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RV lands on soccer field

that was great airmanship. impressive. ;)

the hero in the book i was reading last night escaped off the mountain in a ultralite and landed in a soccer field at night. clive cussler devils gate. :eek:
 
They do say in the story, and you can see in the video, that the right wing struck a sign on the way in. Looks like minor damage to the leading edge near the outboard end of the fuel tank.

Nice work getting it down safely in a tight area. Makes me want to go practice short field landings...
 
I've always wondered how a plane is recovered from an area like that. Will they allow you to take back off once fixed or do you have to disassemble and trailer back to the airport? A rural road is one thing, but a soccer field in town?
 
Bill, that really varies by area. A pilot of mine ran an Air Tractor out of fuel, a couple years ago, next to a 4-lane highway in our rural area and landed on it.

The sheriff's deputy was a kind, considerate sort and he stopped traffic for us to take off...what little traffic there was.

More than likely, this one will probably have to have its wings removed and trailered back. A soccer field is really short, even diagonally.

Best,
 
And no bent nosewheel. Nice job!!!

Thanks for taking one for the team. Now we all know that soccer fields are a viable place to put it down if need be...if, there are no soccer players present!
 
I've landed my plane on a soccer field hundreds of times with room to spare.

(RC glider, but can't be much different ;))
 
If it is the soccer fields I am thinking of, I think there is plenty of room to take off. There must be 10-15 soccer fields in that complex. They may have to move some goals and other things, but it is pretty big. But, I think they can pretty easily just tow it back. I think the roads are OK for that. It is almost directly south of the airport.

Nice job setting it down in a good spot. Also lucky was no people on the fields.
 
But wait, there's more...

I'd point out that where he really scored was in having a soccer field in front of him that was not enclosed by power lines. More than just something to think about, eh?
 
https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&so...,-112.000895&spn=0.0228,0.053558&z=14&iwloc=A

There is a google map link in the ksl story showing the airport and just to the south you can see the soccer field complex. It is basically right off the end of the runway 16. This is the 3rd airplane to land there is the past couple of years Not all so lucky with no damage) and yes there is multiple soccer fields grouped together at this location.

I haven't landed there myself, this airport is about 30 miles south of my home airport and under the SLC Class B shelf.
 
field or parking lot?

nice work on getting down intact. a couple of thoughts;

would I head for an empty parking lot 500' long, or 2000' of grass? both may have been options in location.
asphalt ; better braking and roll-out with no 'flip', but more likely power lines etc.
grass; much more forgiving of precise touch-down point, but lots of potential hazards - ditches, posts, gopher holes, less braking etc. hmmmmmmm.

from a PR point of view, I'd be a bit rattled and not wanting to talk to a reporter, that's for sure.
.....would be nice to have a buddy nearby to do the talking. In any case, presenting the 'small-engined experimental pilot' in the best light possible is important! :) ( maybe lose the toque and sunglasses:rolleyes:
 
Well this wasn't the way I wanted to make my first front page appearance, but I'll take it :)

I will post my story with pictures tonight.
 
pictures

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Left Logan at 4:10 ish KLGU- for a company meeting in SLC U42 No problems during the flight. Unfortunately They route you pretty low right over the middle of salt lake as you're passing by the tower- so i was at 5500 ft as i squawked vfr and set up for a right base for the field. So problem one- already lower than i like- field elevation is 4600. make my turn to final- pull the power back a bit more to get under 100 mph for flaps-- put the first notch of flaps in, and run through landing check again- somewhere amidst this i go to add power because my glide path is a little low- This is the tricky part. I still don't know exactly how long my engine was out before i figured it out. You have to understand- smooth airplane (i've had compliments on the smoothness and quietness from other rv owners) power is supposed to be at idle anyway- and the prop didn't stop, its windmilling. Lightspeed Zulu? not much to hear. Anyway, so eventually pumping the throttle i realize that i am engineless. This is how high? maybe 750 ft high? at that point my glide dropped far below the runway and i am suddenly super concerned that i am right on the edge of making the soccer field. I put my flaps back up as this glide thing is going through my mind. I have maybe 10 more seconds to try anything to get the motor going- put the mixture richer, confirm carb heat, boost pump, fuel selector- pump pump pump throttle. Nothing. No time. No more time. Fly the airplane. (south valley traffic 00Z going down in a park just south of the runway) I am not going to make the field. i do an intermediate level off to clear the building south of the park, but only enough to clear (actually split the buildings thats how close it was) and then pitch back down to try to maintain the rest of my airspeed as possible for the flare. Flare- happened so fast, obviously didn't have much airspeed left because i went full rear stick fast- was hard but good enough- next problem. Trees. had one or two seconds- hard rudder input, whack, (split trees but hit park sign) and go up a hill to a level off where i jamb the breaks and keep elevator back of course. wow i stopped fast. I stop just before the second sidewalk and a second set of trees. I am alive! I am ridiculously lucky i made that field. I didn't flip! I hit my wing.... I am ALIVE! GET OUT! gas is coming out of my right wing- flip everything off and jump out.

