Gyrocopter crash on Phillip Island...

[Guest pookemon]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-26/gyrocopter-crashes-on-phillip-island/4093594

 

Haven't found an article about it - but the pilot walked away (apparently) - that makes it a good landing!

 

 

[eightyknots]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-26/gyrocopter-crashes-on-phillip-island/4093594Haven't found an article about it - but the pilot walked away (apparently) - that makes it a good landing!

For some reason the media thinks it's a helicopter (chopper) crash. Here's one article on the incident:

 

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National-Regional/2012/06/26/Lucky_Phillip_Island_helicopter_crash_765153.html

 

 

[eightyknots]

It seems the Herald Sun is a bit more accurate in their reporting even giving a journalist's description how a gyroplane works at the end of the article:

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/gyrocopter-pilot-lucky-to-survive-crash-landing-at-phillip-island-after-engine-cuts-out-more-than-150m-high-above-sea-water/story-fn7x8me2-1226409079558

 

 

[turboplanner]

Looks like he just had an engine failure and it landed without power but bounced onto its side in the mud.

 

Pilot was fine and wisecracking on TV, trying to scrape mud out of it.

 

 

[eightyknots]

Looks like he just had an engine failure and it landed without power but bounced onto its side in the mud.Pilot was fine and wisecracking on TV, trying to scrape mud out of it.

Well, he found himself in a bit of a sticky situation but was fortunate that autogyros are able to land easily despite a loss of power; hopefully the media won't throw mud at the pilot over the incident.

 

 

[turboplanner]

TV reporter asked him how he felt.

 

He said "Broke!"

 

 

[eightyknots]

TV reporter asked him how he felt.He said "Broke!"

Something that "aint broke" are his bones for which I am thankful. We do not need any more rec flying fatal/injurious accidents. I hope he has a friendly insurance company.

 

 

[Teckair]

Well, he found himself in a bit of a sticky situation but was fortunate that autogyros are able to land easily despite a loss of power; hopefully the media won't throw mud at the pilot over the incident.

My understanding is it is not easy to auto rotate a gyro without power and you will not be able to do it if you don't practise it. Full marks for this guy as he was unhurt.

 

 

[Guest GraemeM]

My understanding is it is not easy to auto rotate a gyro without power and you will not be able to do it if you don't practise it. Full marks for this guy as he was unhurt.

A gyro is in Auto Rotation at all times, that is how they fly. Possibly got something to do with the name often used for these machines.. autogyro.

 

They are one of the easiest and safest machines ( besides a PPC) to land engine off.

 

Graeme.

 

 

[Teckair]

A gyro is in Auto Rotation at all times, that is how they fly. Possibly got something to do with the name often used for these machines.. autogyro.They are one of the easiest and safest machines ( besides a PPC) to land engine off.

Graeme.

How an autogryro flies, I did know that pal, as far as PPC and Autogyro being easy to land power off tell that to the people that ended up with back injuries.

 

 

[bones]

How an autogryro flies, I did know that pal, as far as PPC and Autogyro being easy to land power off tell that to the people that ended up with back injuries.

I not heard of any back injuries in the gyro world in the last few years that come to mind, if it is done right, or even close to right, there is no risk of danger to pilot or machine, before i sign off a student to go solo they must perform a 360* turn power off from 600' and land with motor on idle, and the difference between idle and engine off is bugga all in performance of the craft.

In relation to this accident, i have not heard any thing further about it, but looking at the photo, i would guess he got it down good, and then its fallen over in the mud, thus smashing the blades.

 

 

[Teckair]

I not heard of any back injuries in the gyro world in the last few years that come to mind, if it is done right, or even close to right, there is no risk of danger to pilot or machine, before i sign off a student to go solo they must perform a 360* turn power off from 600' and land with motor on idle, and the difference between idle and engine off is bugga all in performance of the craft.In relation to this accident, i have not heard any thing further about it, but looking at the photo, i would guess he got it down good, and then its fallen over in the mud, thus smashing the blades.

A few years back a gyro lost power near Watts Bridge the result was back injuries and a rescue helicopter the TV footage showed fairly clear terrain. I know competent pilots can do it but I felt some posts on this thread have over emphasised how easy it is. Yes I agree this guy seemed to get down good and said that in my first post. I thought if you failed to maintain sufficient rotor speed to flair or got the timing of the flair wrong you could have a problem. I felt to get these things right you would need to stay current with the practice. I thought the comments on how easy it is to do were inaccurate.

 

 

[bones]

A few years back a gyro lost power near Watts Bridge the result was back injuries and a rescue helicopter the TV footage showed fairly clear terrain. I know competent pilots can do it but I felt some posts on this thread have over emphasised how easy it is. Yes I agree this guy seemed to get down good and said that in my first post. I thought if you failed to maintain sufficient rotor speed to flair or got the timing of the flair wrong you could have a problem. I felt to get these things right you would need to stay current with the practice. I thought the comments on how easy it is to do were inaccurate.

If this is the same gyro crash im thinknig of, the main reason for that crash was he lost 1 of his rudder cables, and it went full yaw, he tried to keep it flying but ran out of power to sustain flight, i know the pilot personally and know for a fact he didnt receive any permenate back injuries, but ok i know what you mean, if they have a sore back the media reports back injuries ect to dramatise it abit more.

there is no way to regulate the rotor rpm in a gyro as oposed to a helo, in the sense that yes you can load them to spin up more, and going neg g will take care of all your excess rotor rpm issues (for ever). It should be second nature to a pilot to be able to land without the noise going, but i must say they are definately the easiest thing to land with or without power, actually most of my landings are idle power, its just easier :)

 

 

[Teckair]

If this is the same gyro crash im thinknig of

 

Not sure. it was on the news as engine failure and he was removed in a chopper. OK looks like I was wrong dead sticks are dead easy in a gyro and no word about needing to practice them either.

