Following the thread on landing with one spoiler, I wonder what
proportion of landing accidents result from mechanical failure or
jamming of primary flight controls and spoilers/dive brakes. I
personally know of a couple of failures - one spoiler handle sheared
off as the pilot did his pre-landing checks and he landed safely
off-field and another had a pencil jam in controls, limiting control
movement, but again landed safely.

With the exception of incorrect assembly, I have to believe that
asymmetric control failure or jamming must be an extremely rare cause
of landing accidents compared to the more common reasons we all know.

Any actual data or good anecdotes?

Mike the Strike wrote:
> Following the thread on landing with one spoiler, I wonder what
> proportion of landing accidents result from mechanical failure or
> jamming of primary flight controls and spoilers/dive brakes. I
> personally know of a couple of failures - one spoiler handle sheared
> off as the pilot did his pre-landing checks and he landed safely
> off-field and another had a pencil jam in controls, limiting control
> movement, but again landed safely.
>
> With the exception of incorrect assembly, I have to believe that
> asymmetric control failure or jamming must be an extremely rare cause
> of landing accidents compared to the more common reasons we all know.
>
> Any actual data or good anecdotes?
>
I read a story, in a Canadian soaring magasine about 20-25 years ago,
about a girl forced to bail out of here glider (HP-14?) because a loose
item in the cockpit had jammed the stick. Landed in a river and almost
drowned.

Anyone have the original article?

"Sid" > wrote in message
...

> I read a story, in a Canadian soaring magasine about 20-25 years ago,
> about a girl forced to bail out of here glider (HP-14?) because a loose
> item in the cockpit had jammed the stick. Landed in a river and almost
> drowned.
>
> Anyone have the original article?

This one?
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/Stories/Bailout.htm

--
Geoff
the sea hawk at wow way d0t com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
Spell checking is left as an excercise for the reader.

You don't have to look far from home. A Grob 103 had complete aileron
failure in flight after the arm broke off a torque tube at the weld
line. The rear seat pilot opened the inspection hatch and flew it to a
safe landing by working the aileron pushrods with his hand behind his
back. Afterwards he said he would have done a better job if he had
asked his into ride passenger to operate the airbrakes.

Andy

"Mike the Strike" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Following the thread on landing with one spoiler, I wonder what
> proportion of landing accidents result from mechanical failure or
> jamming of primary flight controls and spoilers/dive brakes. I
> personally know of a couple of failures - one spoiler handle sheared
> off as the pilot did his pre-landing checks and he landed safely
> off-field and another had a pencil jam in controls, limiting control
> movement, but again landed safely.
>
> With the exception of incorrect assembly, I have to believe that
> asymmetric control failure or jamming must be an extremely rare cause
> of landing accidents compared to the more common reasons we all know.
>
> Any actual data or good anecdotes?
>

Rare, but not unheard of. Let's see: (Some of the following pilots prefer
to remain anonymous. I don't believe any of them practiced for these
eventualities.)

The owner/builder of an experimental glider that I am to test fly assures me
that a lead shot ballast bag in the tail is properly secured. However,
turbulence on short final tosses the unsecured shot bag into the control
mixer jamming the ailerons and elevator while shifting the CG forward. I
manage to hit the grass between runways at 70 Kts plus using rudder alone.
After a few bounces, I slide to a stop unhurt and without damage to the
glider. Damage to the relationship with the glider owner took a while to
repair, however.

Not directly glider related but perhaps of interest; after climbing through
a nimbostratus layer to subfreezing clear air above, I notice my ailerons
are frozen. Rainwater had frozen the aileron gap seals to the ailerons. I
flew on above the undercast using rudder to warmer air that thawed the
ailerons. I still worry about wet control gap seals. This could be a cause
of otherwise unexplainable mountain soaring accidents.

Zigging when I shoudda zagged results in a mid-air while flying a Pratt
Read. The wing damage produces significant asymmetrical lift and drag which
full aileron and rudder won't correct. Experimenting with spoilers restores
partial symmetry and sufficient control authority to land safely. The pilot
of the other glider, a 1-26, managed to land without a fin or rudder and
with impaired elevator control. I still get spooked when another glider
gets near me.

