AX-O
Well Known Member
With all this talk about accidents, I wanted to bring up what happened to my hangar mate this weekend. He is the owner of an RV-4.
My hangar mate and I showed up at the airport on Saturday at the same time by coincidence. We were talking and he told me his new insurance company wanted him to obtain 2 more hours of dual training. So he called the instructor that checked him out before and asked him to give him some more dual training. The instructor had gained some weight so my hangar mate did a few calculations with different fuel loads for W&B. He told me everything was within limits and to have a good flight as I walked out.
I am a very young tail wheel pilot so I wanted to go out and practice takeoffs and landings and commercial maneuvers. So after pattern work I departed the area.
When I got back, my hangar mate was not home. I did not think anything about it because he was going to eat breakfast. I figure he was having a good time and did not want to come back.
Well, turns out that he ground loop his bird. He and the flight instructor were not hurt (as far as I know), the plane on the other hand is in bad shape. I feel terrible for him. I don't even know what to say.
He was used to flying by himself and I think that the added weight of the instructor in the back caught him by surprise. Unfortunately the rear passenger does not have rudder pedals. So the instructor could not help him out. My hangar mate has been flying for many years (his job) and has flown many different airplanes. My advice to you and me is to never stop flying your aircraft until it is parked. I know we all forget once in a while. Call this a friendly reminder, due to someone else?s misfortune.
My hangar mate and I showed up at the airport on Saturday at the same time by coincidence. We were talking and he told me his new insurance company wanted him to obtain 2 more hours of dual training. So he called the instructor that checked him out before and asked him to give him some more dual training. The instructor had gained some weight so my hangar mate did a few calculations with different fuel loads for W&B. He told me everything was within limits and to have a good flight as I walked out.
I am a very young tail wheel pilot so I wanted to go out and practice takeoffs and landings and commercial maneuvers. So after pattern work I departed the area.
When I got back, my hangar mate was not home. I did not think anything about it because he was going to eat breakfast. I figure he was having a good time and did not want to come back.
Well, turns out that he ground loop his bird. He and the flight instructor were not hurt (as far as I know), the plane on the other hand is in bad shape. I feel terrible for him. I don't even know what to say.
He was used to flying by himself and I think that the added weight of the instructor in the back caught him by surprise. Unfortunately the rear passenger does not have rudder pedals. So the instructor could not help him out. My hangar mate has been flying for many years (his job) and has flown many different airplanes. My advice to you and me is to never stop flying your aircraft until it is parked. I know we all forget once in a while. Call this a friendly reminder, due to someone else?s misfortune.