I learnt About Flying From That

[Morph]

I must say that now that the years of flying has built, and the hours have built up, the scary events are fewer and further between. Granted there are times I get into turbulent conditions where it is uncomfortable, but generally speaking it has been a long time since that last gut wrenching unexpected thing. I can put this down to one of two things

1. I am a lot more experienced now and my plane is highly responsive to counter the effects of wings lifting etc.
2. I am a lot more experienced in choosing conditions that are comfortable and enjoyable.

One thing I am glad to have seen being introduced is the compulsory checkride when you renew your license. It is great having your trusted instructor next to you again, and you clean out those cobwebs doing the stalls, emergency procedures and stuff. Hell, I even learned something new.

Lastly, when you are a young (hours flown not years old) pilot, it is great to get into a flying group of more experienced pilots, who can mentor you and lead you on those daunting long distance trips etc. But choose them carefully. If your mentor is the club hooligan, always last to leave the pub, bad flying habits, loves trying new and dangerous things, then rather find somebody else. You need somebody you can trust, and once found take their advise.

In all the years flying I have had a few instances where I either left the plane behind, or slept over until conditions improved

1. Eendekuil 2005.
We all arrived for a great weekend, partied Friday, took Saturday easy and Sunday morning woke up to Fog. We sat and waited, eventually by midday there were no signs of it clearing so we drove back. The following weekend a whole gaggle of Morning Star guys flew the stranded boys out to get their planes and this all added to another great adventure. This time Frootbat was visiting and he jumped in the back.

2. Vredendal 2006
Similar experience, lekker party, Boet introduced me to the new Explorer on the sat morning, but alas Sunday morning fogged in. Once again found a lift home and returned with Ranger and Skidmark on the Tuesday morning early to have one of the best smoothest, magic carpet rides ever. Ranger was in the back this time.

3. Saldana 2006.
I drove to Nooigdedacht to bring Gr8dad in his Challenger to Saldanha in order for him to do his conversion. NE was pumping and we landed at Saldanha in a very short time. Gr8dad completed his conversion, but by this time the wind was seriously howling. Ranger and Gadget had landed on their way up to Lamberts Bay and opted to stay over. Gadget had been having problems trying to get his flight test done with his normal instructor so I told him to ask Johan Froneman to do it the next morning. This he did and passed . In the meantime, by the time we took off to head back to Nooitgedacht the wind was howling and after 40 minutes and no further than Velddrift I insisted we turn back, concerned about insufficient fuel. That night we had the best crayfish braai ever, and the next morning a sweet flight back to Nooitgedacht.

4. Loeriesfontein 2008.
Gadget, Skidmark, Grumpy and myself drove up there to go fetch my BB after having Boet do some work on her. The plan was to fly back the same day. ON arriving we checked her out, but found the intercom not working. This irritated me, as we had a long trip back and Gadget was flying with. by the time we had a workable solution, it was really pushing the daylight hours, and much to Boet's delight we opted to stay over. That night we had a fantastic braai, great music, brilliant friends and a beautiful setting. Sunday morning bright and early we breakfasted, and took off to fly via Vredendal, Lamberts Bay, Saldanha and home. 2h30 or absolute magic.

The point is, life is about the journey, not just the flight. In all of these instances the inconvenience factor was overridden by the hidden gems, good mates, good food, great flying and the pleasure of being alive. Life is too pressurized, sit back, breathe in, and smell the coffee, beers, roses etc etc.

[vernon11]

Back in 96 with the grand total of 35hrs including my training (infact I did my traning at the same time as Andy at lightflight) I went to The Haven for our annual holiday. I trailered my windlass down from Richards Bay. On this particular day I wore some horrible thick sandals. After taking family and friends for a flip, from the beach.it was getting late, so I decided to land as normal in front of the hotel. The verandah was lined with holiday makers wanting a flip and to watch the great landing. I came in from the Southwest, put the trike down that any instructor would be proud of. F@#k the engine just would not go back to idle. Went carrearing of towards the bushes, and fortunately at the last moment realised what the problem was and manged to stop as I went into the bushes with no damage to the trike. Cannot say the same for the ego. When I looked up towards the Hotel, there was not one person standing on the verandah.
The problem was those damb sandals. I just could not feel the throttle as they were so thick. I never wore them again.
One good thing, was not one holiday maker came and asked me for a flip after seeing the landing.
Vernon.

