grantcarruthers
Well Known Member
Well the short version: cruise flight leaving Oshkosh for Marion IL KMWA, 10,500 ft msl, just entering the boredom of cruise portion of the flight, enjoying the view of Milwaukee passing to the 8 o'clock position and maybe 30-45 miles out.
Pop, WTF, mixture full rich, 5 seconds later, pop pop boom, engine noise is VERY loud, a bit rough, pulled power to idle and told passenger we were landing NOW. Passenger starts spotting airports very close while I pull power and put it into a steep decent (thoughts of fire at 10 k no fun) and start the nrst function on the 496. Pick a field that's only 4.8 out and tune up the ctaf and start announcing. Turns out to be C59/Lake Lawn in Wisconsin which I guess is in or very near Delavan. Engine is still popping and sounding VERY angry so I shut her down around 8500 msl. Only real challenge is loosing altitude and ending up in a good position to turn final. I chose to circle directly above as it gave me a chance to REALLY look for traffic and keep the security of the strip close I suppose. Passing 3k I chose 36 vs 18 based on the winds at OSH and moved out to short final position over a lake and still circling close. With full flaps it didn't take much time so I headed for the runway, felt high, did one s-turn out and back and set up. Touched down about 1000 ft down the 4400 available and nailed a decent 3-point given the aft cg loaded up for Oshkosh. Deep breath, push over to tie downs. All over in well under 3 minutes I'd guess (passenger says the VSI was 2500 or pegged while he was watching it).
Of course I pick a place with NO hangers and thus NO maintenance! Could have picked a better field I guess but with thoughts of fire or worse dancing through my head it was a no brainer (probably literally) to go for the very closest.
Quick look: no oil leaks, oil on dipstick looks new with no grit, chunks, or other signs of internal carnage. No tools and more importantly no time either. My passenger needed to be back in Myrtle Beach from Marion by early Sunday evening while towing a large trailer. His plan was to leave Marion by 1300 which would have happened with our 180 kt ground speed. It was 1100 by the time we got tied down.
With immense luck and great service by the concierge at the Golf Course/Resort across from the field we had a rental car by 1130 (they close at 1200!! and God only knows how far the next option would have been) and were headed south maybe 50 minutes after touch down. WOW.
I would have loved to pop the cowl but the chance I could have fixed the problem and gotten my buddy on the road earlier than by driving were extremely slim. I would have needed to find/buy tools, diagnose the cause, and fix it with parts found at Lowes. Not likely so we cut our losses and made for the border (Illinois that is).
Pop, WTF, mixture full rich, 5 seconds later, pop pop boom, engine noise is VERY loud, a bit rough, pulled power to idle and told passenger we were landing NOW. Passenger starts spotting airports very close while I pull power and put it into a steep decent (thoughts of fire at 10 k no fun) and start the nrst function on the 496. Pick a field that's only 4.8 out and tune up the ctaf and start announcing. Turns out to be C59/Lake Lawn in Wisconsin which I guess is in or very near Delavan. Engine is still popping and sounding VERY angry so I shut her down around 8500 msl. Only real challenge is loosing altitude and ending up in a good position to turn final. I chose to circle directly above as it gave me a chance to REALLY look for traffic and keep the security of the strip close I suppose. Passing 3k I chose 36 vs 18 based on the winds at OSH and moved out to short final position over a lake and still circling close. With full flaps it didn't take much time so I headed for the runway, felt high, did one s-turn out and back and set up. Touched down about 1000 ft down the 4400 available and nailed a decent 3-point given the aft cg loaded up for Oshkosh. Deep breath, push over to tie downs. All over in well under 3 minutes I'd guess (passenger says the VSI was 2500 or pegged while he was watching it).
Of course I pick a place with NO hangers and thus NO maintenance! Could have picked a better field I guess but with thoughts of fire or worse dancing through my head it was a no brainer (probably literally) to go for the very closest.
Quick look: no oil leaks, oil on dipstick looks new with no grit, chunks, or other signs of internal carnage. No tools and more importantly no time either. My passenger needed to be back in Myrtle Beach from Marion by early Sunday evening while towing a large trailer. His plan was to leave Marion by 1300 which would have happened with our 180 kt ground speed. It was 1100 by the time we got tied down.
With immense luck and great service by the concierge at the Golf Course/Resort across from the field we had a rental car by 1130 (they close at 1200!! and God only knows how far the next option would have been) and were headed south maybe 50 minutes after touch down. WOW.
I would have loved to pop the cowl but the chance I could have fixed the problem and gotten my buddy on the road earlier than by driving were extremely slim. I would have needed to find/buy tools, diagnose the cause, and fix it with parts found at Lowes. Not likely so we cut our losses and made for the border (Illinois that is).