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Stuck in the Mud .............. What to do ?.

Pittsartist

Well Known Member
For the first time in 18 years, I finally managed to get myself completely STUCK on some soft, muddy ground earlier this week.

Until this happened It has never really hit me just how big a problem this could actually be. In the back of my mind I'd always thought the aeroplane could just be dragged / dug out much like a car etc. I've just found out the hard way it's NOT like that !.

I'd be very interested to hear from some of the experienced guys on the forum about how best to deal with this problem ?.

First, some context.

An RV-6 tail dragger, 50% fuel, otherwise empty. so about 1350lb. 160hp F/P prop, Standard wheels, spats. aftermarket tailwheel.

I'd got up early and taken off after a night of -4C temperatures - Light snow on the ground, I know now that there was a frozen crust on the turf. The ground itself was not unusual (not quite sure how to describe "regular" soil - but not sand or clay - just regular ground at the side of what is usually a wheat field)

When I returned an hour later I landed OK, turned 180 and back tracked towards hangers, but hit a soft patch about 50' from the ramp. The aircraft stopped quite quickly and that was it - no amount of power was going to get it moving again !.

When I shut down / got out I saw that the ground had melted in a sunny patch and was now fairly deep mud about the consistency of soft plasticine. The main wheels had sunk so the spats were about 2" below surface level.

I did eventually get the aircraft out, It took roughly 3 hours and involved 2 people, shovels, cardboard, timber and a LOT of very hard work. ..... NEVER Again !!!

Back to the reason for the post. This is not the sort of "emergency" they teach you how to deal with in flying school. I'm pretty good at spotting and handling soft runways - but I'm interested to hear peoples thoughts on how to deal with a stuck aircraft.

Tow it ?. (where from / how ?)
Dig it out ?
Use the Engine (Or just push ?.)
Go Forwards or Backwards ?.
Do's / Dont's ?
Etc Etc .........
 
Glad to hear you got it out.
Yesterday I did a maintenance flight and the ground was frozen but I was aware that we’d had a lot of rain before the freeze.
I guess if in doubt removing the spats before flying would give a lot more options to tow from the gear legs. But if you’ve got spats on and then get stuck, the options become more limited.
Instead of pulling in a straight line I find rotating the aircraft side to side moving one wheel at a time helps get it moving. I often have to do this on the grass outside the hanger if it’s soft.
Possibly taking the cowls off and pulling from the gear leg mounts might be best.
Trying to use high engine power on a stuck tail wheel aircraft is just asking for a prop strike. For a start clearance is already reduced as you’ve sunk and if the tail lifts then you’ve got a expensive prop and engine tear down.
My plan is to fit slightly larger tyres to help when my first set wear out.

At the previous grass strip I was based (Baxterley) there were parts I avoided in the winter. Regular walks down the strip to learn what parts got wet and soft pays dividends.

Peter
 
mud

Totally empathize with you - I have a small patch of grass between my hangar and the taxiways and on top of that, there seem to be moles creating small mounds of dirt.

It's been very rainy/snowy lately, and the last few times I've almost gotten stuck coming back in when it warms up. You can see my tracks in the lower left of this image. Hangar to the right.

webcam.php.jpeg

The cleanup on the wheel pants and tailwheel is not that fun. I've got some protective covering under the wheel pants to (hopefully) reduce the damage to the paint there.

I remember in the old days there were mountains of Marston Mat all over the place just for the asking. One of the grass runways in the region has a layer of mat just below the surface. It seems to be harder and harder to find. I've also thought of using the rubber stuff they use in horse stables, or some other large sheets of mat, but have not yet found the right solution.

I think it's time for some gravel or some other method to stay out of the mud. Happy for some good, cheap, temporary ideas!
 
How we've handled this with Cessnas is to jack them up until you can get a board or sheet of plywood under the wheel to spread the weight out, then pull them out with straps attached at the mains. I don't see why that wouldn't work with pretty much any airplane.

If you don't have access to a wing jack or whatever, then yeah, you're pretty much going the shovel and brute force method.
 
DON'T USE POWER

Don't use power. The engine is the enemy and won't help one bit. There isn't enough power to pull the plane out of the mud. Using power only sucks dirt and debris from the soft ground into the propeller. I've seen props ruined in less than a minute. Go from a perfectly good propeller blades to strands of composite spaghetti after an attempt at powering out of soft gravel. Puddles and water are quite terrible as well. Water is hard as a rock when hit at propeller tip speeds and peels open a propeller blade leading edge like a banana. That's quite common on float planes, and requires near constant maintenance.

Besides ruining the prop, all the bits that don't hit the blades are flying back at the wings and tail. Some Cessna tail draggers, 180s and such, have rubber leading edges on the horizontal stabilizer. That is to protect from damage when flying on gravel strips. That's just for normal take-offs and landings.
 
I got my 6A stuck while taxing to the other end of the runway. I asked my son to operate the throttle while I pushed on one of the steps. First I put my weight on the tail and got the nose wheel out. Once the plane started to move he proceeded to taxie it at almost full throttle to the other end of the runway with me chasing behind yelling for him to STOP! He dug three 6" deep rutts all the way down the runwy. The wheel farings were packed solid with mud. We removed them and I was able to take off without farings. I took the plane to another airport and left it there until our runway dried out.
Another time I landed and got stuck after slowing down to taxie speed. I was able to tie two long ropes to the tie-down rings and pull it out with my tractor.
 
An ounce of prevention....

“Don't use power. The engine is the enemy and won't help one bit. There isn't enough power to pull the plane out of the mud.”


A cautionary tale. I’m in west central MN so very used to snow and soft conditions. Power up enough to keep it moving. Well not a good idea with an RV8 and soft ground. I’m on a farmstead with a grass strip. There’s a “taxiway” that is just mowed grass which was low and soft but I had taxied over it a few times already that day.

I was just 10 hours into my flight testing. After a flight I was taxing back to the hangar on the taxiway and the aircraft started slowing. All my preprogrammed instincts kicked in and I brought the power up accordingly. Thinking I must be just about through I gave it a good shot of power and the tail came up faster than you can blink. The composite Whirl Wind prop chewed into the soft ground splintering it. There I sat in stunned silence hanging against the shoulder harness string at the green grass.
I extricated myself from the plane and looked at my pride and joy standing on its nose at a 70 degree nose down angle with the prop blade stump stuck in the soft earth. A sight no builder should ever have to see. The wheels were in up to the axels. There is no way the aircraft could move forward. Certainly not a scenario I anticipated in the fly off.
I took some photos thinking I may need them for the insurance, lowered the tail and pulled it out backward with a rope on the tail wheel tube.

Of course it entailed a virtually new propellor and engine tear down inspection. I have since also installed the 380x150 /15x6 oversized tires.

We do operate our aircraft off grass and at times soft conditions. I still do. But now should I encounter the same situation I’ll shut it down quickly and pull it back out. Like a go around...the sooner the better if it needs to be done.

Brett N
 
Most adult males or teenage boys can lift a 2 seat RV by getting under the wing and arching their back. I have seen tires changed this way. Have someone lift it that way and slide some plywood under the wheel. Then pull it out without using the engine.
 
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