some basic observations-

1) the time between when i knew i had an emergency and the time i was stopped on the ground felt like 1 minute at the most. Could have been longer but thats my guess. Couldn't have been much worse as far as loosing an engine at the wrong time. absolutely no time to pick a field, almost zero time to troubleshoot the motor, already lower than i like to fly my approach.

2) the wind hurt my glide but also reduced my landing speed. there was a pretty good wind from the north that day. THAT is why i was wearing a hat i had in my plane, sorry flyboy1963 to loose your PR vote. It was realllly cold and i was out there for hours. furthermore I didn't jump out of the plane and go run for an interview, they came an hour later, and i couldn't think of a reason not to talk to them. This was a positive general aviation incident- if there is such a thing?


3) I am really really lucky! some may substitute lucky for divine intervention, that would be appropriate. What if anything can i really give myself credit for? at least i maximized my glide, flew the airplane, and kept her from stalling. missed the trees? almost... clipped the edge of one and took out a sign, it was as good as i could have asked for but of course no damage would have been better. I absolutely cannot complain.

4) This is a scary one to admit. I didn't look at the airspeed gauge once during the emergency. The last time i looked at it was right as i was falling below 95mph to make sure i could get some flaps out. i would guess i flew the glide around 90- just kept my nose pointed where i knew it had to be to maintain. my prop stopped windmilling as i leveled out right before the field, it stopped horizontally which was nice. after the initial landing i split the trees and was moving really fast- went up a hill that seemed steeper at the time than after- this caused my nose to fly up in the air and my tail to smack the ground pretty hard. bent up the rear tie down. doesn't seem too bad. FAA guy told me today there is no spar damage and that this will be considered an incident, not an accident which is great for many reasons.

5) not even enough time to put flaps in. when would i have done that? they're electric it takes like 5 or more seconds? might have been a nice touch to have jerked the handle up on the manual ones if i had had them.- right at touchdown...

The nose held up! It does have the antisplatt nose job if anyone is wondering. no wheel pant damage at all.

Now as for the reason- yes everyone kept asking if it was gas but i had plenty. i started thinking about carb ice initially- i had used carb heat on my descent from 8k down to 5,5k (15-16mp) and remember pushing it back in after. then flew 5.5k over downtown slc for 5 more minutes and headed for the airport. There was no significant long descent at a pulled back power setting- i used it when i was supposed to.

My mixture was rich enough. I richened it during my descent and am very confident about the setting where it was at. FAA guy checked out throttle and mixture linkages today and said they worked great. He also gave a great compliment to the guy i bought this from- told me he could eat off the motor and that it was very nicely done (recent OH 50 hours ago new crank, the works and FWF was brand new practically- A&P rebuilt after a previous owner's nose collapse on a bad soft field)

But that just maddens me even more- this was supposed to be a new airplane mechanically speaking. i have already put a lot of hours in this thing (over 25 in 3 months) and the only trouble i have had was a dirty contact point on the impulse mag a couple weeks ago. I had around 5 hours or more on the plane since the mag incident.

The FAA guy was on the phone with me during the day today a few times- near the end of the day he was mentioning that the left tank wasn't draining very well and suspected a possible blockage somewhere? started asking about tank sump filters and other possible blockages. So he hasn't found the answer yet. I keep replaying it in my mind, trying to think of something i did wrong or could have done. I can't wait to find out.

