Published: November 30, 2007 02:01 pm            

Officials search for missing Benton pilot

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By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

BENTON — The inaugural flight of a home-built aircraft has resulted in a search for the plane and pilot.

The pilot, Dan Braddock, took off from the Benton Airport around 4 p.m. Thursday and was reported missing Friday morning.

According to an airport official, he discovered a problem early Friday morning.

“When I came to work, I found the hangar still open this morning, the lights still on and the pilot’s truck was there and covered with frost,” the official said. “I knew something was wrong.”

He called Braddock’s workplace and home and found no one had seen him. Braddock had recently built a KR2 aircraft.

“I found out he had called one of the guys at 4 o’clock yesterday to say he was going up for a test run,” the official said.

AirEvac LifeTeam has been using a helicopter to help with the search, as well as deputies with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, Benton Police and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

Jefferson County Civil Air Patrol Commander R.D. White said he had been contacted just before noon Friday about the search and asked to notify pilots who could help.

The aircraft missing, a KR2, is named after Kend Rand, who designed the KR1 in 1972. Rand pioneered the state-of-the-art foam and fiberglass composite construction method which is now the standard in home-built, commercial and military aircraft, according to information from Rand Robinson Engineering.

The KR2 is a high speed two-place side-by-side monoplane which is equipped with removable wings and a choice of retractable, fixed conventional or tricycle gear. The plane features a Corvair engine.

        

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