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Forced Landings


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How about a new score rating for PPG pilots ? We all take off and 99% of the time we land where we should and in perfect control. but what about when we ve GOT to land..i.e. Weather/Mechanical/Out of fuel . In the relatively short space of my flying ( 48hrs ) i think ive had quite a few incidents , some my own fault , others unforseen . Luckily ive landed without injury ( so far! ) :? My latest one was taking off across fields into a slight breeze. Nice steady climb to about 300ft then the engine died. Hit the starter ...nothing. So no problems as ive got fields to land in . Still on slow settings so nice and steady descent. Gorse hedge looming large with sheep netting and barb wire top ..touch of brake to lift me over..BUGGER ! no lift ! Brace for impact and perfect hit with both feet at 15mph onto netting , bouncing back into grass , legs in the air like a turtle ! :shock: Can smell petrol so quick as i can out of harness . The wing is now attached to me but over the hedge and in the next field . 40 min later managed to carefully untangle from gorse and bramble and no damage :D Tried to restart motor ..will fire up but wont rev ...turns out its sucked in a broken reed valve ! Anyway back to the rating...so far i ve had 4 forced landings from weather...6 mechanical...and 2 out of fuel... So im a 4/6/2 ! Just gives an idea of how Stooopid / Unlucky i am !! Anybody like to add their score or better ideas ??

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"Just gives an idea of how Stooopid / Unlucky i am !! Anybody like to add their score or better ideas ?? "

Ther'es no excuse for 'stupidity' when it comes to matters in flying... and if you're relying on luck then you should try something relatively safer- knitting perhaps.

"so far i ve had 4 forced landings from weather..." Try using the local forecast, your basic BHPA training covers the main aspects, but if you're not 100% certain that it's flyable- then DONT FLY. '-if there's doubt there's no doubt'

"6 mechanical"- Preflight checks, regular service are a great way to pass the time on one of the 'non-flyable' evenings you will have due to the last point i've raised.

"2 out of fuel"- Make a mistake once is ok, but twice..... Every mistake/fault is a learning opportunity. Have you a fuel guage/mirror? do you know the burnrate of your motor/wing combo? Not rocket science. Always land with a litre in the tank- better looking at it than looking for it!!!

48 hours and 6 forced landings...... I've 350 hours now, and only had one.

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"Just gives an idea of how Stooopid / Unlucky i am !! Anybody like to add their score or better ideas ?? "

Ther'es no excuse for 'stupidity' when it comes to matters in flying... and if you're relying on luck then you should try something relatively safer- knitting perhaps.

"so far i ve had 4 forced landings from weather..." Try using the local forecast, your basic BHPA training covers the main aspects, but if you're not 100% certain that it's flyable- then DONT FLY. '-if there's doubt there's no doubt'

"6 mechanical"- Preflight checks, regular service are a great way to pass the time on one of the 'non-flyable' evenings you will have due to the last point i've raised.

"2 out of fuel"- Make a mistake once is ok, but twice..... Every mistake/fault is a learning opportunity. Have you a fuel guage/mirror? do you know the burnrate of your motor/wing combo? Not rocket science. Always land with a litre in the tank- better looking at it than looking for it!!!

48 hours and 6 forced landings...... I've 350 hours now, and only had one.

Well Gordon i admit that the running out of juice was a bit silly but i ve always been over open countryside and NEARLY home ! Flying in varying wind speeds has given me cofidence/experience that you cant find looking at a chart , and if you dont try it you ll never know. And as regards pre flight checks im as thourough as anyone but you cant stop welds breaking in mid air , or unforseen mechanical failures , exaust through the props anyone ? If i wanted safe and easy i would knit !....
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Your painting a very worrying picture here... Exhaust through the prop??? Welds breaking mid flight??? Any sign that a bolt is loose or a weld is failing should be investigated on the ground, and if it should be gounded until fixed properly. Tie-wire or mark any of the 'usual suspect' bolts and you wont have the problem... i still check them anyway.. it's routine. As a part of your check process... stress the frame/cage on the gound... try and get the welds to break on the ground.... and they wont get the chance to break in the air.

Anything falling off a paramotor in flight is unacceptable- or any aircraft for that matter- not just a trivial matter of 'inconvenience' but the pilots responsibilty to ensure the safety of himself and people on the ground.

