Rick Gray Emergency Landing, Oregon: Pilot safe

Here is the link. Evidently a Harmon Rocket....if this is N141RH
NEWS

Sorry, I thought it was an RV at first.

N141RH is Assigned

Aircraft Description

Serial Number 36 Type Registration Individual
Manufacturer Name MARTIN C M/HARRIS R G Certificate Issue Date 04/22/1997
Model HARMON ROCKET II Status Valid
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Single-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 50123746
MFR Year 1997 Fractional Owner NO

Another news source
Video from orig post and this source indicate the pilot had just purchased the plane and was intending to fly it home to Ohio.

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_013107_news_plane_down_fairview_.39cfa183.html

Any word on why it went down?

Looks like the left wing tank has been breached by that small tree, and I didn't see any fuel on the street.

Rick at the Buffalo Farm

That's Rick .. he's been talking all week about how he was going out to pick it up that rocket. He's been planning his route back for days! Glad to see he walked away with seemingly minor injuries !

Great job, Rick. Glad (hope) you're OK!

Rick,

If you get a chance to read this....Thank God you're OK.

Let us know how we can help.

b,
dr

I just called Rick on his cell. He answered but couldn't talk at the present time. At least I heard his voice. He seems a bit shaken but still here. Then again... who wouldn't be?

Very impressive bit of flying!

Considering this was anew plane to our hero I'm honestly amazed!

Good job!

Frank

ProCoach said:

I just called Rick on his cell. He answered but couldn't talk at the present time. At least I heard his voice. He seems a bit shaken but still here. Then again... who wouldn't be?

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I live in the area and was thinking he might need some help or a place to stay. If you'd care to e-mail me his cell phone (so as not to make it public) I'll give him a ring.
Good job indeed flying it right to the end. Too many of these engine out scenarios end in disaster because the pilot doesn't do the first thing they were taught... keep flying the plane!!! Good job Rick, you made us proud!

News Video

There's a link to the news coverage with Rick giving an interview at www.koin.com

http://www.sport-flight.com/forsale.html

Here is a link to the plane.

Tough conditions

I live in the area also. Winds are very strong and gusty out of the gorge today. 26mph w/gusts to 36mph.
It was a challenging area to be flying in today under normal circumstances.

Outstanding Job!

I just watched the video, and have to tip my hat to Rick - great flying, good decision-making on the landing, and a good job with the cameras and microphones as well!

Sorry to see the airplane, but hey, it can be replaced.

Paul

Anybody know the seller of the plane and why it was being sold so cheap? Seems like $115K is a very low price for an F1 or Harmon rocket.

Karl

Ditto -- Outstanding Job!

Sorry you bent up your new plane, but very glad your OK. Great job, Rick!
Barefoot

Well Done

Rick glad to hear that you?re ok! As Paul said you handled the whole situation very well. Too many times the out come is different and the after math is negative. Judging by your thought process this ended with a good result-you're safe and the media has put a positive spin on your good judgment. Bravo.

Aerial Video

Take a look at the aerial video on the previously-linked news sites. It appears from the skid-marks that Rick put it right down the middle of the street and the only reason he ended up on the sidewalk was because the street curved. Good job, Rick! Glad to see you're OK.

BTW, Rick if you read this: I'm the guy that stayed at your house a few years ago when I flew up with Kahuna for the PKB airshow.

Superior Airmanship...

Good Job Rick!

For those of you who haven't lost an engine in an RV, there is a lesson here, Rick did it right. Regardless of what caused the failure, he walked away and didn't hurt anybody else or their home and there was no post crash fire. I have had catastrophic engine failure in both an RV4 and the F16 and both times was able to get to a runway. If you haven't thought about the possibility, you need to. I think both of mine worked out well because I practiced SFO's or simulated flame-outs before.
Pulling the power to idle in the Rocket or any C/S RV(or the F16) is an eye opener, the big prop is a huge speedbrake. Don't let the first time it "gets quiet" be the first time you have thought about it. If you have oil pressure and you're not on fire your first 3 things to do if it quits are easy: Boost pump on, switch tanks and establish best glide speed. I add, prop- coarse pitch for the Rocket. It really extends your glide. The RV4's best glide is 100 mph per the manual. The Rocket likes 100 knots. It's a confidence builder to actually see how well they do glide and that you can safely land it power-off. Practice makes perfect...

Again, Good Job Rick...

