Along this line, I spoke to Paul Metz about 90 minutes after he punched out of an F105 near Cuddyback gunnery range. He told me, with authority, that when the engine started winding down on pullout from a dive bomb pass, that he saw zero fuel flow and zero P1 and P2 (hydraulics), thus it had to be a sheared assessory case drive shaft and there was nothing he could do. None of the memorized emergency procedures were applicable. He held the nose up until his speed decayed and ejected in ideal conditions.
So, it was coolness and marvelous system knowledge that saved the day. Can you train for it. Yes, I think so, but this thing with Metz was way beyond normal -- but if you want a goal to shoot for, this is it.
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:41:11 -0500
From: randystuart@hotmail.com
Subject: [LML] Re: Legacy Crash Watsonville?
I was just talking to a fellow
pilot concerning emergency training, etc.
There was a Piper Tramahawk
that went down a few days ago near me, killing both the student pilot and the
CFI... It apparently lost power and then altitude. The odd part is, it
crashed into some trees.... In a rural area where there are many many opens
fields and pastures. Clear, no wind, VFR.
OK, here's a plane that will
still fly at 50 KTS, with a CFI on board, with miles and miles of open area to
attempt to walk away from a dirt landing... Seems
simple???
I'm sure we all remember the
countless times the CFI pulled the throttle or shut the fuel valve off during
our private training. And with that, we were taught to find the open areas or
landable roads, freeway, golf courses, etc., get to best glide, brace for
the worst.... I'm sure most of us always have a conscious landing spot in mind
during every mile of every flight..
So how does this happen??
We'll never know what they were thinking but I can only guess that when the sh*t
hits the fan some pilots try to stay calm and revert to training and some pilots
lock up and forget everything. I can only speak from my own experiences,
not anyone else's.
It's impossible to know how
anyone would react until it happens to them. It's pretty easy to make decisions
sitting in an easy chair but real panic is overwhelming for many people.
I'm sure there's a few pilots
here that have experienced a dead stick or two, a fire or some emergency that
called for immediate action. Perhaps some of these stories could be
shared with the LML folks.
Randy
Stuart
LNC-2
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 7:52
PM
Subject: [LML] Re: Legacy Crash
Watsonville?
I was trained that in event of a fire on board to get out of
the sky ASAP. Not dangle on a parachute for several minutes while cooking. We
would practice 7000 ft / min decents with quick pull out and stick it on the
earth while still cognizant enough to land it and hopefully no major parts
melted off.
On Mon, Dec 14, 2009 at 1:18 PM, farnsworth <farnsworth@charter.net>
wrote:
-----Original Message----- From: Lancair Mailing
List [mailto: lml@lancaironline.net] On Behalf of
Ron Laughlin Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 9:26 AM "I
wish he had had an airframe parachute. He might still be with us. I guess
he opted for Rob's extra 10 gallons of gas that gave him soooo many more
options.... RonL"
other options that may have allowed
him to survive:
1. Wear a personal parachute
2. Install a
feathering prop
I have both of those options with my Legacy. The prop
is counterweighted and
so will feather with loss of oil pressure.
Lynn Farnsworth
Super Legacy #235
TSIO-550
Powered
Race #44
Mmo .6 Mach
Feathering Prop
|