I've seen this crash before

[Ed Cesnalis]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=835_1344412426

 

 

This is the most common type of crash that you see around here in the summer. I'm sure the same is true for any high altitude field. I've seen it from the aftermath never from inside the cockpit like this. As someone on SportPilotTalk mentioned the pilot was merely a passenger riding to a crash.

 

He failed to abort after failing to establish a positive rate of climb. He failed to lean for best power before take-off.

 

I am a big fan of the self adjusting carbs.

 

[N89WD]

How many times does this play out each year? That strip is like landing/departing at Boise International. Let me think, I've used up half the runway, I cant even get the airplane into ground effect, mabey I should abort and rethink the situation. MORE TRAINING!

[FlyingMonkey]

Yeah, a leaned mixture could have turned that frown upside down. Auto-mixture is nice, but pilot-adjustable mixture adds a lot of precision and can really help fuel economy. That is IF the pilot is properly trained and uses it correctly. Both have advantages and disadvantages, it's a "pick yer poison" kind of thing to me.

 

Other than the mixture issue, the number of bad decisions in such a short flight is kind of staggering. He had miles of strip and empty fields to realize that takeoff just wasn't happening, and instead turned *away* from the fields and out over the trees... :blink:

[FastEddieB]

Yeah, a leaned mixture could have turned that frown upside down.:

 

Yep.

 

I wonder if the pilot used a "Before Takeoff" checklist?

 

And if it included "MIXTURE - Full Rich (or leaned as appropriate for field elevation)".

 

The whole point of checklists is to insure you don't forget stuff. And without prompting of some sort, people do forget stuff all the time.

 

Use your checklist!