CT4ME Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Tuesday, May 10 2011, a CTLS made an emergency landing in South Carolina... 'looks like some damage... but, thank God, no injuries. http://www.thekathry...78bz-plane.html Since the outcome was so good... I guess it's OK to laugh - at the news coverage: in one place the CT is referred to as a "single pistol" aircraft, and in another it's referred to as a "single piston engine". Dang, there's your mechanical problem, he's lost 3 cylinders! I hope we can get the details... and learn. The owner is a member of this forum - Good Save N78BZ ! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 All is well that ends well. Due to the lack of at least the right wing and part of the spar still in the fuselage, it looks like some speed was scrubbed off going thru some trees on landing?! It's still upright too! Who ever this might be, I think you did a good job! We'll all learn from this if the details are known. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N78BZ Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 The owner is a member of this forum Former owner! I sold the plane last Friday, but it breaks my heart to see it looking like that. I don't know who was flying in it. I still had FlightAware SMS messages set up for it, so I knew they flew it from Greenville SC (KGMU) to Brunswick GA (KSSI) yesterday morning, and then were headed back yesterday afternoon when this occurred. This video from one of the TV stations is even harder to look at, but it shows the damage in more detail. Apparently the right wing clipped a phone pole or guy wire during the emergency landing and sheared off. It is amazing, though, how well the aircraft protected its occupants. Love these CT's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT4ME Posted May 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Thanks for the update, Randy... only makes me want the details even more... Check this out... go to maps.google.com and search for "33.999771,-82.050877" (between the quotes). It takes you to the exact location. If you drag the little orange man to the map, you'll see a street view. Amazing that he put down on such a tree-lined road with success. 'Not sure if I would choose that spot, as it looks like there are big fields nearby... but I'll never second-guess someone in that position, especially with such good results. Again... job well done! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tip Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Glad to hear that your safe, Randy. Are you done flying? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N78BZ Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 When my annual came due in March, I realized I'd only flown it 30 hours in a year. I don't see that changing much for at least a few more years and I didn't want it to become a 'hangar queen.' My local FBO is thinking of buying an LSA so I may rent for a while until I retire and have more time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N78BZ Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Preliminary NTSB factual report was published this morning. I'm told the highway patrolman who responded to the incident verified the presence of fuel in the gascolator and pooled on the ground under the severed wing. Since the gascolator was full but the carburetor was dry, the NTSB was bringing Rotax in to look at the engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Having 7.5 gals in each tank and saying it's good for 3 hours is an extremely poor assumption. First not all the fuel is usable and second if you are slightly out of trim which many are then you can move that fuel in one wing to the outboard side of the tank and not have fuel delivered on that one side. Why people continue to scrimp on fuel for flights and they keep going down is just beyond my reasoning. Flying this way can absolutely bite you in the butt some day. This flight as listed on AirNav is 227 NM. They set themselves up for failure right from the start. The pilot estimates they were in the air for 1.75 hrs. Thats at least one tank empty of fuel quantity or more. They easily could have been out of trim and fuel starved the engine. This is where my money is for this incident. Poor fuel management and unfamiliarity with the new plane.. Now this low fuel may not have had anything to do with this incident and time will tell, but again they may have starved themselves right into an engine shut down. If this type of thing happens with a little altitude then altering the trim and a restart is absolutely possible. I never have just enough to get where I'm going and I never count on the last 2-3 gals in the wing. Yes you may be ok for a short time in an emergency, but at some point your going to fuel starve and I don't want that decision made for me. When I put fuel in I always fill up to at least 15 gal. in each tank no matter how short the flight. You have to put fuel in sooner or later so now is as good as time as any and then I never have to bother to worry about my fuel level. "According to the CFI rated passenger, the airplane was serviced with a total of 10 gallons of fuel, evenly distributed between the left and right wing fuel tanks, prior to departure from SSI. The CFI confirmed, by use of a fuel quantity measuring stick, that each tank contained 7.5 gallons of fuel, which he estimated was sufficient for approximately 3 hours of flight time." This is why I think an active and very experienced forum like this pays big dividends when you are a new aircraft owner and need to learn about your aircraft. The accumulated years of experience here for all flight characteristics both in the FD and other aircraft is priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S3flyer Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Why people continue to scrimp on fuel for flights and they keep going down is just beyond my reasoning I don't get this either. I always top off when I land at an airport that has fuel. You never know when you're going to need it and it supports the local FBO which probably is just squeaking by. I know there is concern in the Rotax world on the evils of 100LL but they're trivial compared to running out of fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tip Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 I would pay a lot