Plane Crash

[electricflyer]

I just got word that a ham I know in Montrose CO crashed one of his aircraft last Thursday. He is Stephen (Steve) Mathis, W0JOV. He is very lucky to have survived the crash and is listed in "Good" condition at the hospital in Montrose. Steve is an attorney in Montrose. I spoke to him on the air back in 2011 and noted the biplane on his qrz page. He said if I ever got to Montrose he would take me up for a ride, but no one knows where Montrose is, to which I replied I know because my nephew lives there and come to find out Steve knew my nephews wife who is a clerk for a competing law firm, small world.

Anyway a year later I took him up on his offer and we flew for about an hour over the Montrose area. He said he had made the offer to a number of hams but I was the only one to take the ride. Turns out the plane we went up in was the one that he crashed. The news report said he had engine trouble as he got to a mountain summit and he was trying to turn back when apparently he stalled. He crashed in a field and was witnessed by 5 county highway workers who got him out of the wrecked plane. The plane suffered major damage to the nose.

The plane is a 1940 Waco UPF-7. It has a 7 cyl radial engine rated at 220 hp. His plane was totally rebuilt and like a new one. It has a cruise speed of 114mph so it was not a rocket which probably helped him survive the accident. It was used as a training aircraft during WWII and designated as a PT-14.
You can look up the tail number - NC29943.

The Steve took the attached photo of me before the flight.