forced landing No1

[shaggydec]

Well boys and girls,seeing as my mishaps have raised a few comments i thought i could pass on some experience....

One Saturday night earlier in the year the weather forecast warned of winds likely to cause structural damage,and boy did we have a rough time. Anyway the following morning they had dropped a fair bit so being keen for a fly i stuck up the windsock in my field...Yes , fair enough it was windy , BLOODY WINDY , but with 10hrs flying under my belt i was Mr Keen!

Reverse launch was Fantastic! Went up like a helicopter ! Once id climbed passed all the rotor from the trees in the forest ( yes i can hear you cringing ) , i realised things were nt good I was about 300ft up and being chucked about a bit , so decided to do a 360 back to land . trouble was that by the time id managed to circle , the wind had blown me 1/4mile passed my landing site

So now im giving it full thrust , gaining height and going in reverse ! My mate saw me from the ground and said i was at a funny angle , and thought i was waving! , but believe me i looked like an amateur break dancer

Anyway , decided to try my 360 tactics again because i was heading for Snowdonia..well reversing into it , and couldn t think of much else to do ( cant phone a friend up there can you ? )

Success ! This seemed to be working , and gradually i was losing height . Ironically , i landed in a field near a cemetry , 3 1/2 mls from base.

Had to walk through 3 muddy fields to find the road but it felt good to me !

I know i shouldnt have flown that day (well i know now!!) but what a good/bad experience ! Could nt get that out of a book...Oh and when i got back home it d blown my windsock down !

[gordon_dunn]

Interesting.... And who was your instructor?

[Phil_P]

Not everyone has one, Gordon. Even those that have, can very soon be making decisions for themselves. If the conditions aren't the same as you've encountered in your training, you are breaking totally new ground, with only yourself as mentor. Some folks tend to err on the side of caution, others, myself included, seem to have an over-inflated idea of what they are capable of dealing with. The result for me has been fairly expensive in terms of props and cage quarters, but I think that now my opinion of my own ability (and the capacity of the equipment) is coming closer to reality. I still make mistakes, but the stuff I've learned so far has tended to render those mistakes relatively benign.

Shaggy, thanks for sharing. Perhaps if I had read more postings like yours, my sense of my own ability might have been more accurate from day one. For me, keep them coming and stuff the personal criticism. Hopefully the cost to you will mean that in similar circumstances, someone else might might know to avoid the problem.

ATB Phil

[pete_b]

Well boys and girls,seeing as my mishaps have raised a few comments i thought i could pass on some experience....

One Saturday night earlier in the year the weather forecast warned of winds likely to cause structural damage,and boy did we have a rough time. Anyway the following morning they had dropped a fair bit so being keen for a fly i stuck up the windsock in my field...Yes , fair enough it was windy , BLOODY WINDY , but with 10hrs flying under my belt i was Mr Keen!

Reverse launch was Fantastic! Went up like a helicopter ! Once id climbed passed all the rotor from the trees in the forest ( yes i can hear you cringing ) , i realised things were nt good I was about 300ft up and being chucked about a bit , so decided to do a 360 back to land . trouble was that by the time id managed to circle , the wind had blown me 1/4mile passed my landing site

So now im giving it full thrust , gaining height and going in reverse ! My mate saw me from the ground and said i was at a funny angle , and thought i was waving! , but believe me i looked like an amateur break dancer

Anyway , decided to try my 360 tactics again because i was heading for Snowdonia..well reversing into it , and couldn t think of much else to do ( cant phone a friend up there can you ? )

Success ! This seemed to be working , and gradually i was losing height . Ironically , i landed in a field near a cemetry , 3 1/2 mls from base.

Had to walk through 3 muddy fields to find the road but it felt good to me !

I know i shouldnt have flown that day (well i know now!!) but what a good/bad experience ! Could nt get that out of a book...Oh and when i got back home it d blown my windsock down !

PMC PPG2 would have helped you ?