I am so glad i was in an RV! My last plane was a Varieze and it would have been ugly. i am impressed with the sturdiness of my RV and although i would have enjoyed a 9As wing for glide, I was really glad to have a 23 ft wingspan when the local FBO towed me back to the airport!! police escort, and shimmied it through the gate. only 1/2 a mile or so. Any other plane would have had to be disassembled!

At this point i don't know exactly how this is going to affect my future flying and decision making. The biggest loss is the confidence of those around me that have or would have flown with me in the future. I love flying but sharing it is hard enough without those you know hearing your plane went down, and its an EXPERIMENTAL, and only crazy people build airplanes, and they crash all the time. Sigh. I am alive though!
 
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"Field Closed"? I think not... you showed that sign who's boss!

Nice job man. No worries on the damage, duct tape hides all.
 
Great job, excellent report, good flying - you deserve a couple of days off! Thanks for sharing the whole story - will be interesting to hear if/when you find the cause.

Paul
 
I must have watched the KSL video 5 times already. I know that part of town and there are not that many places to put your plane down in an emergency. If finally hit me what I found so interesting about this emergency landing. The pilot was SO CLOSE to the airport, how hard must it have been to not try to s-t-r-e-t-c-h his glide out just a little more. He wouldn't have to deal with media, damage to his new plane, embarrassment, and the hundred other things that go along with an off-field landing.

The split second choices he made - fly the plane all the way to the ground and you can't change physics by "hoping", made this a happy ending and a cool story he can tell people the rest of his life rather than others telling the story about him.

Nice work Erik. As a low time pilot, I appreciate being able to learn from your great example. thanks for the rest of the story!
 
Glad you made it down!

I'm apart of the USU aviation program, i think ive seen you and your plane wandering around LGU.
 
No THAT is keeping your act together! Incredible story and thanks for taking the time to submit your report to us.

Sooo glad to see you walking around.

Great job,
 
Flare- happened so fast, obviously didn't have much airspeed left because i went full rear stick fast- was hard but good enough- next problem. Trees. had one or two seconds- hard rudder input, whack, (split trees but hit park sign) and go up a hill to a level off where i jamb the breaks and keep elevator back of course. wow i stopped fast. I stop just before the second sidewalk and a second set of trees. I am alive! I am ridiculously lucky i made that field. I didn't flip!
.
.
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The nose held up! It does have the antisplatt nose job if anyone is wondering. no wheel pant damage at all.

There's some good product testimonial for anti-splat. I have not yet made the mod but may now.
 
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Erik,

Great Job..

Thanks for taking the time and sharing your experience with us in detail
 
My biggest fear

Yep, my biggest fear is in this story. No, it's not the off field landing but having to take the wing bolts on my -6 out to remove the wings. :D

Terrific job on getting down safely and as others said thanks for the great report. I learn more everyday on this site.
 
At this point i don't know exactly how this is going to affect my future flying and decision making. The biggest loss is the confidence of those around me that have or would have flown with me in the future. I love flying but sharing it is hard enough without those you know hearing your plane went down, and its an EXPERIMENTAL, and only crazy people build airplanes, and they crash all the time. Sigh. I am alive though!

Erik,

Very good to hear of a "happy" outcome to your incident.

Yes, your quote above is the most difficult consequence of an off-airport event that ends with no serious injury. The RV can be repaired, but our psyche often requires a more extensive overhaul. Not only has the trust you had in your plane been damaged, you also must deal with relationships in your corner of the aviation world that have been impacted.

Take a few days off, decompress, the RV will still be there once you are ready to decide how you will move forward. When you fly your plane again, don't be discouraged if it takes time for your trust in the RV to be reestablished.

Best wishes for a speedy and successful "recovery". :)

A side note: were the tanks sloshed?
 
Look inside the fuel tanks to see if the previous builder sloshed or coated them with a"White" type solution.

They recommended this years ago and then subsequently found it peels off in sheets or pieces then of course clogs the fuel lines, filter, carb or injectors, etc...

The suggestion is that you could have had fuel starvation from that.

Easy to check.
 
Eric, the "Slosh" was poured into the tank and then you turned it every direction, to get the liquid to run down all the seams and lines of rivets, penetrating everywhere and so sealing the tanks, after it dried and the excess slosh was poured out.

