Posted for Steve Young
<stillyoung923@yahoo.ca>:
reply to Mark Ravinski....,
Mark, thanks for the kind words. This is
what happened and what I think was
the cause. I took a friend for a scenic flight over the Oregon coast. It takes
about 15 minutes to get there after take off from Hillsboro Ore, (HIO) I was
in flight for about 50 minutes when
my Garmin 430 went off line. I thought it
strange and started to check for problems. No popped breakers and no
smoke. I
told my passenger about my concerns while shutting off all my avionics. This
also disabled the intercom
so I was shouting so he could hear me. After about
5 minutes I turned everything back on and all units operated
properly for
about 5 more minutes and then the same thing happened. This time I new I had a
problem. Still in my
race brain state of mind it did not occure to me that I
need electrical power for the landing gear. I didn't go
directly back to the
airport since this would have taken us over the coast mountain range. If
something bad were
to happen I reasoned to
myself that I would have a better chance of finding a more suitable landing
spot
somewhere on the banks of the Columbia River. I was about 45 minutes from
my home airport when it finally hit me NO
ELECTRICITY FOR THEN GEAR PUMP. Now
I feel sick. I stayed calm and tried not to show emotion since this was the
first time for my passenger to be in a small airplane. When I got close to
home I turned on the avionics and the
master switch on to see if the gear
would go down. I felt the right one lock down and then everthing when dead.
I
could hear the tower talking to other planes in the area but they wouldn't
answer me after about 6 attempts. I
now told my passenger about our situation
and the emergecy procedures I need to do. He was very calm and just sat
with
his arms folded across his chest. He was a trooper. I opened the dump valve
and pulled the curcuit breaker
at this time. I went through the procedures
with no luck. I was thinking at the time that I
needed to stay at
the 120 knots so I would take the doors off. Hind sight is
always 20/20 and I should have been alot more aggressive.
I wish now, I would
have climbed higher and build more speed prior to the yawing since I lost the
gear door
anyway on landing. After I felt that I tried my best to get the gear
down and locked I bussed the tower at a 90
degree angle to the runway to get
their attention. They stated, in a conversation after the fact, that they saw
me coming and had the big red light out on the first pass. I flew about 5
miles past and did a 180 only to get
another red light. I also noted I was the
only one around. All other planes had vacated the airspace. Again I
went about
5 miles past and did a 180 but this time the green light was on. I entered the
downwind leg just as
if nothing was wrong. Our restraints by this time were
pulled tight so I did the base and final with a short
approach. With the
electrical shut off I didn't have out
any flaps. I don't even remember if I tried to lower
them I came in hot and
held it off as long as I could. I didn't think about cutting the power so the
prop struck
the ground just before the left wing quit flying. We tipped
forward and slid for about 300-400 feet before the right
main collapsed. We
finished our ride sliding off the runway to the left, backwards, and stopped
in the grass. I
shut everything off, opened the canopy and helped my passenger
out before exiting myself. I gave the tower a
thumbs up and I saw them wave
back. The landing was non-violent and not even scarry. Everything that
happened
seem to be in slow motion so I felt comfortable keeping up with
events as they unfolded. We both walked away
smilling and suffered no sore
muscles or any discomfort. I left the dump valve open and the curcuit breaker
out
after landing. Maybe I was hoping for a miracle and the gear would come
down. Who knows. I felt I did
everything correct since we
walked away unhurt. As I stated earlier hind sight is always 20/20. One thing
I have
done was read the emergency procedure more than once. Maybe about 10
times prior to this flight.
Now for
what I think was the problem. I had the battery checked and was
told by two different sources that it had a dead
cell. The plane fire up with
no problems so this was a suprise to hear. (No I don't know how old the
battery is.
I haven't looked it up yet.) When I had the alternator checked the
same two sources gave me different answers. One
said it was good and the other
stated it as not. I believe they are both right. With the alternator sitting
so
close the the belt on the flywheel it was getting all the residual rubber
from the belt. It was really dirty. I
think it was working but not putting out
the power it should have been. I will now install an amp meter and or a
volt
meter so I can keep and eye on what is happening. This is not a fun situation
to be in. I still have bad
feeling about the events and what could have
happened. I didn't get much sleep for the first week or so but that
emotion is
over. I hope this helps with some questions
and wasn't to boring. As for my passenger (he is my wing
man now) he is ready
to go again!!
Thanks to everyone who has helped so far with parts. I still need a
few
things so keep cleaning out those garages.
steve young 503-260-6862
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