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Your painting a very worrying picture here... Exhaust through the prop??? Welds breaking mid flight??? Any sign that a bolt is loose or a weld is failing should be investigated on the ground, and if it should be gounded until fixed properly. Tie-wire or mark any of the 'usual suspect' bolts and you wont have the problem... i still check them anyway.. it's routine. As a part of your check process... stress the frame/cage on the gound... try and get the welds to break on the ground.... and they wont get the chance to break in the air.

Anything falling off a paramotor in flight is unacceptable- or any aircraft for that matter- not just a trivial matter of 'inconvenience' but the pilots responsibilty to ensure the safety of himself and people on the ground.

You aint flying what im flying !
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.....99% of the time we land where we should and in perfect control. .........my flying ( 48hrs ) ........so far i ve had 4 forced landings from weather...6 mechanical...and 2 out of fuel...

I make that 25% failure rate not 1%!!

I feel a sweepstake coming on here, we all put £1 in the pot and pick a date, the person who has the date nearest to the day Shaggy kills himself wins the pot.

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could divide the map of the Lleyn peninsula into scale 100m x 100m squares and "....use your skill and judgement to place your X in the square..." you think it will happen. Not so much 'spot the ball' as 'spot the crater'?

However, they do say that admitting you have a problem with something is the essential first step towards resolving it and at least by coming clean shaggy has prompted reminders of the steps we should all take every time (and of course everyone does. Everyone. Every time.) to ensure our and others' safety. You can't repeat good advice too many times!

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Hah De Hah ! Good job i dont take myself too seriously ( not like some ). No matter what you , if you dont push your luck now and again its pipe and slippers time..and even though i ve just passed 50 ( OUCH! ) im not ready for knitting classes either . Anyway im just off out ont. bike ( ZX12R )..of course i ve never been faster than 70 :lol:

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Hah De Hah ! Good job i dont take myself too seriously ( not like some ). No matter what you , if you dont push your luck now and again its pipe and slippers time..and even though i ve just passed 50 ( OUCH! ) im not ready for knitting classes either . Anyway im just off out ont. bike ( ZX12R )..of course i ve never been faster than 70 :lol:

Grandads Rule

Pete b

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I really am quite surprised by this forum. Here is a guy who has tried to make light of his disproportionate number of outlandings, and perhaps raise a little of a collective smile, and here he is getting a right pasting! I'm glad to note that Pete seems to be taking the OP in the manner in which it seemed to be intended, because I don't remember anyone pointing out all of HIS faults after a recent spill. I'm not so proud that I can't say I haven't had a few unexpected landings away, but maybe I should have checked the torque of my cylinder head studs before each flight, and fitted a new spark plug cap just in case the old one came off. When MY exhaust fractured all the way round at a weld, I hadn't seen any warning signs either, but then maybe my preflight is crap too. Anyway, we all know that I can make a crater just as big as the next guy!

I'm glad you are all so perfect, as it really must make the skies a safe place to be.

Phil

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Ouch, ouch, ouch.

I am certainly not perfect, I had to make an emergency landing after getting caught in a storm, I saw it coming but could also see the field a little way off, but the storm won the race.

I am very much in favour of pilots like Gordon reminding us of our responsibilities as Pilot in Command of a flying machine. The privilege of being able to fly such a fun machine has to be linked with good procedures for the benefit of all.

I am also keen that shaggydec and others continue posting so we can all learn from others experiences and maybe have a laugh at the same time. After all that's what the PMC is here for, to promote the fun.

Safe flying,

Alan

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Phil,

It's called Hyena Syndrome. :lol:

As long as the central figure doesn't feel he is being gobbled up to painfully, they wade in for a bite. Sometimes to prove how clever they are, others to score points and those who have either 'seen' or been there and want to save others the journey.

'Not making accusations here, the general theme does seem light hearted. Good natured debate and honest advice given in good faith - it can make us reflect on our experiences, adjust attitudes and maybe even save damage, injury or worse. That is the very best a forum can offer imho.

I enjoy reading about other peoples experiences and never stop learning. You can always pull something from these entries. Good on you Shaggy for being so open - can you take the next step? There are some gems here for us born of experience, can you find 'em?

hyena_pup.jpg

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That first paragraph fit's me to a tee Norman. I'm still laughing like a Hyena now. I shouldn't be so smug though, as my day will probably come, and I'll divulge any information I can, (aslong as I'm still alive) to increase other's knowledge, so they dont make the same mistake. A far worse thing is the amount of mishaps that get hushed up, for whatever reason !

Shaggydec's post was good in that it highlighted some problems and Gordon's equally good in how to resolve/prevent some of them. I certainly learnt from both.