Rob Ray

PS: DR, Rockets ARE RV's

Ditto Rick, great job of flying the situation and in handling the media. I thought the news reporters were very upbeat and positive in their reporting. Rather that the gloom and doom approach, they chose to focus on the superior skills of the pilot in handling a bad sitiuation. That's a refreshing change. Kudos to them.

Eye witness report interesting

Listen to the eye witness account:

Just bought it, first flight, 5 min into it lost power, just missed power lines..... (according to eye witness that talked to pilot). Wow!

What caused the loss of power (I'd like to know)?

I hate to read things like this but glad he is OK? Could happen to anyone.

It seems I have read about newly purchased experimental aircraft with engine problems before.

Any way nice job of making a safe emergency landing.

gmcjetpilot said:

What caused the loss of power (I'd like to know)?

Any way nice job of making a safe emergency landing.

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Me too.

It seems like low hours for the age. I wonder if the gas was contaminated or something. I doubt the seller was aware of any problems.

I hope it was insured but it can probably be fixed relatively cheap. I would sure like to know how you go about determining the structural damage after a collision like that. Does the wing need to be replaced? Center section? The damage could easily go beyond whats visible.

briand said:

Me too.

It seems like low hours for the age. I wonder if the gas was contaminated or something. I doubt the seller was aware of any problems.

I hope it was insured but it can probably be fixed relatively cheap. I would sure like to know how you go about determining the structural damage after a collision like that. Does the wing need to be replaced? Center section? The damage could easily go beyond whats visible.

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On a damaged airplane, you typically will keep cutting away DAMAGED material till you come to good. You can then BUILD back out replacing the damaged structure with new.

One cannot tell about all the damage by looking at pictures. Photos will give a good indication of what MAY be needed.

IMHO, it the wing spar is NOT damaged, the wing can be repaired.

smokyray said:

If you haven't thought about the possibility, you need to. I think both of mine worked out well because I practiced SFO's or simulated flame-outs before.
Pulling the power to idle in the Rocket or any C/S RV(or the F16) is an eye opener, the big prop is a huge speedbrake. Don't let the first time it "gets quiet" be the first time you have thought about it. If you have oil pressure and you're not on fire your first 3 things to do if it quits are easy: Boost pump on, switch tanks and establish best glide speed. I add, prop- coarse pitch for the Rocket. It really extends your glide. The RV4's best glide is 100 mph per the manual. The Rocket likes 100 knots. It's a confidence builder to actually see how well they do glide and that you can safely land it power-off. Practice makes perfect...

Again, Good Job Rick...

Rob Ray

PS: DR, Rockets ARE RV's

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Amen brother. Some recent reports in TAC consistently show about 10% of GA accidents involve power loss. Pretty high. Be prepared. It can happen to you.

Very good job!

Things like this are always an eye-opener. I've gotten lazy searching for emergency landing locations and practicing engine outs. When you live and fly in the dessert, there's not much need to worry about such things. My engine can die practically anywhere, anytime (even on takeoff) and the worst I typically need to worry about is hitting a Joshua tree or a tumbleweed.

What a lame excuse, huh? I guess I know what I'll be practicing this weekend.

Nice flying, Rick.

Congrats on getting it down and keeping yourself safe.

-Brandon

jcoloccia said:

Things like this are always an eye-opener. I've gotten lazy searching for emergency landing locations and practicing engine outs. When you live and fly in the dessert, there's not much need to worry about such things. My engine can die practically anywhere, anytime (even on takeoff) and the worst I typically need to worry about is hitting a Joshua tree or a tumbleweed.

What a lame excuse, huh? I guess I know what I'll be practicing this weekend.

Nice flying, Rick.

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The pilot of N141RH did what he had to do and did it well. No doublt his brain was engaged and made some good decisions in a timely manner. He was mentally prepared for an engine failure but I doubt he ever practised the event over a housing project.

That being said, how does one "practice" for such an event not knowing the circumstances of the situation?

Frankly, you can't. The best preparation for an emergency landing is mental - fly the airplane and under no circumstances let it stall. There is no way to predict what the landing site will look like unless all flights are planned near or over an airport, away from residential housing, not over mountains, and certainly never at night.

It is my experience that the best preparation for an engine failure involves thinking about it before every take off and once in flight, looking around for suitable landing sites like scanning for the enemy (other traffic). It is an on going process that does not have to detract from the enjoyment of flight, but a necessary part of doing it. If I am over an area with no suitable place to land, it is time to change course if possible or press on knowing the risk meter just went up a bit. But the thought of having to put down is never far removed from what it going on.

