Another Ferry Pilot Down North Atlantic!!!!

Just recived a Phone call from a friend in Goosebay look like the aviation
community have lost another pilot this weekend!!! more details later as soon
as it's confirmed.

I've read conflicting information on how often SEL airplanes have to
land 'right now' because of engine problems. In 3000 hours, most
behind an IO 360, we never have had that kind of emergency, but have
landed because of alternater failure, having a bank of spark plugs
fail, vacuum pump failure, those sorts of things. Someone wrote, and I
don't remember if it was supported by hard data, that on average an
unavoidable unplanned landing might be as often as every 1500 hours or
so. Do you know? Information like that would allow a more reasonable
estimate of the risks associated with long overwater (or night IMC IRF
-- we do that a lot) flights.

"Tina" wrote in message
...
I've read conflicting information on how often SEL airplanes have to
land 'right now' because of engine problems. In 3000 hours, most
behind an IO 360, we never have had that kind of emergency, but have
landed because of alternater failure, having a bank of spark plugs
fail, vacuum pump failure, those sorts of things. Someone wrote, and I
don't remember if it was supported by hard data, that on average an
unavoidable unplanned landing might be as often as every 1500 hours or
so. Do you know? Information like that would allow a more reasonable
estimate of the risks associated with long overwater (or night IMC IRF
-- we do that a lot) flights.


I'm sure there are student pilots who have lost an engine on their first
solo and there are pilots with thousands of hours that have never had any
kind of emergency. Statistics are interesting reading but personal
experience varies greatly I'm sure. I'm in the low hundreds as a pilots and
haven't has any kind of emergency, I had an engine run rough for a couple
seconds in cruise and I have had a couple run ups that were rough enough to
warrant leaning the mixture and running the engine up but thankfully I have
not had anything major but I'm sure there are pilots out there with equal
hours that have had problems. It is just the luck of the draw.

There's some data in the UK that suggests abou 25 deadly accidents per
million flight hours for GA airplanes.

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx/do...90&pageid=6277


Since only a fraction of ga accidents result in death, maybe guess
25%, (maybe less than that, NTSB reports show lots of accidents and
not many deaths) it could be there are about 100 accidents for every
million hours, but only a fraction of these would be engine failure
induced, and not all engine failures result in accidents. It may very
well be on average there's an engine stoppage for every 3000 or so
operating hours on average, but so far I have not been able to get
meaningful data.

I'm hoping someone here has a URL to offer that's better than the one
I cited.


.

On May 6, 10:29*am, "Darkwing" theducksmail"AT"yahoo.com wrote:
"Tina" wrote in message

...

I've read conflicting information on how often SEL airplanes have to
land 'right now' because of engine problems. In 3000 hours, most
behind an IO 360, we never have had that kind of emergency, but have
landed because of alternater failure, having a bank of spark plugs
fail, vacuum pump failure, those sorts of things. Someone wrote, and I
don't remember if it was supported by hard data, that on average an
unavoidable unplanned landing might be as often as every 1500 hours or
so. Do you know? Information like that would allow a more reasonable
estimate of the risks associated with long overwater (or night IMC IRF
-- we do that a lot) flights.

I'm sure there are student pilots who have lost an engine on their first
solo and there are pilots with thousands of hours that have never had any
kind of emergency. Statistics are interesting reading but personal
experience varies greatly I'm sure. I'm in the low hundreds as a pilots and
haven't has any kind of emergency, I had an engine run rough for a couple
seconds in cruise and I have had a couple run ups that were rough enough to
warrant leaning the mixture and running the engine up but thankfully I have
not had anything major but I'm sure there are pilots out there with equal
hours that have had problems. It is just the luck of the draw.

On Tue, 6 May 2008 10:29:14 -0400, "Darkwing"
theducksmail"AT"yahoo.com wrote:


"Tina" wrote in message
...
I've read conflicting information on how often SEL airplanes have to
land 'right now' because of engine problems. In 3000 hours, most
behind an IO 360, we never have had that kind of emergency, but have
landed because of alternater failure, having a bank of spark plugs
fail, vacuum pump failure, those sorts of things. Someone wrote, and I
don't remember if it was supported by hard data, that on average an
unavoidable unplanned landing might be as often as every 1500 hours or
so. Do you know? Information like that would allow a more reasonable
estimate of the risks associated with long overwater (or night IMC IRF
-- we do that a lot) flights.


I'm sure there are student pilots who have lost an engine on their first
solo and there are pilots with thousands of hours that have never had any

First solo? How about first lesson. We had one of our aviation
scholarship winners blow a jug on the first lesson in a 150.