A near head on collision between a Libelle and a Foka destroys the Libelle
but does minor damage to the Foka. The Libelle pilot parachutes to safety.
The damage to the Foka includes a jammed canopy latch and release so the
pilot, having no other choice, lands safely.

A lady flying a 1-26 has the release knob come off in her hand. Taking a
few seconds to think about the situation, coolly reaches under the panel and
pulls the release cable.

Not directly controls related; an owner of a kit built 1-26A makes a first
flight after covering the glider. The poorly cemented top and bottom fabric
on the left wing departs leaving only a skeleton. The pilot lands saying he
didn't feel much asymmetry. This leaves me unsure just what parts of a 1-26
are actually needed for flight.

A ride pilot flying a 2-32 from the back seat draws a mental blank when he
tries to remember if he secured the rear control stick with the bolt and
safety pin. For a fleeting moment he considers pulling up on the stick to
see before thinking better of it. (The rear control stick of a 2-32 is
often removed to allow two small passengers to ride in the back seat.)

A USAF general officer riding jump seat in a B-36 fiddles with a lever
asking as he does, "What does this gizmo do?" thereby dropping three unarmed
nuclear weapons on Albuquerque, NM. Source: Kirkland AFB Nuclear Weapons
Museum.

There are many sagas of military pilots landing aircraft with jammed
controls and/or major parts of the airframe missing. The entire left wing
of a F-15 for example.

Of course, there's the DC-10 over Iowa.

Bill Daniels

I have had a pair of unused headphones wedge below a collective on a
helicopter. Learned real quick. There may be a number of cases where
non-attached items wedge themselves in to cause problems with controls.

Glider pilots often carry loose water bottles, gps receivers or cameras that
are waiting to find novel ways of lodging themselves.

Colin

Mike the Strike wrote:
> With the exception of incorrect assembly, I have to believe that
> asymmetric control failure or jamming must be an extremely rare cause
> of landing accidents compared to the more common reasons we all know.
>
> Any actual data or good anecdotes?

I did have the spoilers on a Libelle freeze shut in flight until shortly
before landing, and had a pushrod fail between the front and rear rudder
pedals on a Blanik L13 (we landed before it did any mischief). Dave
Noyes had a serious accident when a bolt in the elevator circuit of his
new DG 800 fell out.


--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

A story related to me from the east coast site where I once flew but after I
left there.

A 1-26 pilot wrecked the glider and had major injuries. He rebuilt it then
recovered it. They did a very thorough preflight as is required after doing
that type of thing. Only problem is that they confirmed the ailerons were
connected but didn't notice that they worked opposite of what they should
have. Pilot took off and released soon thereafter again wrecking the
glider. Pilot (different person) was uninjured. Cables were "crossed".

Casey Lenox
KC
Phoenix

As an 18 year old, I washed and waxed a J-3 for 2 hours
of instruction. After takeoff and turnout to the
left I discovered that the stick would not move to
the right. After landing, the instructor and I poked
around below the floorboards and found the cap to the
can of Johnson's wax jammed in the controls. We had
cycled the stick all around before takeoff, so it worked
its way into the jamming position somewhere between
the initial roll and the first turn.

At 01:30 01 October 2005, Kilo Charlie wrote:
>A story related to me from the east coast site where
>I once flew but after I
>left there.
>
>A 1-26 pilot wrecked the glider and had major injuries.
> He rebuilt it then
>recovered it. They did a very thorough preflight as
>is required after doing
>that type of thing. Only problem is that they confirmed
>the ailerons were
>connected but didn't notice that they worked opposite
>of what they should
>have. Pilot took off and released soon thereafter
>again wrecking the
>glider. Pilot (different person) was uninjured. Cables
>were 'crossed'.
>
>Casey Lenox
>KC
>Phoenix
>
>
>

"Bill Daniels" > wrote in message
...
<snippage>

> Not directly controls related; an owner of a kit built 1-26A makes a first
> flight after covering the glider. The poorly cemented top and bottom
fabric
> on the left wing departs leaving only a skeleton. The pilot lands saying
he
> didn't feel much asymmetry. This leaves me unsure just what parts of a
1-26
> are actually needed for flight.

