Blog Archives - Page 102 of 199 - Golf Hotel Whiskey

A vintage Yak has a fatal accident in Essex

If you live in Essex, Sylvia, the blogger behind the Fear of Landing blog, has mentioned a fatal accident that occurred last week involving a vintage Yak aircraft that flew out of an airport she is very familiar with. Specifically, the incident report (Incident No: 7930) noted:

Incident No: 7930
Date: 28-04-2011
Time: 12:54
Details: Crashed light aircraft
Address: Ulting Lane, Langford Village
Attendance: 2 x Maldon, 1 x Colchester, 1 x Leigh Water Rescue, 2 x Orsett

Apparently, the aircraft was last seen flying in formation with two other aerobatic planes and all three aircraft had taken off from North Weald airfield. The lead aircraft in the formation then called in a mayday while a fisherman on the lake had contacted emergency services.

Sadly, the pilot and the passenger were later pulled out of the wreckage at the bottom of he lake and as of last week, no other details have been released about the incident.

It sounds to me like the aircraft may have stalled during acrobatic practice maneuvers. However and if any of our readers in Essex has more information about what happened, feel free to write a comment in the comments section.

The “JetMan” plans a Grand Canyon flight on a jet pack

The Web Aviation blog has recently noted that Yves Rossy, a Swiss engineer and aviator who has been nicknamed the “JetMan,” will (on May 6) fly across the Grand Canyon on a jet pack. Rossy is the first human to achieve sustained human flight using the power of a jet pack that he controls with his body. Already he has used his jet pack to fly across the Geneva river, the Alps, the English Channel and partially across the Strait of Gibraltar where he was forced to ditch (unharmed) into the ocean due to poor weather.

The jet pack itself was designed by him and straps onto his body just like a normal backpack. Its powered by 4 jet engines that were modified from model aircraft engines that were then attached to the undersides of semi-rigid carbon fibre wings. However, the engines are not powerful enough to allow him to take off from the ground on his own and hence, he must takeoff from onboard a plane.

For steering, Rossy uses his body to act as a rudder and during past flights, he has managed to reach speeds of up to 304 km/h (189 mph). In other words, Rossy has plenty of courage to just strap a jet pack on and then fly across rivers, mountains and open water. Hence, we wish the JetMan the best of luck for his Friday jet pack flight across the Grand Canyon.

Lessons from a fatal Cirrus crash

If you own or regularly fly a Cirrus or any aircraft for that matter, Rick Beach has written a lengthy and must read post for the Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association (COPA) about a fatal Cirrus crash in North Carolina. Rick began his post by noting excerpts from the NTSB report about the crash:

Witnesses observed the airplane overfly the runway and enter a left traffic pattern. The airplane appeared to be faster than they were accustomed to seeing small airplanes operating. The airplane touched down hard on the runway surface and bounced several times before departing off the left side into the grass. The engine was described by the witnesses as operating at full power and the airplane appeared to by flying about 60 to 70 mph. The nose of the airplane was observed in a 45-degree nose up attitude and then leveled out back onto the ground.

The aircraft’s left wing then hit a tree while the rest of the aircraft hit the airport’s perimeter fence. The NTSB ruled that the cause of the accident was the pilot’s improper recovery from a bounced landing and then an improper go-around procedure.

However, Rick then pointed out that the pilot had never flown to the Chapel Airport before and from satellite pictures of the airport, he noticed that trees seem much closer to the runway and this could impact exposure to winds and crosswinds in particular. Hence, he discussed at length what procedures a pilot should take when landing on a runway at an unfamiliar airport.

In addition, Rick wrote about what he termed as “lazy right foot syndrome” as he pointed out that Cirrus runway excursion incidents usually seem to be on the left side of the runway. Hence, he is under the suspicion that Cirrus pilots are failing to apply sufficient right rudder in order to compensate for the left-turning tendency when full power is applied.

Finally, Rick also covered the topics of landing speeds, landing too fast resulting in runway bounces, the go around decision/procedure and flying with other pilots (In the incident, there was another pilot in the aircraft who had had zero time in a Cirrus but 12,500 hours in other types of aircraft).

Rick’s entire lengthy article is well worth reading plus you can read more about the crash on the following COPA forum thread: Cirrus fatal #65 in SR20 N527MJ near Chapel Hill (was Sr 20 Down Chapel Hill).

Three BASIC flying rules…

Try to stay in the middle of the air.
Do not go near the edges of it.
The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there.

How to master short field landings

Jason Schappert, the blogger behind the MzeroA site, has recently written a post where he compiled his three videos about short field landings. He also noted that in his most recent video, he took one of his students over Cedar Key for some short field landing practice (and of course, a bite to eat). This video contains mostly raw footage of traffic patterns plus short field landing practice.

Hence and if you think that you will need to do a short field landing at some point as a pilot, all three of Jason’s videos are well worth watching.

Microlights & LSAs: Now everyone can fly

Bob H., an ultralight aviation fan who writes about ultralights and microlights, has written a great post for the Planegrazy blog about ultralights/microlights and light sport aircraft (LSA) that is well worth reading by a would-be pilot who has concerns about the high costs associated with learning how to fly and flying in general. Bob began his post by noting that so-called ultralight experimental aircraft have different names in different regions. Specifically, they tend to be known as ultralights or light sport aircraft (LSAs) in the USA and as microlights in Europe.

However, Bob added that it doesn’t really matter where you are located, what you call these aircraft and just what the exact specifications are because these “toy” aircraft offer the following key advantages:

Regulations are relaxed. In fact, they are usually much more relaxed than the rules and regulations for flying either light aircraft or private jets.
Prices are lower. Some ultralight/microlight aircraft prices start in the US$20,000 range for a brand new one and can be even cheaper for a second hand aircraft.
Fuel consumption is lower. More importantly, most ultralight/microlight aircraft will use regular car gas and consume only 3 to 5 gallons per hour. In contrast, light aircraft fuel consumption will start at 8 gallons for a 4-seater.
Training is easier. Less flying hours will be required. Hence, getting a sport pilot or an experimental pilot license will be easier and cheaper.
Storage or hangar fees are lower. Since the aircraft are smaller, associated airport costs will be lower. Moreover, an ultralight/microlight trike can even be kept in your garage.

Bob went on to write about some specific types of aircraft such as fixed wing airplanes, flex wing aircraft, ultralight helicopter, Amphibians, floats, seaplanes and powered paragliders.

Finally, Bob ended his post by noting that if the cost of flying ultralights/microlights and LSAs are still to high, you could always consider joining a flying club. Moreover, an ultralight/microlight can be rented for a day or two – so long as you have a license to fly it. Hence and if you really want to fly, there is nothing to stop you.