Still like to know what type of machine, but no pressure. It would probably be good to make a table of breakages of each type and after how many hours run time of every available unit out there. Could save people trouble in the long run.

Dave

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:lol: I like your style Dave!

Yep! he who makes no mistakes learns nothing.

He who learns from others mistakes learns a lot but sometimes not as much...

I wonder sometimes if it is just simply embarrassment that stops people reporting incidents/accidents. The RAF, Army, Navy, airlines and aviation in general have developed a culture of owning up and documenting clarts and mishaps. We enjoy them for what they are and learn a lot from them. It isn't much fun starring in them but the response from others can be amazing.

If we are talking about ERRORS and SITUATIONS, Anticipate, Avoid, Trap and Mitigate is the mantra today.

That is how you save bent metal, scratches, breaks and wakes.

Why try to reinvent the wheel? Let's encourage and develop that healthy and refreshing SAFETY CULTURE here.

Edited by Guest
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Ouch, ouch, ouch.

I am certainly not perfect, I had to make an emergency landing after getting caught in a storm, I saw it coming but could also see the field a little way off, but the storm won the race.

Safe flying,

Alan

This sounds VERY like Lockerbie and a few other places on the tip to tip, so I too can stick my hand up to one or two 'weather' forced landings.

As far as ground obstacles go.......

Good piloting involves making sure that you ALWAYS have somewhere to land. You must always be able to 'glide clear' of any obstacles to a clear LZ. This includes just after take off of course.

I think of it as sea. so if I am flying along at say 1000ft and I can not glide clear of a woods or road system, and so on, I imagine that it is the Icy cold sea. This helps to make the decision, shall I or not?

SW :D

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Hit the kill switch and could not restart :?

out of fuel once :D

Full twist in riser trapping brake line :shock:

Could not get in the harness :(

Weather turned for the worse :(

Flying midday in the summer :shock::?:shock::oops::cry::o:)

landing down wind :roll:

landing cross wind :roll:

And don't even get me started on take offs :lol:

Pete b

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9 incidents here Pete..... but out of how many thousand flights?

Dont know the hours stopped counting at about 400

Been flying about five and a half years now.

We all make mistakes that we know we should not, but thats life I suppose.

Pete b

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Hit the kill switch and could not restart :?

out of fuel once :D

Full twist in riser trapping brake line :shock:

Could not get in the harness :(

Weather turned for the worse :(

Flying midday in the summer :shock::?:shock::oops::cry::o:)

landing down wind :roll:

landing cross wind :roll:

And don't even get me started on take offs :lol:

Pete b

Id categorise these in 2 blocks-

Preventable/Non preventable

Preventable

Hit the kill switch and could not restart- modify killswitch, add a guard to prevent accidental activation- I'll post a pic of my H&E modification tomorrow

Out of fuel once- Flightplanning, regular checks, self explanitory

Full twist in riser trapping brake line- Preflight checks.... if in any doubt.. clip out and set up again

Could not get in the harness- check legstraps before flying. Hangtest if necessary

Flying midday in the summer- WTF!!!

landing down wind- WTF!

landing cross wind- WTF!

Unpreventable

Weather turned for the worse- Even the best forecasts can be inaccurate, or local conditions can be different- terrain, etc..

?

And don't even get me started on take offs

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Hit the kill switch and could not restart :?

out of fuel once :D

Full twist in riser trapping brake line :shock:

Could not get in the harness :(

Weather turned for the worse :(

Flying midday in the summer :shock::?:shock::oops::cry::o:)

landing down wind :roll:

landing cross wind :roll:

And don't even get me started on take offs :lol:

Pete b

Id categorise these in 2 blocks-

Preventable/Non preventable

Preventable

Hit the kill switch and could not restart- modify killswitch, add a guard to prevent accidental activation- I'll post a pic of my H&E modification tomorrow

Out of fuel once- Flightplanning, regular checks, self explanitory

Full twist in riser trapping brake line- Preflight checks.... if in any doubt.. clip out and set up again

Could not get in the harness- check legstraps before flying. Hangtest if necessary

Flying midday in the summer- WTF!!!

landing down wind- WTF!

landing cross wind- WTF!

Unpreventable

Weather turned for the worse- Even the best forecasts can be inaccurate, or local conditions can be different- terrain, etc..

?

And don't even get me started on take offs

The guard pic would be good (I want to make one for my HE 120) I caught my kill switch twice now at low level but restarted thank god or send it to me script85@hotmail.com.

Cheers

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