pitch. He had to nose dive it to the runway so he didn't end up stalling it.
@@Robberbarron27 No redundant electrics or ignition I believe
Its hilarious how fast this guy was taxiing a taildragger. I'm surprised he even made it to the runway.
Man there is so many things that had to go wrong to end up this way. The guy who crashed it should bear the full financial brunt of this.
Aboslutley, he and the others knew there was something wrong, flying the fucking thing is not where you find out. I have no sumpathy.
Is this the test pilot who works for Titan aircraft? I remember watching a video of Dan Gryder.
@@Mike-01234 yes
@@odyshopody9387 >>Is this the test pilot who works for Titan aircraft? >>yes
YES?
Oh, dear. Oh, MY GOODNESS.
@@michaelmcgovern8110 yeah pretty sad, i'm not even sure if he has a ticket or not I know he didn't for a long time but still flew.
Ok...now we have the Pilot-In-Command stating that he needed to adjust the prop governor, so he could control the propeller pitch at low rpm. His reference to the static pitch being flat is when the prop is not turning. The static pitch was adjusted, the first time by myself, and the second and third time by Koleno. So that was not an issue. But he never fixed the fault with the prop governor.
Note at the very end of the video he states because he never fixed the propeller governor, he had no control over the prop pitch. And this is why he could not gain airspeed after the power loss, and the result was crashing on the runway.
Note the number of times the mechanic demonstrated the engine cutting out, that is completely dying. While still at the hangar.
Listen closely, and you will hear the engine completely cut out just prior to take off. This happens when the Pilot-In-Command selected the avionics master switch to the ON position. This was a final cry from the plane...saying do not fly me today! But the pilot ignored it. Just like he ignored the amp meter pegging out at 50 amps during the takeoff. Trouble was coming, and coming soon.
In the middle of the video, Koleno was advised by the mechanic not-to-fly because of the electrical current issues. He then states he is only going to taxi it. Instead, he went straight to the runway and took off, against the orders of the mechanic. 10 seconds later, the 10 years of hard work put into building this airplane were flushed down the toilet.
So is he gonna get punished?
@@b9y Nope , he obviously has friends in high places
"On July 6, 2021, about 1445 central daylight time, a Titan T-51 homebuilt experimental airplane, N15180, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Ashtabula, Ohio. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
The intent of the local flight was to perform fuel flow and fuel indicator checks on the newly built airplane. After takeoff, while climbing through 200 ft agl, the engine lost power. The pilot noticed that the engine computer circuit breaker was tripped. He attempted to reset the circuit breaker and attempted to restart the engine. The circuit breaker would not reset, so the pilot nosed over the airplane to land on the remaining part of the 5,900 ft runway. Upon contact with the runway, the left main landing gear
collapsed, and the airplane ground looped. The left wing sustained substantial damage."
www.kathrynsreport.com/2021/07/titan-t-51d-mustang-n15180-accident.html?m=1
Fucked up
Did you get your money and get another plane yet
Well, Koleno and Titan are done anyhow. John just ate it because he was flying one that should never have left the hangar.
Beginning of video shirtless guy drinking beer... might’ve been first sign things might not go well🤣👏
On the ramp no less. I convinced myself it was a soft drink.
Not to mention how many the so-called test pilot had- listen to his speech.
EXACTLY.
“Hold my beer…I’ll fly that sum bitch”
The pilot made all the mistakes one could make. His cavalier attitude after destroying the owner's airplane shows how he deflects blame from himself.
"Taxi test" - slides canopy shut, jams throttle for take off, shows the entire world how not to fly an airplane. How's business?
Actually, ask about the "drive train" to the propeller on the T-51. ?Underdesigned? You tell ME. If this is their approach to flight test, I'm beginning to worry about their "design philosophy".
@@michaelmcgovern8110 Well, the reduction box they under designed recently failed and killed the company owner so there's that...
This video is absolutely frightening. This particular Titan51 is the best/beautiful I’ve ever seen..inside and out. Absolutely remarkable. This Bill character is a complete disaster and disgrace to the profession. His license should be revoked by the FAA. In just a few minutes we hear the propeller has problems, the governor has problems, the electrical system has problems, the alternator is a 40 amp pushing 49 amps, the engine is cutting out multiple times, the flaps are messed up, he is going to taxi the airplane but then without any preparation just takes off, engine cowls are missing and some temperature is exceeded. A takeoff is accomplished with all these defects..absolutely astonishing. This is the worst test pilot I’ve ever witnessed. I’m so sorry for the owner. Bill needs to be examined by the FAA and all pilot privileges removed and be held responsible for the financial loss.
I feel you are judging him too harsh. He did establish that the plane was unable to maintain flight in its current condition.
