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Re: [OM] IMG: Airport Visitor

Subject: Re: [OM] IMG: Airport Visitor
From: Ken Norton <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:50:52 -0500
> I should have said that it was unwise, Ken, to fly an aircraft that had hit 
> anything longer than necessary.  In my checklist there are 2 degrees of 
> reaction once you have carried out the bold-face drills: "Land as soon as 
> practicable" or "Land as soon as possible".  Neither means fly any further 
> than you have to.


I've mentioned this story before, but my father was a private pilot.
One day we were going to do some practice take-offs and landings
before sunset. As we took off on the preferred runway, deer ran out in
front of us and almost got turned into chopped venison. The wind was
quite strong and gusty (20 knots plus) but straight down the short
runway. Unfortunately, an entire herd of deer emerged from the trees
(the entire clearing was only 150' wide with a 25' wide runway, with
the trees about 120' high), and decided to stand on the runway.
Buzzing them wouldn't make them move.

So, we changed to the crosswind runway, which was only partially
obscured by trees (making it even tougher with the swirling and
partially obstructed winds). Coming down for the landing we were hit
by multiple downdrafts and altitude losses which the 172 just couldn't
climb out of. Across the road from the airstrip, directly lined up
with the left-hand side of the runway (another 25 foot wide sidewalk)
was a 100' oak tree. About another 300 feet back, lined up with the
right-hand side of the runway was another really tall tree. Backing up
a little more was another tall tree lined up with the left-hand side
of the runway again.

Coming in for the landing, we were really crabbing and slipping (slips
with one notch of flaps were the preferred method at this airport
because of the short field operations with high trees and choppy
crosswinds). We took a massive altitude drop which took us below the
height of the trees. With full throttle, we managed to make it around
the first tree, the second tree, but not the third tree. We just
cleared the power lines (by too small of a margin), but the oak tree
wasn't to be avoided.

The prop deflected one branch from coming through the windscreen, but
another one, about five or six inches in diameter hit the wing one rib
outside of the strut. It bent the rib back almost to the spar. Another
branch took off the wing-tip and trashed the outer couple feet of
wing. The brace was damaged as well as the landing gear.

So, the airplane proceeded to get knocked sideways by the impact. Like
completely sideways, before it sufficiently weathervaned back towards
the direction of the runway. Fortunately we were full-throttled and
still cross-controlled enough that the plane righted itself and we
managed to get it on the runway in some semblence of an adequate
landing. The spring-steel landing gear always allowed you to put two
landings in the log-book, and this one didn't disappoint. (had we had
full-flaps, the airplane would not have righted itself).

As we are rolling down the runway, with parts of the plane falling off
and vegetation dragging from the wheels and wings, Dad asks me if we
want to make another take-off and landing.  (yes, my humor has a
source). Meanwhile, the deer are grazing happily.

Somethings a person doesn't forget. An airplane windscreen filled with
tree is one of them. Oh, and the sound of tree meeting aluminum is
another.

As it turned out, as critical as the situation was, and as much damage
sustained to the airplane, it was actually quite flyable and in the
case of this specific airplane, probably wouldn't have made it much
worse. (this particular airplane saw trees, hanger-roof collapses,
brake failure--which resulted in an unfortunate meeting of the airport
perimeter fence and finally a crash where the pilot stalled it short
of the runway and bottomed it out in a road ditch which catepulted it
back up in the air where it came back down on a grass runway
propeller-cone first almost killing the four people inside. (first
impact broke the seats loose and caused the spinal injuries, the
second broke the legs, ribs and jaws). Our worse situation in that
airplane was not the brake failure but the carberator falling apart in
flight. Our A&P absolutely hated that airplane--said it was possessed.

The four partners in the airplane all agreed to take the insurance
money and just rent aircraft after that.

AG
-- 
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