As was pointed out, the stuff started flaking in big pieces and eventually plugging the fuel pickups, so the 'repair' consisted of opening up the tanks and removing all of the stuff and rebuilding the tanks, or simply building new ones, using Proseal.

Best,
 
the debrief....much appreciated.

Erik, you are one special guy for sharing the incident so eloquently.....I don't know if I could even talk about it yet!
hopefully it will be part of your therapy and help rebuild your confidence level; you did at least as well as most professional test pilots!

hope you can get to the cause, and get your bird back in the air soon!
 
Great stuff!

Hi Erik,

Fantastic work getting down safely, and thanks for sharing the details.

I'd venture that any pilot would be proud of this outcome in the same situation.

I know I would be!

Regards,
Mickey
 
I'll fly with you!

At this point i don't know exactly how this is going to affect my future flying and decision making. The biggest loss is the confidence of those around me that have or would have flown with me in the future.

There is a former VAF member who had a RV-7. He had two forced landings due to engine failure (separate engine issues). One in mountainous terrain, the other very close to the airport. Both times he landed safely and flew another day. I flew with him after these incidents to LOE when it was in NM. I never lost confidence in him. In fact the way I figured it he was probably the best pilot to fly with if there was going to be a forced landing. He had the experience and was successful at it.

You have passed the test that many of us fear the most. I would fly with you anytime.
 
Fantastic Flying

Hi Eric

At this point i don't know exactly how this is going to affect my future flying and decision making. The biggest loss is the confidence of those around me that have or would have flown with me in the future. I love flying but sharing it is hard enough without those you know hearing your plane went down, and its an EXPERIMENTAL, and only crazy people build airplanes, and they crash all the time.''
-----------------------------
Remember the Movie ''TOPGUN''

Tom Skerritt to Maverick ( TOM Cruise)

''If you need a backseater, give me a call, I'll fly with you''

Well Eric, as a fairly high time pilot ( Close to 20K I guess by now ) I'll fly with you any day.

I learned a lot from you,

Thank you

Bruno
[email protected]
 
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On to the repair

So on to the repair- spoke with the insurance company and all they really want is some detailed pictures and a bill to issue a check. I could have anyone I want repair it. Can anyone reccomend? Probably not a lot of options but thought i would ask
 
So on to the repair- spoke with the insurance company and all they really want is some detailed pictures and a bill to issue a check. I could have anyone I want repair it. Can anyone reccomend? Probably not a lot of options but thought i would ask

Eric,

PM sent.

Jim Berry
RV-10
 
For those that recommended people out of town to repair the aircraft how does that work ? Do they travel or am I supposed to get the plane to them somehow
 
You did well. Your confidence in your abilities should be going UP not down. You were given a bad situation and basically aced the test.

Confidence in the plane... Well, that is going to depend on what is found. I had a Rotax that had two small engine issues and while I landed fine both times, I never trusted the Rotax again.

So your confidence in you should move up a notch
 
This was the exact situation I was trying to describe in that RV12 glide video thread. The 6's & 7's glide sorta like Paul's heavy glider....engine quits at pattern altitude & your gonna land on whatever that is just under the nose +-90° most likely!

Glad you made it Eric! Great Job!
 
For those that recommended people out of town to repair the aircraft how does that work ? Do they travel or am I supposed to get the plane to them somehow

Erik,

I know the guy I recommended would prefer to work at his shop, where he has everything available. That said, I also know he has traveled to other jobs. Call him and see what he has to say.

Jim Berry
RV-10
 
News article comments.....

Firstly, congratulations on the successful conclusion to your inflight emergency.

Second, I hope nobody else is as foolish as I was. When you follow the link to the news story of the event there is a 'comments' icon. Do not click this under any circumstances - the comments left in this area by some, are clearly made by individuals extremely well informed and educated in all matters aviation. You will be demoralised at how little you know about your chosen interest. They clearly know it ALL, and a lot of it is contrary to the knowledge you have gained over years of experience.... End of rant.

Again, job well done. You have survived to fly another day and you have experience that can't be bought.

And....yep, I'm going to pay my dues right now. Thanks for this great resource.
 
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