@@michaelmathis8801 you are funny. He did indeed confirm others evaluation that the aircraft was not ready for flight…by taking the machine into flight and confirming the aircraft wasn’t able to sustain flight by crashing it.
@@Capt_Tarmac The best part is if you listen to what he tells those guys that if you lose the engine with the prop like that it would be difficult to land it it would windmill so much cause lot of drag that's exactly what happened his radio call was to do a crow hop but he decides to just fly it maybe once he got going worried that a wasn't enough room for a crow hop donno.
Last I knew Bill didn't HAVE a legit ticket.
@@Mike-01234 He's a hot dog/egomaniac.
Beware of a mechanic who walks around with a beer in his hands at all times.
Worse when you can smell the tincture of hydraulic fluid in it...
Coming from a mechanic who likes to drink a beer as I work, yeah, by his body language\mannerisms he is holding a can statistically more than a wrench...
I just learned of this; he took off with a 40 amp alternator and no functioning flaps. Crazy because alternators over 100 amps are only $200 or less.
Its not even that much if you educate yourself
It's too bad he didn't have that high amperage wired to his brain, but I'm sure he felt the jolt - when he pancaked the ground.
😂😂😂
the way he talks after crashing the plane jesus, no sense of responsabily, he acts like he didnt remotely know that could happen
Looks like this guy rooms with Trevor Jacob. Too many bad judgments with an ego that is greater than his reasoning and flying skills.
Oh my God, what was this pilot thinking? He obviously he doesn't understand how a prop governor works, and you NEVER take flight with the engine cowlings off. I loved his comment, "well we have it on video". Yes, and your insurance company will love to see it. Just glad the pilot is okay following a very stupid move.
unless it’s a p-51 specific thing not sure what you mean people fly without cowlings all the time
After destroying the plane all he can say is, "I got it all on video!". That tells everyone what type of clown this guy really is.
Hey, the aircraft was only deadlined four-times over. He fixed all the problems with one action. You can bet the owner ain't worried about the prop governor anymore.
He landed that plane like he was using Microsoft Flight Simulator on easy settings. His attitude appalled me.
Flown without owners permission? Another airplane destroyed by a stupid decision!! A shame !
Good reason why the Owner should be flying it if he can't or won't maybe he shouldn't own an experimental aircraft. I think too many get involved in these kit planes they think it's going to be like a certified aircraft they are too lazy to turn a wrench go buy one then end up getting killed in it. Most of the fatal crashes are not the builder it's always another owner.
On 10:58 we can see the circuit braker jump to white, he didi this intentionally and no one charge him,must have good friends,good for him her grease act as air gag.
Circuit breakers show white when they trip.
Stunning capture! May I feature this landing in one of my next episodes? Of course with a link back to your original video. Cheers!
It’s my plane, and was my video. Sure, go ahead!
When the mechanic asks if he was in the air and he responds yes, the guy just looks astonished.
too much ego, no common sense and obviously no piloting skills to match his inflated ego
Man why did the owner let this reckless idiot fly his pride and joy. A CS prop will sit on the fine pitch stops the entire time the torque is below the level required to spin up to the RPM of the governor setting, incl idle. If the prop is at max RPM on takeoff, and you remove the power, it goes to full fine pitch trying to maintain redline RPM as the torque drops away. Remove the power from any CS prop airplane at TO power and it it's like you deployed a little drogue chute. You can mitigate this if you are fast enough to pull the prop lever to MIN RPM as soon as the power comes off. The governor may be able to get the blades toward coarse while the RPM is up and there is still some oil pressure. Helps a lot with the glide. If you don't do that ANY CS prop will go full fine because the governor will try to keep the RPM from dropping.
Exactly. When he opened up the throttle for take-off, you could hear the governor kicking in as there was a very slight prop overspeed first.
Rolling takeoff? If this is an uncontrolled field, just wow.... Didn't stop to check for traffic, no runup/before takeoff checklist, didn't see him look back for final check of rudder/elevator function.... lots of red flags here 🚩🚩🚩
Wow that was crazy was surprised he took off knowing that things weren’t working right, just glad no one got hurt here 😅
that was the most war thunder landing i've ever seen
😂
Why so many beer cans in this video?
I'm sure the FAA took notice to that as well.
>>Why so many beer cans
Alcoholism.
If you are drinking around ANY kind of important work, you are, by definition, a drunk.
A Friend of Bill's Who Doesn't Make Excuses (Or Take Them)
PS Beer IS ALCOHOL.
Drunks have to have their fix, it's the same as any other addiction, they won't admit that but it's the truth. It's withdrawals are dead tho.
Little fat chubby hand tells you all you need to know. Seems pretty confident, let’s see how this plays out…..
