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RV lands on soccer field

WOW ERIC

I have been digesting all the post.. Just my Own .02

1st. I'd fly with you any time, like others have stated, you passed the worst fear pilots live with.

2nd. You are to be commended for your report on the incident, you made the most important comment that I have heard from others who ranks you joined
"FLY THE AIRPLANE"

A few others have added, from an acquaintance Bob Hoover,

"FLY IT UNTIL YOU CAN NO LONGER FLY IT" and you did that..

Thanks Eric,

Smilin' Jack
 
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Erik, well done, you did what all the experts tell us, flew the plane right into the crash.....and you hardly did that! Well done.

You mentioned your descent was done with carb heat. Then you removed carb heat.

I am in Ada Oklahoma this weekend, and for a tropically adapted species this is cold an wet and I am out of my depth on your weather, but the icing level is below 1500' at times here I reckon. Lots of visible moisture as well.

So my concern is that for anyone reading this, that might learn something, if this was in fact carb ice, it underpins my believe that you use it all the way to the runway. Push it in as you come over the fence if that is your SOP, or when operating off dirt/grass strips.

Erik, does your plan have an engine monitor? If so download the data. If it has carb temp probes even better. If you do have data and don't want it public, would you mind sharing it with me.

Lastly how sure are you the carb heat works properly or is effective. I have seen some down here where the carb heat was almost useless. Not saying yours is but with a long descent at low power in these arctic conditions, the ones I know of would probably not prevent ice. This is a statement of opinion, and I have no data to back it, just a gut feeling. On that topic, one of the students here at the APS course was telling me about one of his planes, a C180 or 182, and he has trouble getting enough heat, and he has the data from a JPI. We discussed insulating the scat hose with fire sleeve or whatever his A&P was happy doing to a certified machine. So everyone do not rule this out.

Glad you made a good job of it, that repair is an easy one, and less painful the broken bones etc. Well done.
 
Been there!

Take some time off, iron out the wrinkles in your airplane, then get back in the saddle. It'll do you the most good.

Good job in keeping your head on straight!
 
Great job!

Great job, Erik. You kept your head and flew the airplane!

I would fly with you, heck I'd let my wife or kids fly with you anytime, and I'm kind of picky about that! ;)
 
RV10inOz said:
Erik, well done, you did what all the experts tell us, flew the plane right into the crash.....and you hardly did that! Well done.

You mentioned your descent was done with carb heat. Then you removed carb heat.

I am in Ada Oklahoma this weekend, and for a tropically adapted species this is cold an wet and I am out of my depth on your weather, but the icing level is below 1500' at times here I reckon. Lots of visible moisture as well.

So my concern is that for anyone reading this, that might learn something, if this was in fact carb ice, it underpins my believe that you use it all the way to the runway. Push it in as you come over the fence if that is your SOP, or when operating off dirt/grass strips.

Erik, does your plan have an engine monitor? If so download the data. If it has carb temp probes even better. If you do have data and don't want it public, would you mind sharing it with me.

Lastly how sure are you the carb heat works properly or is effective. I have seen some down here where the carb heat was almost useless. Not saying yours is but with a long descent at low power in these arctic conditions, the ones I know of would probably not prevent ice. This is a statement of opinion, and I have no data to back it, just a gut feeling. On that topic, one of the students here at the APS course was telling me about one of his planes, a C180 or 182, and he has trouble getting enough heat, and he has the data from a JPI. We discussed insulating the scat hose with fire sleeve or whatever his A&P was happy doing to a certified machine. So everyone do not rule this out.

Glad you made a good job of it, that repair is an easy one, and less painful the broken bones etc. Well done.
Click to expand...

No carb probe. I pushed it back in because I flew straight and level at 5500 ft at normal power setting for a
while.


Vm1000 has max and min values recorded not sure if that would help much or not.