for a fuel selector valve. The Dynons calculate fuel used and if it were possible to isolate each tank with a valve, you would know down to the tenth of a gallon what you have in each tank. I don't like to run off more than 20 gallons without refueling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanik Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 I belive this particular situation would not necessarily be remedied with a fuel selector. If one tank shows empty and the other 3Gal (easy to do), then the real risk is flying uncoordinated (also easy to do in a CT) so that the wing with fuel sloshes outboard. Then all you've got is the gas left in the feeder tubes from the dry wing. It is extremely important to do coordinated flying and especially turning with one empty wing. Better to not be in the situation, of course, but if you stay coordinated, at least you will continue to feed until all the fuel is gone. The gas in the lines alone is maybe 1/3L total so good for just one MINUTE by my guess until engine starved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Hi Tip, Kurt is right that a fuel selector would not fix this and would in all actuality make it worse because you will be working on the fuel in one tank and loose the advantage of some fuel still feeding from the other. In the early days FD had fuel selector valves, but they had just as many crashes because the guys never would switch over the fuel in time, plus they would be out of trim so when one tank is shut off and you get down to the last 2-4 gals in the active wing then you can slosh the last remaining fuel to the outboard side of the tank and really starve it then. Actually taking away the pilots demand to switch a tank when needed helps him out bay taking away that decision which many failed to do correctly. I personally would never let my fuel get down any less than 3 gals per side and it is usually carry a lot more. If I were to get down that low I would be watching both site tubes like a hawk and if the fuel disappears in a site tube it's time to really worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N78BZ Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 I activated a feature on my Garmin 696 that would alert me to "Switch Fuel Tanks" (you can't edit the wording, but that canned message is close enough) every 20 minutes. When that alert pops up, I'd check that the wings are level and look at the two sight gauges; then adjust the rudder trim to slightly elevate the wing with more fuel. That keeps the fuel supply relatively balanced for the duration of the flight, plus it forces you to look at the sight tubes at least every 20 minutes! It doesn't work when sight tubes are both full, but, then again, is isn't going to be a problem when both sight tubes are full. Once one of them begins to shows a fuel level, the routine works like a charm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanik Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 I've actually seen 8Gal in one side and showing empty in the other when the plane had been sitting on a slope previously. I've now gotten used to fiddling with the rudder to balance the wings in flight (fuel follows the ball) but I would comment that it was only by reading up on this issue on this forum that I figured out the quirks. Specifically, I had been flying for quite awhile without realizing the critical importance of coordinated flying with an empty wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 I hate to see any CT down... Or any pilot injured... But glad that you (Randy) were not involved. Prior to buying my CTSW, I did a lot of web searching to see and find all things Flight Design. One of my searches uncovered Randy "Buzz" Lightyears website which became a frequent stop on my journey to eventually buying a Fight Design... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindenberg Posted June 30, 2011 Report Share Posted June 30, 2011 One of my searches uncovered Randy "Buzz" Lightyears website which became a frequent stop on my journey to buying a Flight Design... Do you still have the link to the the Randy "Buzz" Lightyears website? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N78BZ Posted July 1, 2011 Report Share Posted July 1, 2011 Do you still have the link to the the Randy "Buzz" Lightyears website? I had taken the site down after I sold the plane, but just put it back up. It's nice to hear that it helped some potential CT owners in their research. N78BZ.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knolde Posted July 2, 2011 Report Share Posted July 2, 2011 I had taken the site down after I sold the plane, but just put it back up. It's nice to hear that it helped some potential CT owners in their research. N78BZ.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knolde Posted July 3, 2011 Report Share Posted July 3, 2011 Please let me second the sentiment that first consideration is for the crew and then the aircraft/cause. Fuel imbalance has been a bitch of mine since I got 840KN in Aug 2008. Because Nancy and I tend to fly long distances fuel is a real consideration and as I mentioned in my article concerning flying cross-country in an LSA, "Never overfly your fuel!" Secondly, we always plan a max of 4 hour legs to ensure reserves. Some one mentioned mentioned using the GPS for "tanks" and I second that! I don't use the GPS, but I do time "trim" checks for each flight. If you can believe it, we timed events in B-47s, B-52s, and RF-4 and in SAC you could bust a ride for not backing up things with a stopwatch. Point here is that I actually act more out of habit than anything else, so it is with checking the trim. I can't say that I do or did it for fuel, but rather I found that on long legs we got better gas milage and, the fuel imbalances lessened dramatically. Also because I am a bit lazy and live in a warm climate, I do not fill up after every local flight, but I never/never ever fly a local withoy dippinr the tanks. This gives me a good picture of fuel distro and I don't fly with less than 18 gals to start! Was there any consideration of using the chute? Again, thank god everyone is okay. See ya, Ken Nolde 840KN, 400 hours of bliss, well perhaps a few hours less of bliss due to weather! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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