Carb heat. At first blush this one looks like it may not belong here. The plane was a homebuilt and had already logged over 100 hours. The pilot wasn't doing any envelope expansion or other fancy stuff. The reason that I think this one is important is because it highlights that it is often the little things, the mundane, everyday things, that represent the lit fuses. We lost a NASA X-31, for essentially the same reason, and we have lost flight test planes due to mid-airs, CG control mismanagement, and just plain loss of situational awareness. This one looks like carb icing. We've got to watch the worm-races when doing flutter clearance, but we also need to do all the little things that we do everyday just as carefully as always.
http://generalaviationnews.com/2013/12/02/test-flight-ends-in-crash-2/
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