Rest In Peace Rob Holland

He was the greatest unlimited freestyle competitor who ever flew. No words beyond that.

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Juan Brown does a respectful look at the accident, including videos of Rob doing maneuvers that he created, an interview with him discussing why he prefers the MXS aircraft (full video below), and answers the question of why we need aerobatic flight. RIP Mr. Holland.

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For the record he didn’t crash while doing anything other than final approach.

His Flight track shows him arriving from Tennessee and crashing between runway and taxiway.

There’s also a really high FPM decent prior.

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We’ll know eventually. But for now it makes no sense. The MXS was comfortable and very easy to fly according to Rob. He, obviously to watch him be its master, knew it intimately. The 135 knots on final is crazy fast for any intent to land but crazy slow for any intent to impress. No one among my friends who knew him (I didn’t) are even asking the questions. All they know is they miss him.

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rip :tumbler_glass:

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From what I saw in video from friends that were on base, and the NTSB Report, elevator issues led to extreme flucuations and full on AoA stall into left bank and decent.

There’s a missing weight, and the cover screw was separated from the aircraft, so the screw was loose and was protruding into the airframe causing the surface to lock. eventually coming loose during the severe oscillations.

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It is so easy to make a mod and then convince one’s self that you’ve considered all of its failure modes. But if the mod is adjustable on a per-flight basis, there is the chance that permanent safety measures like jam-nuts or safety wire might not be used every time. This is why these machines are labelled “EXPERIMENTAL”.

Innovation and extreme risk often go hand-in-hand.

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