Eurofox damaged in landing incident.

[red750]

A change of wind just as the aircraft was landing is believed to be the cause of a Eurofox running off the runway at Bendigo Gliding Club. The pilot was uninjured.

 

http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/2667254/aircraft-crashes-near-bendigo/?cs=2452

 

The aircraft:

 

 

Peter

 

 

[fly_tornado]

looks a bit used now

 

 

 

[rankamateur]

Knocked the cardboard out of that prop!

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Oh no, what a beautiful aeroplane..Glad hes ok.

 

 

[Aldo]

Happy to see there are no injuries but once again we see a diversion on landing quote from the newspaper "he was an experienced pilot" (from the club president) but how current? If we are not able to keep control of our aircraft with a wind gust or change maybe we shouldn't be flying them.

 

Always remember tail draggers are not landed until they are parked.

 

 

[AVOCET]

The weathers been gusty here in SA yesterday , not to bad today ,

 

Vic . Would have that today looking at the weather map ,

 

I Chose not to fly yesterday and go to the Clare

 

Valey airstrip opening .

 

30 knt headwind , no thanks .

 

It really is to easy to loose it on the landing roll in gusty conditions , more so in a tail dragger i would think ,

 

Glad the pilots ok , planes can be fixed .

 

Mike

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

looks a bit used now

Ouch...bit of work required there......great aeroplane though very well built roomier that the Skyfox and a very beefy landing gear.....taking a good design into the next level

 

 

[facthunter]

A nice aeroplane. Occasionally you will encounter gusts that you can't keep control in, I've has this about 3 times in my career. Amazed I got out of them and there must have been an element of luck. So DON'T pick on the pilot. You weren't there in the plane to know. Nev

 

 

[AVOCET]

I must have missed an episode ,

 

Who's bagin the PIC ?

 

 

[facthunter]

It's there Just look. Sometimes the world's best won't pull it off. Nev

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

A nice aeroplane. Occasionally you will encounter gusts that you can't keep control in, I've has this about 3 times in my career. Amazed I got out of them and there must have been an element of luck. So DON'T pick on the pilot. You weren't there in the plane to know. Nev

Agree....additionally how much effect would the trailing tow line have in high wind conditions........notification we got from the RAA office this afternoon mentioned control difficulty just prior to landing....the aircraft was involved in tow operations..

 

 

[Aldo]

Avocet

 

That would be directed at me, Nev I wasn't bagging the pilot just questioning his currency, if as Avocet says it was very windy and gusty in SA the day before and therefore in Vic it probably would have been today then it is the responsibility of the PIC to determine if his currency is suitable to be flying.

 

Yes I have also been caught and lucky in gusty conditions but I put this down to the currency I was carrying at the time, if you only fly once a fortnight or month then you are probably not going to be current enough to deal with difficult conditions, you Nev would surely understand this.

 

Aldo

 

 

[facthunter]

I sure don't want to pick but I thought the inference was that you shouldn't be there if you can't handle gusts. Certainly you need to be trained and current and confident in yourself. There will however be times when the forces of nature are so great that what you have to deal with it won't be enough. Like excess power over drag and sink rate and control authority.. Some bad outcomes are inevitable once you get right into them.. Early and positive response is good or avoid if there are indications, but often there are not. Keep up the good work Aldo. We might have been at cross purposes unintentionally, but we are on the same tram. Nev

 

 

[Aldo]

Nev

 

We are on the same tram, no issues with having a logical discussion and getting to the bottom of it. The trouble with email/blog posts etc is that it can be difficult to get across your actual message without it being taken the wrong way in some cases.

 

 

[Keenaviator]

Gliding operations so probably nice unstable conditions + a bit of wind, dust devils - you'd want to have your wits and reflexes finely tuned and maybe some good fortune thrown in. Laurie

 

 

[turboplanner]

The towline puts a different picture on it, sure, but if you are suggesting that pilots are encouraged or authorised to operate on the basis of "some good fortune thrown in" that's an entirely different matter.

 

 

[aj_richo]

I got as far as pre-flighting and pulling my plane out late Saturday afternoon, it still blowing 20kts at 6pm.

 

Sat in it.. really, really wanted a fly.. wings rocking, canopy threatening to blow open.. thought

 

Nope F$ck it, just not worth it and put it back in the Hangar

 

Had a great fly Sunday morning in calm conditions.

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

I got as far as pre-flighting and pulling my plane out late Saturday afternoon, it still blowing 20kts at 6pm.Sat in it.. really, really wanted a fly.. wings rocking, canopy threatening to blow open.. thought

Nope F$ck it, just not worth it and put it back in the Hangar

 

Had a great fly Sunday morning in calm conditions.

Always another day if you exercise good judgement...........

 

 

[dsam]

My Eurofox is not a taildragger, but the pilot's operating handbook indicates maximum crosswind of 15 knots. If there was a substantial crosswind gust just at the moment following touchdown whilst the tow rope was trailing diagonally in the wind & long grass I can well expect the rudder authority was compromised - in short it may have been a real handfull at a critical moment. Glad the pilot was not hurt. Good to notice the cockpit integrity protected the occupants too. A testament to good structural design, no doubt.

 

For what it is worth I just had a delightful and uneventful sightseeing flight over Phillip Island this morning in my Eurofox. Couldn't be happier :-)

 

 

[facthunter]

Lovely aeroplane . I would like to own one. Nev