I flew my plane all through the winter and a couple days when the surface temp was not over 10 deg. Obviously moisture is a big factor not just the temp, but I just get the feeling that is not it. We will get to the bottom of it this week
 
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erikpmort said:
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
Click to expand...
I have the perfect gentleman to suggest for repairing your plane. YOU!!! :D

You would have a great opportunity to learn more about your airplane. from the looks of your pics it looks like a fuel tank, leading edge of the wing and a wingtip repair. Those are easy pieces to repair. Ok, well the tank will be a bit of work but man what a learning opportunity. Go for it. I know you can do it.

Great job flying the airplane. I bet you could do just as good a job repairing the damage.
 
starvation?

Nice job Eric.

Have you checked for Slosh yet? Just peek down inside the filler hole. Is there white or yellow coating on the inside of the tank? Could be the main reason that the tank is slow to drain.... I am very curious.

Dave
 
affect on future flying . . .

erikpmort said:
At this point i don't know exactly how this is going to affect my future flying and decision making.
Click to expand...

In a C-119 on takeoff (600? AGL), an engine reversed and the prop would not feather. The student in the left seat froze (and subsequently quit flight training). My dad, the instructor in the right seat, landed the plane in a plowed field after taking out a power line stopping just short of a farmhouse. No fatalities and the plane was intact.

Here is how that affected Dad's future flying and decision making:

A few years later he was operations officer for the 89th MAW flying C-135s for the VP of the US and cabinet officers.

When he retired, he was a G-1/G-2 instructor for Flight Safety International. A senior research pilot at NASA told me at Dad?s funeral that ?Gene was the best pilot I?ve ever flown with? and that ?he was instrumental in establishing our shuttle training procedures.?

So Eric, how this will affect your flying future and decision making, I cannot tell you, but I can tell you that I would fly with you any day.

Very nice job.
 
Erik,
I only hope I could perform half as well under similar circumstances. (And I fervently hope I never see similar circumstances!)
VERY nicely done ....and thanks for giving us the firsthand account of what transpired. It's wonderfully instructive.
 
Post Engine Failure

Eric,
You did it all right once the engine quite. You flew the plane. I would fly with you any day.
 
I know you feel really bad right now and a bit depressed but congrats! You did a great job under the circumstances. Could have been a real mess. With the spar undamaged it shouldn't be that hard to repair, especially if the fuel tank isn't too bad. Wing tips are relatively easy to replace and gives you an opportunity to upgrade the lighting if you want.

Good luck and a good job.
 
Here is what no one (from what I've read) has mentioned thus far:

You were lower than you're comfortable with, and when the problems with that became reality you recognized it and instantly fessed up to yourself that you weren't going to make the field.

Your brain was working out the possibilities long before it became reality, and you acted accordingly accepting the reality of the situation in the moment.

"Always keep your brain 2-3 minutes ahead of the airplane." In this case not only were you there mentally for normal ops, but you were already there in the 'what if'.

Outstanding job brother.
 
Soccer Field

Erik
My son used to play on that soccer field (Westminster College)
I have been there and there are lots of obstacles you could have hit.
You did great.....

As to passengers.... wouldn't it lend confidence knowing the pilot had responded appropriately in a critical emergency??

I would fly with you...
Jim Frisbie
Rv-9A
Canby, OR
 
Forced Landing

Thanks for sharing this with us. Good information for us fellow RV guys and all other pilots.

Glad to see you're alright and not much damaged to the airplane.

While your airplane is getting fixed get back in the saddle asap.
 
erikpmort said:
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!
Click to expand...

I just finished reading the entire thread. I normally don't pile on with a "me too" response, but I will this time.
You passed, with flying colors, the test most of us worry about our whole flying career. Your situational awareness (being aware that you were lower than you would like to be) and your ability to keep flying the airplane saved the day. I was particularly glad to see your comment about not looking at the airspeed indicator after the first glance for flap speed. You won't need to look at it if you know your airplane and have trained for, and thought about, this scenario. Well done, and I would fly with you any time!
 
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