Pete b

[shaggydec]

Not everyone has one, Gordon. Even those that have, can very soon be making decisions for themselves. If the conditions aren't the same as you've encountered in your training, you are breaking totally new ground, with only yourself as mentor. Some folks tend to err on the side of caution, others, myself included, seem to have an over-inflated idea of what they are capable of dealing with. The result for me has been fairly expensive in terms of props and cage quarters, but I think that now my opinion of my own ability (and the capacity of the equipment) is coming closer to reality. I still make mistakes, but the stuff I've learned so far has tended to render those mistakes relatively benign.

Shaggy, thanks for sharing. Perhaps if I had read more postings like yours, my sense of my own ability might have been more accurate from day one. For me, keep them coming and stuff the personal criticism. Hopefully the cost to you will mean that in similar circumstances, someone else might might know to avoid the problem.

ATB Phil

Thanks for that Phil...Im only telling it like it is...been there , done that . learning all the time

[norman]

What troubles me slightly is ... when you made your decision to fly, what criterion were you applying?

Did you say, "Well the wind is 5kts above my personal limit and forecast to get worse, but hey, I need the experience."

Or did you say, "I just want to go flying and I think I should be OK, to hell with it, I'm going."

Accidents seldom happen for mechanical failure or external reasons, MOST, probably near 70% of them flower from our inappropriate choices.

By definition this means that we can avoid accident and injury by making informed choices. The word informed implies training, but more than that, the discipline to remain within the parameters that your training defined as most likely to be safe. After many hundreds of hours you may still make errors when you move outside those limits but (because of that experience) you might around to beat yourself up with the following;

"The superior aviator uses his superior knowledge and skill to avoid situations that might require the use of them."

Shaggy does us all a service by highlighting the kind of thing that is happening out there. What can I say, you are the pilot in command - make the wrong choice or fail to listen to that little fellow on your shoulder (the result of training) whispering in your ear and the consequences can be painful. Perhaps for you, worse for your family.

NOBODY is immune, absolutely nobody.

Ponder this.

A pilot gets airborne in winds that are brisk but they freshen further after take-off. His mates are now experiencing 20knots on the ground but he is feeling 35k-40ts at 1000' below that he is getting a severe kicking from rotor. Like Shaggy he is then flying backwards at 15 knots with no prospect of landing safely. Now lets say he is near the coast and the wind is blowing offshore.

If that was you, what would you do next? Enjoy your supper.

NB: A paramotor cruises flat out at around 20-25kts at best doesn't it?

[pete_b]

EDIT

Ponder this.

A pilot gets airborne in winds that are brisk but they freshen further after take-off. His mates are now experiencing 20knots on the ground but he is feeling 35k-40ts at 1000' below that he is getting a severe kicking from rotor. Like Shaggy he is then flying backwards at 15 knots with no prospect of landing safely. Now lets say he is near the coast and the wind is blowing offshore.

If that was you, what would you do next? Enjoy your supper.

NB: A paramotor cruises flat out at around 20-25kts at best doesn't it?

Full fast trim, full speedbar, Big Big ears and poo pants

Pete b

[tj]

Hi guys,

Sounds to me like Shaggy's a pretty big man for sharing his experiences. The old expression about old and bold and bags of luck and experience and all that springs to mind. The more of us that can share near misses and potential problems hopefully helps us learn.

The best bit is that Shag's about and able to tell us. Now 'we' (I count myself as a potential) have to take something away. How many 'experienced' pilots always check weather, brief themselves and stick exactly to their plan on absolutely every flight?

Anyhow, toodle pip.

Tj

[gordon_dunn]

"The superior aviator uses his superior knowledge and skill to avoid situations that might require the use of them."

Excellent quote Norman!!!

[norman]

Thanks Gordon, not one of mine of course, burgled from some boring old fart.

Love it Pete! At least he kept running just like you would have to keep flying. I wonder if this boy below should have used his superior judgement to sit this one out when he felt that 'flock of pigeons' in his lower abdomen earlier.

I flew home in a nappy once, I wouldn't do it again in a hurry. LOL