I am actually a bit surprised you all are looking into what and why the engine failed, I would concentrate more on 'what are we going to do when this happens'
An airplane really doesn't care if the engine is dead or not, as long as it has energy to keep aloft, right? But without the engine we all know we have to point the nose down and don't pray or try to be telekinetic and keeping it aloft by our brainpower.
Or in other words, once we see the engine is dead than (and I thought this was the best remark I have seen, thanks), point the nose down, circle and pick your spot. And that is I think we should concentrate on, having training and instinctually keeping the nose down, having the right airspeed until we pick the spot in range to put the plane down. I know we all want to preserve our plane from damage, but the damage to our families are far greater then ' this piece of plastic' (and I know I am stepping on toes here, but I can't help it, human lives are far more important to me)
I have seen similar conversations in the cirrus community, there they always talk about ' why did he not pulled the chute', almost like it is telling them selves that 'this could not happen to me', but it does.
I have been in a thunderstorm in a cirrus sr22, where I had the hardest time to keep the plane straight, after I finally got out I noticed that I did not spend 1 second thinking of pulling the chute, why? Because I wasn't trained to do so. (now pulling a chute in a thunderstorm wouldn't do any good anyway, but that was not the issue)
I think if you have training (and recurring training), to push the nose down each time the CFII pulls the engine to idle and tells you that you have an engine emergency, that if you do this often enough, it will become an automatic, muscle memory event, and that this might save your life when 'shit hits the fan'.
I applaud LOBO and all others doing this, and this tragic event shows to me how important this is. I just hope that we can increase safety by training and getting the right instincts to do so.
-- Ronald
Mark, Yes, LOBO tracks these matters. Have you ever been to Oshkosh Airventure? These accidents are discussed in detail there. Based on your comments about the engines you would be surprised. In many cases it was not the engine. Jeff Edwards
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Steitle < msteitle@gmail.com>
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Sent: Thu, Jul 7, 2011 4:59 pm
Subject: [LML] Re: another Lancair Steve,
I agree, the pilot community lost another great guy. Even if he was a jerk, we still need to solve this riddle. Is LOBO following up on each of these crashes to learn what the experts determine to be the cause(s)? If not, we'll continue to be having these conversations until we eventually run out of pilots, or airplanes.
Mark On Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 1:05 PM, Steve Colwell <mcmess1919@yahoo.com> wrote: I would sure would like to know why all of these "certified engines" are quitting on takeoff. Mark S. Maybe the engine driven fuel pump is failing. We are running low boost continuously in case the engine pump fails and to address fuel pressure issues at altitude, hot fuel, vapor lock and other problems. I understand the engine will not make full power on low boost (reduce manifold pressure and settle for less power?) Or, it might quit if high boost is on and the mixture is not adjusted. Since engine driven pump failure, heat and altitude all affect fuel delivery, it would seem using the low boost continuously could solve or make these problems manageable. Dr. Lyle Koen did our last two physicals. He was a very likeable guy who built one of the early IV’s and had over 1000 hours on it. We talked to him about joining LOBO and coming to the Branson Fly-In. Given the more knowledgeable than usual witness account, could training have changed this outcome? Steve Legacy IO550
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