 

 

[winsor68]

Not wrong 'pal' ... just out of your depth when arguing against a Gyro Pilot (bones) and Graeme who flies Gyro and PPC... always good to increase your knowledge of such things...

 

 

[Teckair]

Not wrong 'pal' ... just out of your depth when arguing against a Gyro Pilot (bones) and Graeme who flies Gyro and PPC... always good to increase your knowledge of such things...

Exactly it was time to bail on that.

 

 

[bones]

If this is the same gyro crash im thinknig ofNot sure. it was on the news as engine failure and he was removed in a chopper. OK looks like I was wrong dead sticks are dead easy in a gyro and no word about needing to practice them either.

If you look at the post above of mine it clearly says "It should be second nature to a pilot to be able to land without the noise going" so yes practise is part of being able to do that.

Just being able to come in with 10 odd kts to a complete vertical down instead of 40+kts just gives you more options. Wouldnt you think??

 

 

[bones]

Not wrong 'pal' ... just out of your depth when arguing against a Gyro Pilot (bones) and Graeme who flies Gyro and PPC... always good to increase your knowledge of such things...

Im sorry i didnt realise i was "arguing" but yes concidering i done a couple of thou hrs in them i might have a bit of an understanding of how they fly, i started off just pionting out that this part of a post from "teckair" " I thought if you failed to maintain sufficient rotor speed to flair or got the timing of the flair wrong you could have a problem." was incorrect as you connot control the rpm once you are in the air.

So obviously i am coming over wrong so i will step out of this and let you go forward with it. Becuase im sure you would have pionted out something i said wrong about a FW wouldnt you.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Keep going, because there must be hundreds of gyro pilots since the 1950's Bee days who don't need back surgery because they expired, for a number of reasons, so the more education, the better.

 

 

[bones]

I wasnt going to bother but i found this clip, this is not an easy landing to pull off but just so you can see what can be done in the right hands, yes Ron in the video is a good pilot, probably about 500 odd gyro hrs

 

 

 

[Teckair]

Im sorry i didnt realise i was "arguing" but yes concidering i done a couple of thou hrs in them i might have a bit of an understanding of how they fly, i started off just pionting out that this part of a post from "teckair" " I thought if you failed to maintain sufficient rotor speed to flair or got the timing of the flair wrong you could have a problem." was incorrect as you connot control the rpm once you are in the air.So obviously i am coming over wrong so i will step out of this and let you go forward with it. Becuase im sure you would have pionted out something i said wrong about a FW wouldnt you.

You are responding to Winsor with that, I bowed out in post 16 and accepted what you had said.

 

 

[eightyknots]

If this is the same gyro crash im thinknig of, the main reason for that crash was he lost 1 of his rudder cables, and it went full yaw, he tried to keep it flying but ran out of power to sustain flight, i know the pilot personally and know for a fact he didnt receive any permenate back injuries, but ok i know what you mean, if they have a sore back the media reports back injuries ect to dramatise it abit more.

The media couldn't even get this incident right, reporting this as a chopper or a helicopter.

 

Remember the news reporter's motto: "Why spoil a good story with the facts?"

 

 

[shafs64]

There are two pilots who work for the herald sun. So Some pilots there know a little about planes

 

 

[turboplanner]

That's not the news reporters motto.

 

Imagine in sequence what questions you'd ask if you were allocated tomorrow morning to write pieces on:

 

• a house fire in which an elderly person with dementia was resuced
   
   
  
• a surprise release from the Minister for Education on proforma introduction of TAFE training into schools (30 pages attached)
   
   
  
• a note to interview a campaigner on faulty speed cameras following a successful court case
   
   
  
• a Police release on drunken behaviour by 16 yo's outside nightclubs at 3 am, and what steps are needed to fix the issues
   
   
  
• a car crash involving a pedestrian and a donkey
   
   
  
• a note to attend the State flower show and make comments on the judging
   
   
  
• a an analysis of a new cure for brain cancer using cells from midlight lily
   
   
  

 

 

All to be done in the next three days.

 

As you can see there's a lot of technical detail, industry terms, laws, sensitivities and investigation to be navigated, and that's just the next three days.

 

Like politicians and GP's the daily journalists have to deal with all facets of the community, so they often get industry jargon wrong - we just notice aviation terms, truckies just notice words like "lorries", medical people notice mistakes in medical terms and so on.

 

 

[eightyknots]

That's not the news reporters motto....

I worked with a colleague who was at a Sydney beach with his family. A person got into trouble and he, along with a few other beach-goers rescued this person. My colleague, being first aid trained, performed CPR for a minute or two before the man involved 'came around'. Soon after an ambulance took him to hospital. The next day, the newspaper published a story headed by "Man Rescued From Shark Infested Waters". My colleague said that people were swimming before the incident, he swum to rescue the victim and the beachgoers continued to swim after the incident. No sharks were ever seen and no shark alarm was raised for the rest of the afternoon.

 

When he spoke to a friend (who was a reporter at a local newspaper) about this incident a few weeks later, his friend said: "Have you never heard of the journalist's motto?" My colleague said "what is it?" to which the reporter replied "Why spoil a good story with the facts?".