INCIDENT REPORT

So much for a successful maiden voyage. For the first time up in this particular plane, I decided to do a simple go-around. After taxiing out to 10R from the Oregon Air National Guard base at KPDX, I did a low throttle takeoff and turned up the Columbia River for about 12 miles (at 480kt this doesn't take long) before turning downwind.

At roughly 12mi DME I turned left to base and discovered that I had climbed almost 1000' to 3800'. I turned to final and began trying to get back under the glideslope. Apparently it's been a little too long since I've flown one of these rockets and I failed to remember just how fast you can get behind. After bobbing up and down the line, I found myself about 500' too high over the fence at 170kt . I thought if I throttled back to idle, I could set it down a little late, but without incident (sound of buzzer here).

The thing dropped like 50 cases of Peter's finest Shiraz, with similar results. I heard the mains touch and then a rather sickening grinding racket. I still harbored the illusion that I was rolling at this point but notion dissipated quickly as the nose suddenly slammed to the pavement.

Once my $30 million sled careened conveniently to the side of the runway, I opened the canopy and began to prepare a suitable greeting for the large group headed my way to collect and burn my credentials.

Oh well, I guess I finish flying my Connie to Australia....