[Oddball]

This is a most valuable thread- this is where one learns a lot. I recall reading the same-titled regular feature that was, and probably still is, in the American 'Flying' magazine and thinking how valuable the information imparted was. I have always held some contempt for the 'safety' drive that authorities have because it seems to be more about what you shouldn't do, and what is illegal, and how you must report incidents. What I do not see is a swift response following an accident, in terms of what was observed and what might be surmised from those observations. Anyone who has a similar aircraft will have the accident firmly in mind and would straightaway go and inspect what may have caused the accident. Apparantly one cannot do this though, as there are liability issues involved. Hence, I would prefer that authorities (and this is not limited to aircraft) that pretend to be concerned with safety rather call themselves 'Liability Limitation Departments', since that seems to be thier chief motivation... sigh.

However, in the spirit of pilots sharing with other pilots, which I believe makes one learn and consider, which ultimately really does make for safer flying, here is a story that may or may not be true... (this was written for non pilots)

An interesting story…

On some Sunday I set out with some of my formation flying team mates for a flight to the Vaal dam where we were to perform a formation flypast for the Round the Island race. En-route, near to Henley on Klip we flew around a model airfield that we have performed a couple of shows for in the past. After we had flown a small formation fly-past we set off for the Vaal dam again. Guy Bragge, one of my team mates, called over the radio to say that one of my wheels looked odd, somehow hanging down. Since we always rag one another en-route I thought that he was joking, but he insisted, so I looked at my left wheel, all well, looked at the right one, uh-oh…
!

UC Pic1.jpg (30.19 KiB) Viewed 1109 times

It was indeed hanging right down, making the aircraft look like a bird with a broken leg (in the picture you can see the leg hanging almost straight down; there are two thick black struts going to the wheel and one silver coloured one- that is the drag link and it will be utilised later in the story). We turned back to head for our home airfield, Panorama, and I started trying to figure out how I was going to land. I had a fair amount of fuel, so maybe I could just fly round and round till someone thought of something clever… or maybe until it all went away.

It was a 20 minute flight back and I sat and did some thinking about how to land the aircraft; my mates chipped in with suggestions and I could imagine them thinking, “I’m glad that’s not me…” Although we can land quite slowly in these aircraft the danger on a landing like this is that the wheel collapses and spins the aircraft around or over, which can be unpleasant, at best, for the pilot. I was also wishing it wasn’t me…

I had two choices, one, to deploy the emergency ballistic parachute, and let the aircraft float down under it, or two, to try and land with the broken undercarriage by pulling it back up into position and hope that it would hold in some sort of approximate position long enough to complete the landing roll, or at least long enough to prevent something digging in and cartwheeling/ ground looping the aircraft. To do this I would need to fly the bar (the wing control) with one hand and hold the undercarriage with the other- a fairly contorted position. To ensure that the landing would be as safe as possible I would also need to make a very accurate landing so that I would touch down almost on the stall (a stall is when the wing stops producing lift) so that my forward speed would be as slow as possible, all whilst keeping in position along the runway and leaning half out of the aircraft….

Deploying the parachute looked good for a while, but I decided to try the landing option. I didn’t know exactly what might happen if I deployed the parachute, but I felt that I might be able to manage the landing.

UC Pic2.jpg (21.89 KiB) Viewed 1109 times

Here you can see how the one black strut, with the red spring at the top, has come loose from the airframe, the second picture makes it clearer

UC Pic3.jpg (22.78 KiB) Viewed 1109 times

When we got back to Panorama I flew around in circles for a while as the other guys landed. During the circling I took these pictures and tried to figure out any other way to land safely. The team got hold of cars, fire extinguishers and first aid kits and drove to the runway to the point that I would try to touch down at. By now a few other pilots had heard of the dilemma and two aircraft had landed at Panorama. Two aircraft were also circling above me, waiting. Everyone likes a good crash- except the crashee! 

