kitepilot
New member
Hello all...
A bit late posting this story, but probably appropriate given what I already know.
On August 22, 2020 I had an engine failure in an Aeronca Chief which resulted in a good landing on I-40 (East of Ashville, NC), but a pretty substandard parking job...
I posted the whole story in the Viking Pilots board, but the specific reason why I am posting it here now, is because I got an unofficial update from the NSTB stating that they had found a leak in the main fuel tank.
I can't understand how a tank that I had been flying for hours suddenly developed a leak, and I haven't seen pictures or got a detailed description of it. But I know that many of those systems crossed over to newer models.
So...
Check your tanks!
I also learnt another thing:
Thousands of cars running down an enclosed freeway at 70-80 MPH generate a pretty turbulent wind tunnel.
As soon as I reached a height of about 2 cars stacked up, the turbulence began tossing me around so hard that I thought that it was going to throw me to the incoming lane. To make things more entertaining, I had to raise the nose at the last second because I was going to hit a car, then the airplane dropped, bounced, veered to the left, I corrected to the right, and from there on I didn't have any rudder authority and I was there for the ride.
I estimate that I hit the guardrail upwards of 50 MPH.
Still with my left foot in the pedal all the way to the bottom.
Maybe that explains the *BIG* bruise I had in my left butt cheek.
The running joke is that some people claim that I think with my A$$, and they were concerned that it could qualify as a brain injury!
I also learnt that shoulder restrains are a good investment.
I felt the tug in my lap at the moment of impact, and lurched forward like a torpedo thinking: "darn, that panel is going to ruin my make-up..."
But the airplane dipped the nose on impact and that cleared the space for me to walk out without plastering my face in the panel.
Remember, those airplanes are as crashworthy as a shopping cart!
And (of course), in the dash-cam era, I had to land in front of one to record my mishap for eternity.
I was informed by the FAA investigator about the video (below).
On the video, you can see the airplane low over the freeway banking up to (I estimate) 15-20 degrees.
That wasn't me!!!
That was the turbulence tossing me around!
Stay healthy my friends.
Don't land in unimproved freeways...
https://youtu.be/4gzGW7DodLU
Boy, did I make a splash...
https://www.wbtv.com/2020/08/22/pilot-escapes-unharmed-after-crashing-small-plane-onto-i-/
https://www.foxcarolina.com/news/crews-small-plane-makes-emergency-landing-on-i-40-in-mcdowell-county/article_535356e0-e4ce-11ea-9885-33ab7fb80580.html
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article245214265.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/landing-highway-in-north-carolina-why-planes-land-on-roads-2020-8
http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2013/03/bellanca-17-30a-super-viking-n96jg.html
At least I didn't do this:
http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2018/0...ber-n66gl.html
Puzzles me...
A bit late posting this story, but probably appropriate given what I already know.
On August 22, 2020 I had an engine failure in an Aeronca Chief which resulted in a good landing on I-40 (East of Ashville, NC), but a pretty substandard parking job...
I posted the whole story in the Viking Pilots board, but the specific reason why I am posting it here now, is because I got an unofficial update from the NSTB stating that they had found a leak in the main fuel tank.
I can't understand how a tank that I had been flying for hours suddenly developed a leak, and I haven't seen pictures or got a detailed description of it. But I know that many of those systems crossed over to newer models.
So...
Check your tanks!
I also learnt another thing:
Thousands of cars running down an enclosed freeway at 70-80 MPH generate a pretty turbulent wind tunnel.
As soon as I reached a height of about 2 cars stacked up, the turbulence began tossing me around so hard that I thought that it was going to throw me to the incoming lane. To make things more entertaining, I had to raise the nose at the last second because I was going to hit a car, then the airplane dropped, bounced, veered to the left, I corrected to the right, and from there on I didn't have any rudder authority and I was there for the ride.
I estimate that I hit the guardrail upwards of 50 MPH.
Still with my left foot in the pedal all the way to the bottom.
Maybe that explains the *BIG* bruise I had in my left butt cheek.
The running joke is that some people claim that I think with my A$$, and they were concerned that it could qualify as a brain injury!
I also learnt that shoulder restrains are a good investment.
I felt the tug in my lap at the moment of impact, and lurched forward like a torpedo thinking: "darn, that panel is going to ruin my make-up..."
But the airplane dipped the nose on impact and that cleared the space for me to walk out without plastering my face in the panel.
Remember, those airplanes are as crashworthy as a shopping cart!
And (of course), in the dash-cam era, I had to land in front of one to record my mishap for eternity.
I was informed by the FAA investigator about the video (below).
On the video, you can see the airplane low over the freeway banking up to (I estimate) 15-20 degrees.
That wasn't me!!!
That was the turbulence tossing me around!
Stay healthy my friends.
Don't land in unimproved freeways...
https://youtu.be/4gzGW7DodLU
Boy, did I make a splash...
https://www.wbtv.com/2020/08/22/pilot-escapes-unharmed-after-crashing-small-plane-onto-i-/
https://www.foxcarolina.com/news/crews-small-plane-makes-emergency-landing-on-i-40-in-mcdowell-county/article_535356e0-e4ce-11ea-9885-33ab7fb80580.html
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article245214265.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/landing-highway-in-north-carolina-why-planes-land-on-roads-2020-8
http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2013/03/bellanca-17-30a-super-viking-n96jg.html
At least I didn't do this:
http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2018/0...ber-n66gl.html
Puzzles me...