Lol! Thats exactly what I was gona say! Those fat stubby hands are the hands that break stuff. No finesse possible.
Love that the mechanic is constantly holding a beer 😂
I just reported this guy to the faa. Lets see what happens shall we.
If the airplane has issues, then WTF you are doing a Vx take off with nose high. Then dont push nose down like a man should do when engine quits. Then lie and deny about what he did too.
He climbed out at 18 degrees nose up! Hanging on the prop, right at clean wing stall speed. There was zero margin for safety!
@@OlesonMD Very careless with someone else's expensive machine.
He claims that he was trying to crow hop but 150 feet up is no crow hop engine quit he was full throttle. He didn't pull the throttle back until it quit he was doing a full climb out.
He was at 205 feet when the engine lost power.
Nice of the guy that crashed to record everything leading up to it so there's no question that he was told not to fly it and he lied that he was only going to taxi it.
At least on my laptop the sound level is very low. According to google I have to reupload the video, which I won't be able to do until tomorrow night. Sorry.
As a retired A&P I can tell you the guy in the seat is NOT an expert on anything except being stupid. Problem with the place well lets keep flying it. They let anyone become a Pilot even when they fail check rides and crash planes. Its the A&P that have to repair a pilots stupid mistake.
Bill Koleno
This is crazy. This guy crashed before he left the hangar. He called it. This thing is screwed if the engine quits. Then he rolls away with no cowel cover and he proceeds to give a demonstration on how NOT to taxi any aircraft let alone a tail dragger. This is a great learning video for new pilots. Don’t be this guy.
You wonder why so many GA pilots don’t make 50
Haha…. No run up, alot of big talk…… what a sad state of affairs….
Did the actual pilot post this video? Good gravy, such a epic screw up on so many levels if it was me I'd make damn sure this embarrassment was never viewed by anyone.
Happened to me several.times due to an intermittent fuel starvation problem that I couldn't figure out and the first thing I did was dive to gain speed for landing , it always ended well ...
First problem.... his entire support staff were standing around drinking cold beers.
So wait hold on, this guy wasn't the owner he was just one of the mechanics who was taking it for a taxi 'to see if it would miss' - but then closed the canopy and decided to take off anyway?
You would think Bill Koleno Titan factory test pilot, also involved in the development of T51 would know better. The company owner designer John Williams also a test pilot was killed when a prop came apart. The V8 Mustangs have alot of electrical issues. A certified engine has magnetos car engines don't.
I’ve never seen an A&P who’s competent enough to fly my plane WITHOUT me in it. I’m always with them………..and IM in control of the plane.
Sounds like you need to find some new A&p’s I know quite a few that are certified pilots!
Over the last 12 years, I’ve been hired to test fly several experimentals, three of which were T-51s. On all three, electrical issues were the norm. In those three, they lacked the redundancy, issues with the ECM failing due to current/voltage demands. Long before flight, they were repaired satisfactorily with isolated and dedicated busses.
I would never fly any airplane, T51 or otherwise that had the engine stumble at run up. To decide to go airborne with this dangerous situation is suicidal.
Thankfully this pilot had generous runway left to land (crash) on. Had there been rooftops or trees, the outcome would have been predicable. Besides the decision to fly being in error, note that when the engine failed the pitch down came late and airspeed eroded quickly. Pitch down on power loss must come immediately.
All in all, this flight should never have proceeded. What a shame to severely damage such a labor of love.
Hi - I'm involved with a T51 right now - I'd be grateful if we could speak about the ECM issues you've experienced on previous test flights. Do you know if it's possible to DM on here?
I think i've seen more accidents/engine outs with the T-51/mustang clones than any other airplane, hands down
This guy is a joke. Had plenty of of run way to get it down right without this much damage
Lucky it didn't explode on impact.
He’s putting everyone’s life in danger at that point.
Who is this “pilot”
Bill Koleno
@@johnnywalker5635 more like bill krashoo
The ego and “I think I’m something” attitude on this guy is crazy. He acknowledges all of the abnormalities and squawks on the aircraft though he takes it straight to the runway. I guess the thing that really amazes me is that after he crashes he acted like he knew it was coming and went completely about his business. 😂
Yes he is a king-sized asshole. I used to work with him....
Glad the ARFF crew got there quick with their 5lb
No words....
Damn man, that sucks....
That’s a heck of an ARFF response
What the hell did I just watch?
A degenerate waste of air wasted a perfectly good aircraft.
>>What the hell did I just watch?
A cautionary tale...
Amazing that guy can still walk. LUCKY and amazing.
Nothing like flying your plane straight into the ground.
Someone else's plane.
@@crashstitches79 Yup!