<more snippage>

Gee, Bill, I thought everyone knew that in a 1-26, it's all the pilot!

Tim Ward

Kilo Charlie wrote:

> A story related to me from the east coast site where I once flew but after I
> left there.
>
> A 1-26 pilot wrecked the glider and had major injuries. He rebuilt it then
> recovered it. They did a very thorough preflight as is required after doing
> that type of thing. Only problem is that they confirmed the ailerons were
> connected but didn't notice that they worked opposite of what they should
> have. Pilot took off and released soon thereafter again wrecking the
> glider. Pilot (different person) was uninjured. Cables were "crossed".

I know at least one Blanik and one Libelle have suffered reversed rudder
after maintenance, but I'd say that comes under "incorrect assembly"
(and poor pre-flight) rather than an in-flight failure.


--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

<Start tall story>

A local crew on a cattle property west of here used to do a bit of pig shooting
from a Skyfox using a gas auto 12 gauge...

Happily plugging away until one of the ejected cartridges found it's way under
the floor into the controls. Wasn't apparent until the craft didn't want to come
out of the steep bank. All survived, even a few more of the pigs ;-)

<End tall story>

Don

COLIN LAMB wrote:
> I have had a pair of unused headphones wedge below a collective on a
> helicopter. Learned real quick. There may be a number of cases where
> non-attached items wedge themselves in to cause problems with controls.
>
> Glider pilots often carry loose water bottles, gps receivers or cameras that
> are waiting to find novel ways of lodging themselves.
>
> Colin
>
>

Capt. Geoffry Thorpe wrote:
> "Sid" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>
>>I read a story, in a Canadian soaring magasine about 20-25 years ago,
>>about a girl forced to bail out of here glider (HP-14?) because a loose
>>item in the cockpit had jammed the stick. Landed in a river and almost
>>drowned.
>>
>>Anyone have the original article?
>
>
> This one?
> http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/Stories/Bailout.htm
>
> --
> Geoff
> the sea hawk at wow way d0t com
> remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
> Spell checking is left as an excercise for the reader.
>
>
Amazing story to re-read. Thanks for the link Geoff.

Hello,

a clubmate landed his ASH-25 with one of the center flaperons
disconnected and hanging in the full down position. The ASH has three
control surfaces on each wing. His reaction was that the glider had a
great rolling tendancy and needed full opposite aileron and rudder to
keep straight. It was only on final that his rear passenger noted one
flaperon hanging down, so the pilot selected some positive flaps and he
made a good landing.

I also know of a Standard Libelle pilot who suffered aileron flutter
due to some loose connection. Spectators said it was a very nasty
sight, but the landing was fairly ok.

In article . com>, Mike
the Strike > writes
>Following the thread on landing with one spoiler, I wonder what
>proportion of landing accidents result from mechanical failure or
>jamming of primary flight controls and spoilers/dive brakes. I
>personally know of a couple of failures - one spoiler handle sheared
>off as the pilot did his pre-landing checks and he landed safely
>off-field and another had a pencil jam in controls, limiting control
>movement, but again landed safely.
>
>With the exception of incorrect assembly, I have to believe that
>asymmetric control failure or jamming must be an extremely rare cause
>of landing accidents compared to the more common reasons we all know.
>
>Any actual data or good anecdotes?
>
About 35 years ago a well known pilot was killed when one of the flying
controls, I think the elevator, was jammed by a spanner (wrench) which
had been lodged in the glider since it was built.
It seems the aero's he was doing freed this FB, which was later
identified as being "of Eastern European origin". It had a "witness
mark" on it which helped the investigators determine what had happened.
I think the a/c was either a Bocian or a Blanik.

