Survived Engine Out this morning.

[Learjet]

I was very relieved to see Len execute a safe landing in his Sycamore on a bend in the N1 (not far from the recent bus accident site). Not lekker to see your mate suddenly do a 180' and head earthwards with only the sound of microphone clicks to give a clue that something wasn't right. Well handled Len!

[John Boucher]

I have had the privilege of a demonstrated engine failure with Len in the Sycamore... I actually started laughing after the demonstration and commented to Len.... aag no man, that is a non-event in a gyro - fixed wing on the other hand where it was demonstrated would have been catastrophic!

Shot Len (you know what I conveyed to you & Cx)

To Dave and the rest of the gaggle... shot guys for backing up!

[THI]

Len, how did you recover the gyro? Trailer?

[Gyronaut]

Len, how did you recover the gyro? Trailer?

No THI, its snugly parked in a friendly farmers' shed for now. Will probably take a trailer and go fetch it during the week sometime.

[Jabbanaught]

Well Done Len

Glad you drilled the Emergencies into me , Hope i can do it as good , But hopefully would not need to .

Well Handled

Paul

[Gyronaut]

Thanks Paul

I know you are capable of doing just that and yes, hopefully you never need to test your abilities fully.

[FLYNOTE]

Great stuff Len ! Ek weet hoekom jy n noodlanding gedoen het ... want jy kan !
Isn't that sufficient altitude between your gyro and the ground not a wonderful thing to have when you suddenly need it ?
Thank you for the example set.

[Dish]

Well done Len, - glad the end result was good

[Grumpy]

AAaaaggggg Ok, a pat on the back from me as well then !!!

[Low Level]

Well done Len. My heart jumps in my throat everytime I read stuff like this.

Informative thread - thanx Wagtail - and I must admit, a check during flight that is ignored, cause the voltage gauge is not on the same side of my panel as the P's and T's.

[Vertical Tango]

Think I need to have one fitted asap. What would be nice is one with some type of alarm if the value goes below eg. 11 volts. Any ideas anyone?

MGL Oddyssey!

Well the Enigma has its shortcomings too. I have exactly that on my first screen but had to recalibrate because with a proper voltmeter showing 12.5V on the battery with engine off, the Enigma was showing 11V. There is a calibrate facility to add a percentage and show the correct voltage, but the "black Box" still records the uncalibrated voltage. So much for analysis after an incident !
If Johan says that his test has shown that the regulator is sometimes at fault and does not even drive immediately the charge lamp, then I think that the solution is to have a completely independant (non Rotax) voltmeter and a simple circuit to drive an LED when below the charge voltage.

[Gyronaut]

I have added a soundtrack to the short video posted on YouTube.
So call me a sentimental old fool if you like but we were truly 'In the arms of the Angels" and thank them for taking care of us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhspQPYWwP0

Len

[Jabbanaught]

Think I need to have one fitted asap. What would be nice is one with some type of alarm if the value goes below eg. 11 volts. Any ideas anyone?

MGL Oddyssey!

Well the Enigma has its shortcomings too. I have exactly that on my first screen but had to recalibrate because with a proper voltmeter showing 12.5V on the battery with engine off, the Enigma was showing 11V. There is a calibrate facility to add a percentage and show the correct voltage, but the "black Box" still records the uncalibrated voltage. So much for analysis after an incident !
If Johan says that his test has shown that the regulator is sometimes at fault and does not even drive immediately the charge lamp, then I think that the solution is to have a completely independant (non Rotax) voltmeter and a simple circuit to drive an LED when below the charge voltage.

This is good we learning from this . So who of the technical clever guys are going to design something like this for the 914 motors we mostly running ??? I am to stupid to do that

[Low Level]

I have added a soundtrack to the short video posted on YouTube.
So call me a sentimental old fool if you like but we were truly 'In the arms of the Angels" and thank them for taking care of us.

Nice video Len, and a memory captured, and really a non event, cause it was well handled.

Curious questions. Was the road the only option or first option that became more prominent ? Were you at any stage worried about cars coming from behind that you might loose sight of when consentrating on the landing spot ?

These are questions that usually maul through my mind when I'm flying.

[Learjet]

Curious questions. Was the road the only option or first option that became more prominent ?

From my bird' eye view of the scene, Len made 100% correct decision to go for the N1 road.
To put the area into perspective, we were right at the end of the Hex River Valley commencing with a climb out over the mountain pass at the end of the valley. Len had mountains on three side of him, and the only option was from him to do a 180' back into the valley. The cultivated areas in the Google image below are actually pole & wire trellissed vineyards! So basically Len's landing choices of flat surface area were the dams on his right (visible in the video) or the N1 highway There was another road next to the N1 but which was blocked by a tall cell phone tower. Under the circumstances, and watching the events unfold "at leisure" from above, I absolutely believe Len made the right landing site decision.