He didn't have permission to fly it but frankly this is a lesson learned don't but experimental if you can't turn your own wrenches on it buy a Cessna if want to pay others to fix it.
Well, not STRAIGHT in: there was a little altitude "bump" just before the lawn dart demonstration.
I just chopped the power to come down and land. Yeah right, it died and you could have too. Please follow standard protocol. Flying without the cowl? WTF dude?
I’m not here to judge but this pilot was not qualified for this!
And the funny thing is he was their test pilot....
Probably not going to be an old bold pilot with this performance
That suuuuuuuuucks!
Glad you’re okay though.
Well at least he didn’t stall spin as is all too prevalent. Were flaps used for take off? If not were they extended for emergency landing? When engine fails on take off an almost negative g unload preserves energy to prevent a stall and energy for a flare in any aircraft, large or small.
Had all kinds of runway in front of him, but proceeds to crash it into the ground.
That's because these are so nose heavy he didn't have any other choice but to yard dart it.
He sound like the mechanic who fake problems to got more money, actually he blame the prop governor and describe how the crash will be, he did this intentionally.
I will not be preforming brain surgery today….. because I’m not a brain surgeon! Why did he think he’s a pilot?? Always know your limitations people!!
"I'm not a pilot, I just play one on the internets."
Why people keep posting things they should absolutely not be proud off. There is no reason why that plane could not be landed safely.......
Some people should never fly* anything more than a paper airplane., period.
F itiotes.
Im not a pilot but i dont know why he went up at such a steep angle and back down so steep with the throttle cut way off
Taxiing too fast, no forward visibility.... Wtf, over...
"bUt I gOt iT oN viDeO"
A real genius there.. 🙄
What in the heck 😅. He didnt even try and use energy management and save the plane...who is this guy?
NO SPARK DIRT DART
The owner better get a brand new plane after the test pilot screwed absolutely everything up.
Says he was nosing over. He barely pushed. He could have landed it but he shouldn’t have taken off at all.
stupid is stupid does
That half ass p51 design killed the owner of the company that developed it, didnt it?
Wasnt it a propeller hub /gear reduction drive failure that caused the propeller to disintegrate?
Who’s Myron? I’d love to know the whole story here.
This knucklehead guy with Trevor (always bailout) Jacobs can have an aviation smashing series = Dump & Dumper!
Ejits and airplanes don't mix well.
How much ground running was done? A complete cut is odd. No mechanical noise. Then the talking in riddles. And then a bizarre comment about cutting the motor to land. How did this idiot get to be involved?
This is all par for the course with Titan and Bill Koleno. The place was a total shit show the whole time I worked there.
Aren't you glad they didn't drop an airframe on YOU!!?? ;-]
@@michaelmcgovern8110 They started a plane I was working on and it ate the tail of another and destroyed a bunch of stuff, including the plane they started. I have a permanent scar on my thumb from the flying debris.
@@popsfereal FUKKK!
Glad to see you, If You Know What I Mean.
Didn’t the owner of this company just die in a test of one of these ? I think the prop came apart !!!!!
He pushed the nose over too hard to flare. Had plenty of runway left. Liar
That other guy was wanting to light into him so bad.
It's not the airframe that are the issue, it's the fact it uses an automotive powerplant and its a kit aircraft, so it's the end users responsibility to make sure everything is assembled correctly, and that the engine is properly maintained and converted air aviation use. I live in the same town these are made, even though the founder of Titan died in one, because he didn't maintain it properly, it you maintain them, they work. Don't be a idiot like this guy.
And that why you don't climb so steep.
Didn’t this guy recently crash and die?
No, that was John Williams that died. But the plane crashed for the same reason extreme knows heaviness coupled with horrific maintenance.
What a Maroon!
Someone just got a free repair job. Maybe even a free plane.
Pilot was very slow on push on elevator to hold energy for correct and safe landing and it is 100% pilot error. He damaged customer aircraft because doig basic pilot error.
Engine starts and 3 seconds later he’s moving, what a joke
Maybe if he would’ve dropped the nose and tried to flare when he wasn’t 50+ feet in the air he wouldn’t have destroyed the airplane …
Sad day! 😢
The first problem is the guy without his shirt....
I'd recommend hiring a new pilot.
That pilot is only useful when "using his head" to check for spinning propellers.
Would of died if he didn't pitch it down so fast!
I thought he pitched town 3 seconds late. He should have pushed forward hard on the stic the second the engine quit. Maybe he could have maintained a glide speed and actually had energy for a slight flare. There was no speed left when he flared.
@@goneflying140 True enough.
Years of work and a ton of money gone in seconds.
¿¿WHAT?? the f_ck was that?
Stupidity in action
“This ain’t good” 🤪