The victim was a former RAF warrant officer who was my CFI at RAF
Andover in 1948. His name was Andy Goff.
--
Mike Lindsay

Blanik.....
Any at least spell his name correctly, Andy Gough



At 20:48 02 October 2005, Mike Lindsay wrote:
>In article , Mike
>the Strike writes
>>Following the thread on landing with one spoiler, I
>>wonder what
>>proportion of landing accidents result from mechanical
>>failure or
>>jamming of primary flight controls and spoilers/dive
>>brakes. I
>>personally know of a couple of failures - one spoiler
>>handle sheared
>>off as the pilot did his pre-landing checks and he
>>landed safely
>>off-field and another had a pencil jam in controls,
>>limiting control
>>movement, but again landed safely.
>>
>>With the exception of incorrect assembly, I have to
>>believe that
>>asymmetric control failure or jamming must be an extremely
>>rare cause
>>of landing accidents compared to the more common reasons
>>we all know.
>>
>>Any actual data or good anecdotes?
>>
>About 35 years ago a well known pilot was killed when
>one of the flying
>controls, I think the elevator, was jammed by a spanner
>(wrench) which
>had been lodged in the glider since it was built.
>It seems the aero's he was doing freed this FB, which
>was later
>identified as being 'of Eastern European origin'. It
>had a 'witness
>mark' on it which helped the investigators determine
>what had happened.
>I think the a/c was either a Bocian or a Blanik.
>
>The victim was a former RAF warrant officer who was
>my CFI at RAF
>Andover in 1948. His name was Andy Goff.
>--
>Mike Lindsay
>

In article >, Mike Lindsay
> writes
>In article . com>, Mike
>the Strike > writes
>>Following the thread on landingFB, which was later
>identified as being "of Eastern European origin". It had a "witness
>mark" on it which helped the investigators determine what had happened.
>I think the a/c was either a Bocian or a Blanik.
>
>The victim was a former RAF warrant officer who was my CFI at RAF
>Andover in 1948. His name was Andy Goff.

Apologies. Of course it was Gough not Goff. And it was 1958, not 48.
Gough.

Old age strikes again.
--
Mike Lindsay

I always use the "thumbs up" method when doing my PCC. Grab the stick
with thumb sticking up. The thumb should point to the upward going
aileron.



I usually verbally call out to the helper "Left aileron up." etc.



Larry





"Kilo Charlie" <NOSPAMkilocharlie.cox.net> wrote in message
news:Tyl%e.14547$GQ4.11790@fed1read05:

> A story related to me from the east coast site where I once flew but after I
> left there.
>
> A 1-26 pilot wrecked the glider and had major injuries. He rebuilt it then
> recovered it. They did a very thorough preflight as is required after doing
> that type of thing. Only problem is that they confirmed the ailerons were
> connected but didn't notice that they worked opposite of what they should
> have. Pilot took off and released soon thereafter again wrecking the
> glider. Pilot (different person) was uninjured. Cables were "crossed".
>
> Casey Lenox
> KC
> Phoenix

Aileron cables in a 1-26, that IS a good story.


Kilo Charlie wrote:
>
> A 1-26 pilot wrecked the glider... Only problem is that they confirmed the ailerons were connected but didn't notice that they worked opposite of what they should have... Cables were "crossed".
>

"jphoenix" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Aileron cables in a 1-26, that IS a good story.
>
>
> Kilo Charlie wrote:
>>
>> A 1-26 pilot wrecked the glider... Only problem is that they confirmed
>> the ailerons were connected but didn't notice that they worked opposite
>> of what they should have... Cables were "crossed".
>>
>
As I recall the story, the elevator cables were misconnected. A proper PCC
would have caught it.

"Bill Daniels" > writes:

> A lady flying a 1-26 has the release knob come off in her hand. Taking a
> few seconds to think about the situation, coolly reaches under the panel and
> pulls the release cable.

Had that happen earlier this year with an IS-28. Fortunatly, it had released
so it was only a minor drama!

--
Paul Repacholi 1 Crescent Rd.,
+61 (08) 9257-1001 Kalamunda.
West Australia 6076
comp.os.vms,- The Older, Grumpier Slashdot
Raw, Cooked or Well-done, it's all half baked.
EPIC, The Architecture of the future, always has been, always will be.