Me? At bout 1100 hours the engine in the Deb quit without warning on
takeoff. Climbing through bout 50 feet @ 100 MPH and nothing. Instant
silence. The diaphragm in the spider (fuel distribution block) blew
shutting off the fuel to the cylinders, but pumping a quarter inch
stream of gas out onto 6 *hot* cylinders.

kind of emergency. Statistics are interesting reading but personal
experience varies greatly I'm sure. I'm in the low hundreds as a pilots and
haven't has any kind of emergency, I had an engine run rough for a couple
seconds in cruise and I have had a couple run ups that were rough enough to

I've had a few that required going back to the hangar and pulling the
plugs.

warrant leaning the mixture and running the engine up but thankfully I have
not had anything major but I'm sure there are pilots out there with equal
hours that have had problems. It is just the luck of the draw.

Roger (K8RI) ARRL Life Member
N833R (World's oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

wrote:
First solo? How about first lesson. We had one of our aviation
scholarship winners blow a jug on the first lesson in a 150.

Me? At bout 1100 hours the engine in the Deb quit without warning on
takeoff. Climbing through bout 50 feet @ 100 MPH and nothing. Instant
silence. The diaphragm in the spider (fuel distribution block) blew
shutting off the fuel to the cylinders, but pumping a quarter inch
stream of gas out onto 6 *hot* cylinders.


I blew a jug in a C-152 immediately before I was to solo back in 1977. We
changed aircraft and I soloed later that morning. In 1980 I had the engine quit
on a Cherokee Six over water at night because of a problem with a fuel switch
that didn't. I got a restart. In 1988 I had a catastrophic engine failure in a
Lance when an oil line came loose. Crashed. In 1990 I had a double flameout in
a C-402 when I fell asleep while flying on the aux tanks. Got a restart on that
one, too.

Then there are the equipment failures: have lost two alternators while in solid
nighttime IMC. Have lost two vacuum pumps in IMC, one at night. Have drown my
airspeed indicator three times in very heavy precip. Numerous avionics
crapouts, too.

Nothing in a while.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

On May 5, 10:06*pm, "NW_Pilot"
wrote:
Just recived a Phone call from a friend in Goosebay look like the aviation
community have lost another pilot this weekend!!! more details later as soon
as it's confirmed.

Sorry to hear that. I suppose that even with a raft, ditching in the
North Atlantic has low survival rates.

wrote in
:

On May 5, 10:06*pm, "NW_Pilot"
wrote:
Just recived a Phone call from a friend in Goosebay look like the
aviation

community have lost another pilot this weekend!!! more details later
as so
on
as it's confirmed.

Sorry to hear that. I suppose that even with a raft, ditching in the
North Atlantic has low survival rates.


The only thing that will get you out is a decent survival suit and an
ELT. You'd be lucky to be able to get into your raft. I know someone who
went in in the straights of Davis and he had a Pillsbury doughboy
immersion suit and survive 17 hours in the water, in winter with no
raft. The water was too rough for an aerial recovery and he got dropped
a raft by the Danes which he spent a further day in. He was OK, too. A
bit the worse for wear, and spent a couple days in hospital suffering
from exposure, but it was an amazing survival. He did one more and then
hung it up.



Bertie

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com wrote in message
...
wrote:
First solo? How about first lesson. We had one of our aviation
scholarship winners blow a jug on the first lesson in a 150.

Me? At bout 1100 hours the engine in the Deb quit without warning on
takeoff. Climbing through bout 50 feet @ 100 MPH and nothing. Instant
silence. The diaphragm in the spider (fuel distribution block) blew
shutting off the fuel to the cylinders, but pumping a quarter inch
stream of gas out onto 6 *hot* cylinders.


I blew a jug in a C-152 immediately before I was to solo back in 1977. We
changed aircraft and I soloed later that morning. In 1980 I had the
engine quit on a Cherokee Six over water at night because of a problem
with a fuel switch that didn't. I got a restart. In 1988 I had a
catastrophic engine failure in a Lance when an oil line came loose.
Crashed. In 1990 I had a double flameout in a C-402 when I fell asleep
while flying on the aux tanks. Got a restart on that one, too.

Then there are the equipment failures: have lost two alternators while in
solid nighttime IMC. Have lost two vacuum pumps in IMC, one at night.
Have drown my airspeed indicator three times in very heavy precip.
Numerous avionics crapouts, too.

Nothing in a while.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com




Yea, going to get a skeleton put a trench coat on it a put it in a corner
call him Murphy.

No details as of yet...

wrote in message
...
On May 5, 10:06 pm, "NW_Pilot"
wrote:
Just recived a Phone call from a friend in Goosebay look like the aviation
community have lost another pilot this weekend!!! more details later as
soon
as it's confirmed.

Sorry to hear that. I suppose that even with a raft, ditching in the
North Atlantic has low survival rates.

I know 3 that have ditched and survived...