Maydays this weekend

Flying home this weekend (Eastern Tennessee to Chicago) I heard
airliners relaying two separate Maydays for light GA planes.

One of the planes went down, contact was lost, and an ELT was
activated.

The other went down in a field, and was apparently in good enough
shape to relay to the airliner that they were ok.

Sobering thoughts as I cruised over the hilly terrain of Tennessee and
Kentucky. Be careful out there.

-Nathan

Sobering thoughts as I cruised over the hilly terrain of Tennessee and
Kentucky. Be careful out there.

Indeed. The weather here Sunday was so perfect, so gorgeous -- almost
70, crystal clear, light winds -- that we never, ever wanted to land.
(Although we found a wonderful new on-field restaurant in Waterloo, IA
[ALO], if you ever get that-away...great Sunday brunch!)

Yet, always, not far from my mind, is the chance that the big fan out
front might stop turning, and I'm always mindful of the location of
flat fields, wind and furrow direction...

Luckily, flying in the Midwest usually means plenty of good landing
spots, especially at this time of year -- but it's still always a risk.
After seeing the picture (on Cherokee Chat) of the guy whose
crankshaft completely sheared in half while in CRUISE flight, you
really comprehend how many things can go wrong inside our engines...
(He landed safely -- incredibly, the engine was still making power!)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Yet, always, not far from my mind, is the chance that the big fan out
front might stop turning, and I'm always mindful of the location of
flat fields, wind and furrow direction...


The mention of fields and and furrows reminds me of the story from when
I was learning to fly at the University of Illinois, one of the Beech
Sports had an engine failure and they put it into a corn field in late
summer, and even though they walked away, the airframe was pretty much
beat to s__t by all the nice big ears of corn!
Note to self: don't put it into a corn field in late summer if I have a
choice!

Ryan

Jay-I was also looking at your video site last night and the zero G dog
video had me laughing so hard I had tears...!
I'm trying to get one of my colleagues to send you some UW MedFlight
helicopter video (from landing at scenes) he has put together.
(fortunately no crashes, so not as dramatic as some of the helo ops
video you have).

wrote:
The mention of fields and and furrows reminds me of the story from when
I was learning to fly at the University of Illinois, one of the Beech
Sports had an engine failure and they put it into a corn field in late
summer, and even though they walked away, the airframe was pretty much
beat to s__t by all the nice big ears of corn!
Note to self: don't put it into a corn field in late summer if I have a
choice!


Are you sure? It seems to me landing in a cornfield will guarantee you don't
hit a tree, don't drown, and will slow down rapidly but not too rapidly. Your
aircraft may get trashed but you can always get another. I don't care about the
airplane. I care about *me*.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com wrote in message
...
Note to self: don't put it into a corn field in late summer if I have a
choice!

Are you sure? It seems to me landing in a cornfield will guarantee you
don't hit a tree, don't drown, and will slow down rapidly but not too
rapidly. Your aircraft may get trashed but you can always get another. I
don't care about the airplane. I care about *me*.

He *did* write "if I have a choice". You even quoted that part. I think
it's safe to assume by "choice" me means "if there's a better option".
Obviously, one wouldn't choose a dense forest over an open corn field.

that's why I said "if given a choice"

We have plenty of soybean, wheat, oats, pastures, and every other type
of field (and fallow fields) in this part of the world (that Jay and I
fly in). Plus the occasional golf course, and I'm suprised by the grass
strips that I continually find that I never knew were there, just found
one the other day not 10 miles from my home airport that I didn't know
existed, and most aren't on the charts. Good to keep in mind (and it's
come in handy for my work on a medical helicopter).

Otherwise, if a corn field is your best bet, then I won't argue. Take
it.

The English gliding magazine "Sailplane and Gliding" had a whole series
a few years ago on how to recognise various crops from the air at
different times of the year; and which were ok for landing out in and
those that weren't. Kind of interesting reading. Does have some
applicability to powered flying and emergencies.

Just stay off the roads!
And stay away from the really dark fields with lots of gulls or other
birds hanging out, you won't like the smell when you open your door!!!

Ryan

Note to self: don't put it into a corn field in late summer if I have a
choice!

True, but you for SURE don't want to choose a bean field instead. The
beans grow so densely that you'll land in 'em and they will tangle your
gear and stop you just like *that* -- or so the gray heads tell us.

Funny, before I moved to Iowa, I wouldn't have been able to tell the
difference between the two crops from the air.

Jay-I was also looking at your video site last night and the zero G dog
video had me laughing so hard I had tears...!

Yeah, "Float the Dog" is everyone's SECOND favorite, right after "Bird
Gone" -- which seems to either delight or enrage viewers. See it in
the "Weird" section. (And don't watch "Cat Gone" if you're a cat
lover...even though it's all CG, it STILL aggravated the PETA crowd...
;-)

I'm trying to get one of my colleagues to send you some UW MedFlight
helicopter video (from landing at scenes) he has put together.
(fortunately no crashes, so not as dramatic as some of the helo ops
video you have).

That would be great! Thanks!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article .com,
Jay Honeck wrote:
Note to self: don't put it into a corn field in late summer if I have a
choice!

True, but you for SURE don't want to choose a bean field instead. The
beans grow so densely that you'll land in 'em and they will tangle your
gear and stop you just like *that* -- or so the gray heads tell us.

I really wonder about this bit of wisdom. I'd heard it too while
hanging around the FBO. A week before my checkride I was up with an
instructor doing maneuvers when we lost the engine. We put down in a
soybean field (August, so they were plenty grown). It had rained for
three days previously so the ground was very soft. The nose gear
collapsed and we ended up inverted. I walked our landing path and you
could see where the nose gear gradually dug in deeper. There weren't
any bean vines stuck in the wheels or landing gear so I'm skeptical
about the whole "beans grabbing the gear" legend. Mud is what did us
in.


--
Scott Post

On 6 Nov 2006 14:51:08 -0800, "Longworth"
wrote:

I am a 'nervous' flyer. While I enjoy flying tremendously, I
could never totally relax sitting in either seat. In VMC, I am always
scouting for potential landing sites, checking for wind directions,
pushing the 'nearest airport' button on the GPS, every so often while
estimating my glide distance etc. In IMC, I always cross-check the GPS
with VORs, ADF and have my hand-held radio handy. We also keep a dozen
or so of spare batteries of several kinds (lithium, alkaline,
rechargeable) along with a handful of flashlights, emergency medical
and survival kits.

Sounds exactly like me. I always have an airport in mind or a spot
picked to land...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ps.com...
Sobering thoughts as I cruised over the hilly terrain of Tennessee and
Kentucky. Be careful out there.

snip

Yet, always, not far from my mind, is the chance that the big fan out
front might stop turning, and I'm always mindful of the location of
flat fields, wind and furrow direction...

snip
--
Jay Honeck


Speaking of engine failure, what is the power off glide ratio of the
Pathfinder, Jay?

KB