The guys on the ground told that they were ready and so I set up for the landing. I got onto final approach at the correct height, thanked the guys for their assistance so far and shut the engine and electrics off. This meant that I could not see my airspeed (monitored by an electrical instrument in my case) but I am luckily fairly intimate with my aircraft and can ‘feel’ the wing to tell if it is close to a stall (in training I teach my students to fly without instruments as well).

I was now in a glide attitude with 300 feet to go touchdown. I leant out and grabbed the drag link of the undercarriage and pulled the wheel and struts up into their approximate position, and started to position the bar to slow the aircraft down. Sinking slowly to the runway the aircraft wobbled a bit in the thermal turbulence but I managed to control it fairly accurately all the way to my intended touchdown point and made one of the sweetest landings I have ever made, rolling to a stop in about 20m with no further damage to the aircraft. I was pretty amazed! The top of the broken strut wedged itself in somewhere and held so it was almost like a normal landing… I sat there feeling pretty damn exhausted though- it takes fair amount out of you and you feel emotionally drained afterwards.

It was great to fly with other pilots who were calm and rational in their approach and to have had sufficient experience not to panic myself. All in all I was pleased that I had done the correct things and managed to bring the event to a safe and successful conclusion. Another wild experience to add to the list

[vernon11]

This is a most valuable thread- this is where one learns a lot. I recall reading the same-titled regular feature that was, and probably still is, in the American 'Flying' magazine and thinking how valuable the information imparted was. I have always held some contempt for the 'safety' drive that authorities have because it seems to be more about what you shouldn't do, and what is illegal, and how you must report incidents. What I do not see is a swift response following an accident, in terms of what was observed and what might be surmised from those observations. Anyone who has a similar aircraft will have the accident firmly in mind and would straightaway go and inspect what may have caused the accident. Apparantly one cannot do this though, as there are liability issues involved. Hence, I would prefer that authorities (and this is not limited to aircraft) that pretend to be concerned with safety rather call themselves 'Liability Limitation Departments', since that seems to be thier chief motivation... sigh.

However, in the spirit of pilots sharing with other pilots, which I believe makes one learn and consider, which ultimately really does make for safer flying, here is a story that may or may not be true... (this was written for non pilots)

An interesting story…

On some Sunday I set out with some of my formation flying team mates for a flight to the Vaal dam where we were to perform a formation flypast for the Round the Island race. En-route, near to Henley on Klip we flew around a model airfield that we have performed a couple of shows for in the past. After we had flown a small formation fly-past we set off for the Vaal dam again. Guy Bragge, one of my team mates, called over the radio to say that one of my wheels looked odd, somehow hanging down. Since we always rag one another en-route I thought that he was joking, but he insisted, so I looked at my left wheel, all well, looked at the right one, uh-oh…
!

UC Pic1.jpg

It was indeed hanging right down, making the aircraft look like a bird with a broken leg (in the picture you can see the leg hanging almost straight down; there are two thick black struts going to the wheel and one silver coloured one- that is the drag link and it will be utilised later in the story). We turned back to head for our home airfield, Panorama, and I started trying to figure out how I was going to land. I had a fair amount of fuel, so maybe I could just fly round and round till someone thought of something clever… or maybe until it all went away.

It was a 20 minute flight back and I sat and did some thinking about how to land the aircraft; my mates chipped in with suggestions and I could imagine them thinking, “I’m glad that’s not me…” Although we can land quite slowly in these aircraft the danger on a landing like this is that the wheel collapses and spins the aircraft around or over, which can be unpleasant, at best, for the pilot. I was also wishing it wasn’t me…

I had two choices, one, to deploy the emergency ballistic parachute, and let the aircraft float down under it, or two, to try and land with the broken undercarriage by pulling it back up into position and hope that it would hold in some sort of approximate position long enough to complete the landing roll, or at least long enough to prevent something digging in and cartwheeling/ ground looping the aircraft. To do this I would need to fly the bar (the wing control) with one hand and hold the undercarriage with the other- a fairly contorted position. To ensure that the landing would be as safe as possible I would also need to make a very accurate landing so that I would touch down almost on the stall (a stall is when the wing stops producing lift) so that my forward speed would be as slow as possible, all whilst keeping in position along the runway and leaning half out of the aircraft….

