On 28 Jul 2003 11:35:44 -0700, (Rocky) wrote:

Aside from glider pilots.... how many of you have ever experienced an
engine out dead stick landing?

Unintentional... two (not counting several in the powered
paraglider I'm flying these days, but you expect that with 2-stroke
engines). The two were both in the Taylorcraft I used to own. One
was when a valve seat came loose about 100' in the air on takeoff.
Got it back down on the runway (a wheel landing well above stall
speed) and screeched to a halt just before the tall weeds beyond the
end of the field. It was a credit to my passenger that he stuck with
me when I rented a 172 to finish the business trip we were on.

The other was contaminated fuel (the FBO had just bought a new
fuel truck; apparently I got a load of crud but even though I drained
the gascolator before flight, apparently it hadn't had time to settle
out yet). I made an uneventful landing in a rural field in NJ, and
only after stopping did I notice the rusty windsock frame near the
edge of the field.... apparently it was an abandoned cropduster's
field.

During the brief time I kept the plane at a field with a long
runway, I used to routinely shut down and do deadstick landings....
good practice, the airplane definitely handled differently.

-Dana
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