My Plane Almost Became an Insurance Claim

In article , JimC wrote:
I don't know all the details and what I know is second hand, but it appears
a prospective buyer of a Navion lost control of the plane on the ramp and
caused some serious damage. This happened mid week at Avion Jet Center,
Sanford Airport (SFB), just north of Orlando, FL.

Haven't seen the pictures since looks like web site no longer nonexistent
but sure sounds bad. Glad the outcome was good from human angle, even if
very expensive on the wallet angle.

And quite fortunate for Jim, indeed!

Allegedly, the prospective buyer started the plane and suffered a seat
slide-back with the throttle and prop control pushed all the way in.

That's just the thing I don't understand...

Seems to me that if your seat slid back suddenly and quite unexpectedly,
the natural human reaction is to grab *something*, _anything_ to hold on to
-- that means, for one thing, pulling the yoke towards you, possibly all
the way if you had a full travel for the seat sliding backwards.

Now, the thing is... if your hand was on the throttle, wouldn't you also
happen to pull it outwards (ie, reducing power) if you slid backwards?

Granted, I'm more familiar with the Cessna spamcan designs so I don't know
if the throttles in other planes are designed differently.

It just seems unlikely to me that the throttle would have had been 'all the
way in' for taxiing, so it's more probable that it was pushed inwards while
travelling backwards... but that's precisely what I don't understand how
could be possible in the first place.

-Dan

P.S. I normally wonder how to react if seat slid back during the later part
of the takeoff roll... a number of NTSB reports on takeoff stalls due to
seat sliding backwards, with poor results.

That's just a hidden what-if concern, but I'll admit I hadn't quite thought
of it as ordinarily something to be concerned about during taxiing.

"Dan Foster" wrote in message ...



Now, the thing is... if your hand was on the throttle, wouldn't you also
happen to pull it outwards (ie, reducing power) if you slid backwards?

That was the great problem with the Cessna seat latch failures is that
most people grab the yoke to try to save themselves. If you'd grab
anything else, you'd be OK.


Granted, I'm more familiar with the Cessna spamcan designs so I don't know
if the throttles in other planes are designed differently.

It just seems unlikely to me that the throttle would have had been 'all the
way in' for taxiing, so it's more probable that it was pushed inwards while
travelling backwards... but that's precisely what I don't understand how
could be possible in the first place.


The throttle in the Navion works the same way as the Cessna. And while it
takes a good goose of the throttle to get the big squishy tires to start to roll
on the Navion, you're not anywhere near full thorttle when you do that. If he'd
pulled the mixture (also about the same as the Cessna, only it's not a vernier
control), the plane would have stopped in short order.

I don't understand how it can "slide back" in that circumstances. Even the
Cessna seats take some push to move them back on level ground. It was in
the nose high attitude that the problems occur. The Navion seats take even
more force to slide them back (after you pull the pin).

I always take off with just the knuckle of my first finger holding the
throttle in and my hand in a fist. That way, if the seat slides back, I
won't have to deal with restoring power at the same time I'm trying to
remember to let go of the yoke.
--
Roger Long