Hi Mark I also agree with Ronald’s remarks, some folks are not executing
well when it comes to an engine out…but….I also agree that you don’t
hear about a lot of Cessna engine outs either. The other thing I would
add to Ronald’s note is that our forward speed is much higher, impacts
with stationary objects release far more energy than say deads ticking something
that stalls at 40 or 50 knots. That is why I would advocate to install High-G impact seats and AmSafe Seat belt airbags to increase you chances. But in any case it is better to slide on your belly then pancake it from 100ft high. Sure a direct impact with a tree or similar is never desirable, but a field, even a bit rough, is not a bad choice when the 'shit hits the fan'. But trying to increase the glide, is never a good choice (unless you have a full feather or counter weighted prop, then this would at least give you a better chance but still at the same best glide speed). I personally think you should never leave out safety options if you can have them for the sake of a few dollars (you have to see this in the big scheme of things, spending 20k for a prop, 10k for seat belts on a 400k plane, is less than 8% for safety, not a bad deal, right?. Perhaps I am talking too much about this, but each time I see an accident it gets to me, so if I stepped on some toes, than I apologize for this. The good news is that there are people in here who really care and really are giving us the tools to improve this, and I thank you for that.
-- Ronald Jeff, I would like to go to Airventure, but this is a very busy time at work,
so I can't take vacation during July or August. I have only been to OSH once, and that was
pre-LOBO. I work in occupational safety, and is probably why I keep asking these
questions. I'm looking for a common root cause, but I'm not hearing it.
I have a hard time convincing myself that all of these Lancair pilotssitting in the left seat with an engine running at full power keep making
life-ending decisions. If there is fuel in the tanks, the engine should
keep running unless the pilot shuts off the mags, shuts off the fuel, or the
engine blows up. I doubt that Cessna pilots have this track record?
That indicates to me that there may be something more to this than simple
pilot error. I am aware of one rotary engine fatal crash where the engine quit on
takeoff. The pilot tried to make the "impossible turn" and
crashed. The cause was determined to be a faulty fuel system design.
I can't help but wonder if there may be a gremlin lurking somewhere in
our fuel system. |