BUSHMASTER LOST

Air Classics, Dec 2004 by O'Leary, Michael

Accident claims a most unusual aircraft

On 25 September, at 1523 Pacific daylight time, Bushmaster 2000 N750RW impacted the ground following an initial takeoff climb from Runway 24 at Fullerton Airport in southern California. Impacting on a road, the tri-motor aircraft struck a car and two passengers were injured by deploying air bags. The two crew in the Bushmaster received serious injuries. The craft was on a maintenance flight and the airport was hosting an airshow at the time of the accident.

According to witnesses, as soon as the Bushmaster began its takeoff roll, the plane began to veer to the left of the runway. The airplane departed the runway, went into the grass area that separated the runway from the taxiway, struck a runway light, and crossed over the taxiway. The airplane headed towards parked aircraft and spectators when it lifted from the ground. Witnesses said that the Bushmaster continued in a left turn and went between the tower and a lighting pole then crashed. Witnesses reported that the tri-motor was about 50- to 100-ft above the ground and the wings were 90-degrees to the ground when the plane passed between the pole and the tower.

Investigators from the NTSB and the FAA examined the wreck at the accident scene. The Bushmaster came to rest in an industrial section of Fullerton about 300-ft south of the airport on Commonwealth Ave. The wreck was on a magnetic bearing of 360-degrees. The first identified point of contact was a concrete divider that separated Commonwealth and a frontage road. On the north facing side of the divider was a scrape mark with paint transfer. Adjacent to the concrete divider was a green electrical box that had a piece of airplane metal embedded. A road sign in the same area showed evidence of a clean cut, indicative of a propeller strike.

About five-ft from the concrete divider was the car that was struck by the Bushmaster. Approximately twelve-ft of the outboard section of the left wing was embedded in the front end of the car. The Bushmaster came to rest about 20-ft from the car. Propeller marks were found in the road between the car and the Bushmaster's final resting point. The Bushmaster 2000 was cut up and trucked to Palmdale, California, for further inspection.

The Bushmaster 2000 was a follow-on to the famed Ford Tri-Motor and development of the new aircraft began all the way back in 1953 when veteran designer Bill Stout joined the Hayden Aircraft Corporation. Lots of work was expended in creating a new aircraft that would carry on the Ford's tradition of a hard-working freight and passenger hauler. A vintage Tri-Motor was obtained and extensively tested but this was not to be an easy process and it would take 11.5 years between when the company was formed and the first aircraft flew! It would then be a stunning 30-years between incorporation and the flight of the second aircraft.

Unfortunately, the innovative Bushmaster never found a market and only the two aircraft were built (N7501V s/n 1 and N750RW s/n 2). Currently, N7501V is owned by well-known vintage aircraft collector Greg Herrick in Minnesota while an uncompleted third fuselage languishes in an Arizona trailer park.

However, the two tri-motors did find a successful role for which they were not designed - giving brief tri-motor hops at airshows across the country. Both planes were very successful in this endeavor - particularly N750RW which was operated by Tri-Motor Air Tours from Fullerton Airport.