Guest Maj Millard Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 That didn't sound like too much fun Ozzie ! We did a similiar thing in a 180 at Wilton, on the old corrugated gravel strip. We were just taxing out to line up, when the RH gear leg just sheared the bolts and folded back !...The wingtip and prop dug into the ground, and we all sat there laughing for a bit until we realized how serious it could have been halfway down the runway, on takeoff roll !!..................... Hey did you get my reply on the Parasport gear ?.........
dazza 38 Posted October 21, 2009 Author Posted October 21, 2009 Well done MAJ, that was a super human effort to save the girl, with fuel around.Even though it happened in 1974, i reckon you would remember it as if it happened yesterday. Cheers
Guest ozzie Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 Vh-rcm Major. here it is, VH-RCM, it was a 185. old photos taken with an instamatic camera. came back good as new after a few weeks. pilot was Wally "swizzelstick" can't remember how to spell his last name. later when i was working on these aircraft i replaced 4 sets of gear mounts due to cracks in the castings. always seemed to be the right hand one that was on it's way out first. i heard that RCM was rebuilt to smick condition and several weeks after the new owner rolled it into a ball at katomba in the blue mountains. it was also the first aircraft i flew in and 70 jumps later the first aircraft i landed in. packing bricks i was, the wind came up and we had to come back down with the plane. yep got your reply on the parasport gear. hope the weather holds for the weekend to check out the other old canopies. ozzie
Guest Maj Millard Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 Yes Ozzie, RCM and Wally 'Swizzlestick' are somehow familiar. I may have jumped her out of Medlow Bath prior to her ultimate demise, on a demo or something. Great plane the 185. I remember years ago when I first turned up at Raeford NC for a jump. The man Gene Thacker took me over to his hangar and showed me his brand NEW 185 that he had just got. (1977) Strangly enough it wasn't available for jumping just then. dazza 38 We were just very lucky that day, it was full of fuel and we tore a wing off, so had she gone up, myself or the lady wouldn't be here today. I always call it the luck of the Irish, as it was on St Paddys' day (17 March), and no you never forget that stuff, plus I have been blessed with an excellent memory.................................................
Guest Maj Millard Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 Frank, I know you can land a taildragger so this is not for you ok.... Couple of easy ways to do it, and well proven in the past....this being a 7-A means it has a nosewheel ............Way 1....Come in way too fast, push stick foward to try and force it on, plane bounces then recontacts the ground nose low, nose gear-leg fails, and over we go. Way 2 Land too fast, jump on brakes real hard overloading the nose-leg, it fails, over you go. There have been a couple of nose leg failures in RV7-As but it isn't a common problem with them. The same two above methods work well with taildraggers also, except you don't need the nose-leg to fail, you just end up on your back. Comment: you don't need real good brakes on a taildragger, and they shouldn't be used until the tail is on the ground, and the aircraft has decelerated way below landing speed. If you land at the correct speed you'll only need them for taxying and run ups...IMOP. The only notable exception I have found is the Slepcev Storch, which you can land so slow you have no directional control, as there is little air going past the rudder. Then you need to stab the brakes briefly, one at a time, to point the nose where you want to go. I am of the opinion that many of the classic taildragger incidents occur with pilots who have little, or no taildragger experience in the first place, and are the ones who give the whole thing a bad name. Invarably they always walk away from the wreckage blaming "damn taildraggers" and not themselves for the lack of skill. There are three golden rules to landing a taildragger correctly: 1. Touchdown at the correct speed. 2. Touchdown at the correct speed. 3. Touchdown at the correct speed.................................... The RV range are pretty tough little aeroplanes, and it would take a lot of wrong technique to put one on it's nose like that, unless it was a simple nose-leg failure, which would probabily do it. If you can't land an aeroplane with a training wheel up front, what can you land ??? Also , the Germans in WWI called any landing accident a "womens' landing". Don't know why, because there wern't a lot of women pilots around then ?....................
farri Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 Good onya Ross,someone might have learnt something. I don`t know how many times I shook my head and had a laugh over the years when reading the accident reports. In essence,the pilot would state that they had done all the right things, however ,the end result was either a crash or a flipover,neither should happen if all the right things are done. Frank.
dazza 38 Posted October 24, 2009 Author Posted October 24, 2009 Good onya Ross,someone might have learnt something.I don`t know how many times I shook my head and had a laugh over the years when reading the accident reports. In essence,the pilot would state that they had done all the right things, however ,the end result was either a crash or a flipover,neither should happen if all the right things are done. Frank. Hi Farri, i have read a lot of incident reports (mainly people flying hp a/c) , from Jim Davis (from sth africa), i am amazed how many pilots try to force a aircraft on to the ground, instead of holding the aircraft off the ground, when landing.If you flare and hold off, airspeed will slow, and the aircraft will settle itself onto the runway. I know you already know this, i thought i would mention it for people with less experience. Cheers
Guest Maj Millard Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 Dazza , Your very correct with that info.
dazza 38 Posted October 24, 2009 Author Posted October 24, 2009 Dazza , Your very correct with that info. Thanks mate, i know i rub people up the wrong way sometimes, i just want to share my personal experience, and what i have researced from people with ALOT more experence than i have, i just want people to read the information and take it on board.I just want people to be SAFE went they fly, we all make mistakes, we are human, i think this web site is a wonderful tool to learn things. I have learned alot from you Ross, and others. Thankyou
Yenn Posted October 25, 2009 Posted October 25, 2009 Wasn't Hitlers personal pilot a woman? The Germans might have got over it by then.
Spin Posted October 25, 2009 Posted October 25, 2009 Wasn't Hitlers personal pilot a woman? The Germans might have got over it by then. Hanna Reisch (sp?) - dunno about getting over it, they strapped her to a V1 bomb at one stage!
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