Video of midair with tow rope

Michael Ash wrote:

And of course, while we do unpowered landings routinely, it's truly an
unexpected and unwelcome emergency for a power pilot. After experiencing
the shock of a mid-air he was faced with a choice of going ahead with an
unfamiliar procedure or hitting the parachute, and I can't blame him for
going with the devil he knew.

How many times had he pulled the parachute? And don't these power boys
practice engine-off landings?

On the bright side, the video should make useful evidence in a
prosecution: failing to spot a glider and tug was completely
inexcusable and I hope they throw the livre at him.

Ian

On the bright side, the video should make useful evidence in a
prosecution: failing to spot a glider and tug was completely
inexcusable and I hope they throw the livre at him.


See and be seen means just that. If indeed this was a tug and glider
there were at least two other sets of eyes that were supposed to be
looking!! Let us not be too quick to cast stones. This is another in
a long list of incidents we should be aware of and learn from.
Thankfully this one ended well.

Fly SAFE--

Skip Guimond

wrote:
On the bright side, the video should make useful evidence in a
prosecution: failing to spot a glider and tug was completely
inexcusable and I hope they throw the livre at him.


See and be seen means just that. If indeed this was a tug and glider
there were at least two other sets of eyes that were supposed to be
looking!!

.... in a combination whch had right of way over our hero.

Thankfully this one ended well.

Inasmuch has he is a) alive and b) deprived of his aircraft, yes, I
think we can count it a happy ending.

Ian

Ian wrote:

Michael Ash wrote:

And of course, while we do unpowered landings routinely, it's truly an
unexpected and unwelcome emergency for a power pilot. After experiencing
the shock of a mid-air he was faced with a choice of going ahead with an
unfamiliar procedure or hitting the parachute, and I can't blame him for
going with the devil he knew.

How many times had he pulled the parachute? And don't these power boys
practice engine-off landings?

But the parachute has a huge amount of confidence-inspiring paperwork that
goes with it which says that it'll function as claimed. Of course we know
that this is no guarantee of success, but I can certainly envision a type
of pilot who would trust a parachute manufacturer that he can sue if
something goes wrong over his ability to land his plane unpowered.

Supposedly they do practice engine-off landings but I get the impression
that they really don't like the idea at all.

For what it's worth I agree with you completely that the parachute should
have been avoided. I can just see why someone in that situation might risk
the parachute rather than his rusty off-field engine-off landing skills.

On the bright side, the video should make useful evidence in a
prosecution: failing to spot a glider and tug was completely
inexcusable and I hope they throw the livre at him.

I can understand failing to spot it until it was very close, it can be
hard to see things. What I don't understand is that even when the tow
plane went right in front of him, he did almost nothing. From the video it
seems there was at least a full second from when the tow plane came on
camera to when impact occurred. During this time, the pilot did nothing
but raise the nose a bit. I would like to think that I would have
instantly put in full rudder and aileron to turn and drop out of the way,
and one second is plenty of time to get such a maneuver underway.

I try to give this guy the benefit of the doubt simply because I don't
have all the information and it makes it much less embarrassing to face up
to my own mistakes when they inevitably happen.

--
Michael Ash
Rogue Amoeba Software

Michael Ash wrote:
Supposedly they do practice engine-off landings but I get the impression
that they really don't like the idea at all.

Not sure if that was aimed at trike and utralight pilots or power
pilots in general. My observation is that most trike landing are made
with engine at idle but I have not flown one.

As a power pilot and instructor I practice and teach accuracy landings
with simulated engine failure. It's not quite as easy to land exactly
on the chosen spot as with a glider but it's just as much fun to try.

Some power pilots even look out of the windows as they fly!

Andy

Andy wrote:

Michael Ash wrote:
Supposedly they do practice engine-off landings but I get the impression
that they really don't like the idea at all.

Not sure if that was aimed at trike and utralight pilots or power
pilots in general. My observation is that most trike landing are made
with engine at idle but I have not flown one.

Still, having the engine available adds a great deal of reassurance to the
pilot's mental state if he's not well prepared for a true engine-off
landing.

As a power pilot and instructor I practice and teach accuracy landings
with simulated engine failure. It's not quite as easy to land exactly
on the chosen spot as with a glider but it's just as much fun to try.

