Quote:
Originally Posted by RobW
Ok, the point of this long story was that even when you know what it is you are supposed to do... parts of your brain will argue with you that what you are doing is wrong... you must have the self discipline to do what you know is right and quiet all those second guessing thoughts. I feel for that guy in the tiger moth... I have no idea what he was thinking or trying to do and hesitate to be critical... what looks obvious from our perspective may not have been so obvious from the cockpit of that little plane.
I miss my C-170.
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Rob,
An amazing and well written story, thanks for sharing the experience with us!
The passage above demonstrates the value of instrument training in a nutshell. You were likely correct in not applying additional flaps as the angle would have steepened and required even more forward pressure.
My primary instructor’s airplane was a 150 Aerobat with the 40 deg flaps as I recall. He used to teach me (many many) power off landings with none, half, and full flaps. The full flap approach could only be attempted with the landing zone secure and absolutely massive amounts of downward pressure, like diving face first into the ground, and the flare needed to be on the money. Engine out landings are one of those things that needs to be practiced with regularity.
Dusk, is the # 1 time of day for the big nasty, and usually in the pattern. At a non-towered field, establish two way communication on the Unicom freq until at least one of you sees the other. The most likely scenario has been shown to be, one high and one low wing aircraft on the same pattern leg, consider departing the pattern in level flight for reentry if no joy.
As for being critical of others mistakes and second guessing, that is precisely where the value lies in learning from accidents. You cannot be there, so it’s the only way to benefit from them. In the case of the Tiger Moth Rob, look closely at the chain of events. That accident was preventable before engine start.
Sorry about the plane Rob, but it was a good landing!