Deploying the parachute looked good for a while, but I decided to try the landing option. I didn’t know exactly what might happen if I deployed the parachute, but I felt that I might be able to manage the landing.

UC Pic2.jpg

Here you can see how the one black strut, with the red spring at the top, has come loose from the airframe, the second picture makes it clearer

UC Pic3.jpg

When we got back to Panorama I flew around in circles for a while as the other guys landed. During the circling I took these pictures and tried to figure out any other way to land safely. The team got hold of cars, fire extinguishers and first aid kits and drove to the runway to the point that I would try to touch down at. By now a few other pilots had heard of the dilemma and two aircraft had landed at Panorama. Two aircraft were also circling above me, waiting. Everyone likes a good crash- except the crashee! 

The guys on the ground told that they were ready and so I set up for the landing. I got onto final approach at the correct height, thanked the guys for their assistance so far and shut the engine and electrics off. This meant that I could not see my airspeed (monitored by an electrical instrument in my case) but I am luckily fairly intimate with my aircraft and can ‘feel’ the wing to tell if it is close to a stall (in training I teach my students to fly without instruments as well).

I was now in a glide attitude with 300 feet to go touchdown. I leant out and grabbed the drag link of the undercarriage and pulled the wheel and struts up into their approximate position, and started to position the bar to slow the aircraft down. Sinking slowly to the runway the aircraft wobbled a bit in the thermal turbulence but I managed to control it fairly accurately all the way to my intended touchdown point and made one of the sweetest landings I have ever made, rolling to a stop in about 20m with no further damage to the aircraft. I was pretty amazed! The top of the broken strut wedged itself in somewhere and held so it was almost like a normal landing… I sat there feeling pretty damn exhausted though- it takes fair amount out of you and you feel emotionally drained afterwards.

It was great to fly with other pilots who were calm and rational in their approach and to have had sufficient experience not to panic myself. All in all I was pleased that I had done the correct things and managed to bring the event to a safe and successful conclusion. Another wild experience to add to the list

THAT WAS INCREDIBLE. WELL DONE.

[AndyG]

Oddball,

WOW!!!

Well done mate and I salute you.

The problem I have with a BRS is once it is deployed then you have no control. IE, you start descending and are at the whim of the wind etc. No control where you are landing, power lines etc. My feeling on a BRS deployment is use it when you have a structural failure or air strike. If I have an engine out I will take the chance and do a forced lob. Have 4 in my file and all came off ok.

Great post thank you

[AndyG]

Maybe Alan Mack could publish a story in each edition of the microlighters magazine like in the American Flying magazine. Not all pilots/ aviation people access the site and they may find it informative. Just an idea.

The Americans compiled theirs into a book which makes for very interesting reading.

Cheers,

[Leprachaun]

Well here goes another one , a good friend of mine now has changed his name un-knowingly to luff line B.......
Luffline and his buddy did an early mornibg fly around the springbok flats and after a landing at Mongena decided to hit the road home to well known airfield north of Pretoria.
Somewhere along the way his good buddy was suddenly woken from his daze as Luffline called an emergency as his wing was breaking up.
Luffline pointed the Windlass to the first clearing he find on the Flats and unfortunately it was a ploughed land covered in half a meter of eragrostis grass.
Need I say more - The trike stopped with immediate effect , but the energy kept luffline and the wing going with the result a broken front wheel , a toppled over trike and an buckled and bent Barclay Card .
Whilest investigating this accident and asking the question , Luffline confirmed that he had never looked back at his wing , and had never seen that the lufflings are slack whilest flying .
Apart from an grased nose and some financial issues he is ok , the trike will probably end up as a spares piece as cost is more than market value , but experience gained is priceless, So now you know why he is called Luffline Boshoff .
and o , by the way make sure your licence is current , Leprachaun