The value of practising an engine out is nothing more than flying the airplane, something we do every flight. On occassion I will pull the power to idle on downwind and make an attempt to find the runway. That really is no big deal. The important thing about it is flying the airplane at glide speed. That's got to be a naturual reaction no matter what is going on. Also, practising flight with a plus or minus zero tolerance will go a long way toward flying the airplane well if ever the engine quits. No one is perfect in this stuff, but trying to be so is far better than not.

The landing site will be a consequence of how well the flight was planned, nothing more or less. If its rocks, trees, houses or a smooth flat field depends on how much risk the pilot is willing to accept. Most of us are forced to accept that risk because our airports are surrounded by trees, rocks, and/or houses. We do the best we can as this pilot did. It was most gratifying to see pictures of him standing next to the airplane.

I hear what you're saying, Dave, but there's value in practicing engine out from 10,000 ft, say. I'm guessing that most people would be surprised how difficult it is to circle over a spot for 9,000 ft and end up at the right place on downwind to make a landing over that little patch of dirt you identified.

It's significantly easier in a plane with flaps and esp a CS prop, like an RV but try to do it in a plane where your only control is judgement and slipping. It's not difficult be any means but it's certainly much easier with practice. Trees, power lines, buses etc are unpredictable and must be handled in real time but there's certainly value in reliably being able to glide down to a landing within a few feet of your intended touchdown. 2 years ago I could do it with my eyes closed. Today? I could certainly hit a runway or a road but within 50 ft? I'm not sure.

To me, most of the problem in an emergency situation is about keeping cool and just flying the airplane.

I have to say after I got my glider endorsement my outlook for engine out situations changed quite a bit.

It's a whole new perspective when you don't have an engine to begin with, I think everyone would benefit from instruction time in a glider, even if you only get to solo, the cost is mininal with a high benefit ....

Any speculation, indication, or cause, known yet for the engine failure?

Man, putting it on that street must have been like threading a needle while wearing ski mittens. Terrific job, Rick!

As a member of the RV fixed pitch glider club, I can attest to the importance of treating every flight like you might end up in full pucker mode when you least expect it. During today's flight I spent more concentrated time looking for emergency landing spots. Lots of newly cut roads in the area for future subdivisions, but with recent snows, they're probably lumpy and rutted. Hmmm..maybe not. Oh and invisible power lines too. There is the Highway, but land with traffic or against?

On my stuck float carburetor experience, I had about 5,000' of altitude to burn between me and Grants Milan airport...I had just crossed Mount Taylor which would NOT have been a good place to go down. (I must be living right.)

You do what you're trained to do. I flew the airplane...talked to myself all the while, with my wife in the back seat offering support, "I know you can handle it. Look there's an airport right below us." Did I say I must be living right? So anyway, after trying to get some power back, to no avail, I just flew it trimmed for 85mph and circled. And circled. And...circled some more. It seemed like an eternity. I knew I had to stay high and pretty much fall off the perch just like a normal power off landing after pitchout. Worked like a charm. I slipped it down the base/final arcing turn and the prop totally stopped on short final. Yeowsa...haven't seen that before, hey buddy, want to get that prop blade outta my way so I can see the centerline? Chirp. Nailed the numbers and had enough momentum to actually coast up onto the ramp almost like I'd planned it that way. Carb float was stuck. Fuel pouring out the cowling. Nice old A&P greybeard helped me fix the problem.

Oh, do NOT use red *supposedly* fuel resistant RTV anywhere on a fuel system. K?

Practice this sometime, folks. It's fun! All airplanes are gliders. Just some of them have engines attached.

"A light pole"?

Sure looked like a small tree to me!

Great job of flying the aircraft though!!!! Actually, a SUPERB job!

Questionable judgement.

This is the part of the NTSB prelim report on this accident that truly jumps out at me: "According to the pilot, the engine started to run rough almost immediately after takeoff, but after a couple of minutes he was able to get it to run smoothly. He therefore headed for Portland-Troutdale Airport, where he was going to refuel."

Hmmmm, first flight in an overpowered experimental bought from a complete stranger and the engine starts to splutter just after lift-off. I know where I'd be heading.

I agree Capt., it doesn't sound good at all. That and the lack of fuel spilling on the ground after the tank was split open. Makes me think the PO tried to sell the plane without enough fuel in get it to the "fill up" airport. My guess is lack of fuel.

JMHO.