That's very good, and I'm sure that practice will save somebody's bacon
one day if it hasn't already. I just get the impression that this is more
of the exception than the standard practice. I could easily be wrong, but
then maybe the pilot in question was in the exceptional "didn't practice
it much" group in that case.

I don't mean to denigrate power pilots in any way, I just get the
impression that having your engine quit is a lot more stressful than just
not having one in the first place, and this sort of emergency could easily
put a pilot into a frame of mind where he loses confidence in himself and
just hits the parachute.

Some power pilots even look out of the windows as they fly!

No doubt. I just have doubts about this one guy, not power pilots in
general.

--
Michael Ash
Rogue Amoeba Software

Michael Ash wrote:

I don't mean to denigrate power pilots in any way, I just get the
impression that having your engine quit is a lot more stressful than just
not having one in the first place, and this sort of emergency could easily
put a pilot into a frame of mind where he loses confidence in himself and
just hits the parachute.

A "pilot" who lacks confidence is a passenger. And yet he is all too
common. The more of them you deal with the less confidence you will have
and the more energy you'll expend looking out the window.

All in all, a very much more healthy state of mind.


Jack

Michael Ash wrote:

I don't mean to denigrate power pilots in any way, I just get the
impression that having your engine quit is a lot more stressful than just
not having one in the first place, and this sort of emergency could easily
put a pilot into a frame of mind where he loses confidence in himself and
just hits the parachute.


Practice opening up the spoilers all the way, at some point beyond
final glide from the airport, lock them there, try and thermal up to
gain the altitude to make it back to the airport ... oh, and make sure
you're flying a 1-26 or a 2-33 or some similar such brick.

When the mill quits, suddenly, our intrepid power pilot is flying a
"glider" with less than 6:1 glide ratio. Therefore, the stress is
warranted!!! I'm not sure if you and I are in "violent agreement" on
this one.

Yes, I fly both power and glider (if you call my 1-26 a glider).

Yes, EVERYBODY should be looking out a little more.

Power pilots shoud practice more landings at idle power....

....and glider pilots should practice more stuck spoiler landings!!!

-Pete
#309

P.S.: In a more perfect world, I would have added to that list: "The
media should present balanced, factual and intelligent coverage of
events, spectacular or not."

309 wrote:

Michael Ash wrote:

I don't mean to denigrate power pilots in any way, I just get the
impression that having your engine quit is a lot more stressful than just
not having one in the first place, and this sort of emergency could easily
put a pilot into a frame of mind where he loses confidence in himself and
just hits the parachute.

Practice opening up the spoilers all the way, at some point beyond
final glide from the airport, lock them there, try and thermal up to
gain the altitude to make it back to the airport ... oh, and make sure
you're flying a 1-26 or a 2-33 or some similar such brick.

I think I'll pass on your experiment, but I see your point.

When the mill quits, suddenly, our intrepid power pilot is flying a
"glider" with less than 6:1 glide ratio. Therefore, the stress is
warranted!!! I'm not sure if you and I are in "violent agreement" on
this one.

Yes, I basically agree. I didn't mean to imply that I thought the stress
was unwarranted. Having not flown very much power at all, I've never had
the engine quit so I don't really know what it's like, but I try to give
the benefit of the doubt to those who do.

Yes, I fly both power and glider (if you call my 1-26 a glider).

Yes, EVERYBODY should be looking out a little more.

Power pilots shoud practice more landings at idle power....

...and glider pilots should practice more stuck spoiler landings!!!

Does it count when you come in so high that they only appear to be stuck?


P.S.: In a more perfect world, I would have added to that list: "The
media should present balanced, factual and intelligent coverage of
events, spectacular or not."

Now you're just going too far.

--
Michael Ash
Rogue Amoeba Software

Michael Ash wrote:
hard to see things. What I don't understand is that even when the tow
plane went right in front of him, he did almost nothing. From the video it
seems there was at least a full second from when the tow plane came on
camera to when impact occurred.

Fairly typical reaction time. Within that second things like

"What the hell was that"
"Ok, it was a plane"
"****, that was a plane, and it had a cable behind it"
"Bugger, now what"
"Ok, probably should try and do something to avoid the cable"
"Up, or down"
"That cable probably had a glider on the other end, if I go down that
could be worse"
"Up"
"Ok arm, pull back on that there sticky thing"

are going through his head. It will take a surprisingly long time to
react to a situation like that, you have to examine the situation,
think of a plan, and implement that plan, a second is probably pretty
good.