Inflight Emergency

[Dan Marotta]

Today while towing my wife, a pre-solo student, the tow plane suffered a
power loss at about 300' AGL and started down. Too low to think of
turning back, I was chanting "Straight ahead, straight ahead" as I began
rocking the wings. I did not feel a release so I pulled my release and
began a slight turn to the left.

Looking down, I saw the mixture lever just above idle cutoff. I
advanced it and got the power back. Climbing towards downwind, I looked
back and saw the glider in a right turn back for the runway. Then the
engine cut out again! I found the mixture again at idle cutoff. Screw
this - I'm landing behind the glider if I can make it. I was too close
so I took the parallel taxiway and we rolled out together.

Turns out I was wearing gloves that I hadn't flown with before. They had
a tightening strap on the inside of the wrist and I think that strap
snagged the mixture lever. I changed gloves and had more problems for
the day.

My wife told me that, when I waved her off, she immediately pulled the
release and started a turn into the wind. Her instructor asked, "Did
you pull the release?", since he hadn't seen me rock the wings. She
said that she had. This was her first experience with a premature
termination of the tow and she handled it like a pro. I'm so proud of her!
--
Dan Marotta

[Bill T]

Great report, great reactions for both pilots.
So I suppose you had to find some time locating the tow rope in the fields?

Always check your clothing as the season changes. We had a pilot with puffy sleeves, he reached up to close the Grob sliding window and unlached the aft canopy in the process. At least that's his story.

Bill

[[email protected]]

Speaking of mixture, remember the XC tow we did from Westcliffe to Salida?

Smoke over the Rockies... ;-)

[John Carlyle]

It's great that it all worked out OK. Congratulations to your wife for her correct and quick reactions. Lose the gloves...

-John, Q3


On Wednesday, December 24, 2014 6:42:28 PM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
> Today while towing my wife, a pre-solo student, the tow plane
> suffered a power loss at about 300' AGL and started down.* Too low
> to think of turning back, I was chanting "Straight ahead, straight
> ahead" as I began rocking the wings.* I did not feel a release so I
> pulled my release and began a slight turn to the left.
>
>
>
> Looking down, I saw the mixture lever just above idle cutoff.* I
> advanced it and got the power back.* Climbing towards downwind, I
> looked back and saw the glider in a right turn back for the runway.*
> Then the engine cut out again!* I found the mixture again at idle
> cutoff.* Screw this - I'm landing behind the glider if I can make
> it.* I was too close so I took the parallel taxiway and we rolled
> out together.
>
>
>
> Turns out I was wearing gloves that I hadn't flown with before.*
> They had a tightening strap on the inside of the wrist and I think
> that strap snagged the mixture lever.* I changed gloves and had more
> problems for the day.
>
>
>
> My wife told me that, when I waved her off, she immediately pulled
> the release and started a turn into the wind.* Her instructor asked,
> "Did you pull the release?", since he hadn't seen me rock the
> wings.* She said that she had.* This was her first experience with a
> premature termination of the tow and she handled it like a pro.* I'm
> so proud of her!
>
>
> --
>
> Dan Marotta

[Dan Marotta]

Actually, Steve and I took the airport vehicle and drove straight off
the departure end of the runway. The rope was in the knee-deep grass
about 100 yards away. The ride was also quite bumpy and I'd probably
have nosed over had the engine not caught. But it would have been
better than the barbed wire which was another 50 yards out.

Happy endings and the training value was great.

Dan

On 12/24/2014 5:51 PM, Bill T wrote:
> Great report, great reactions for both pilots.
> So I suppose you had to find some time locating the tow rope in the fields?
>
> Always check your clothing as the season changes. We had a pilot with puffy sleeves, he reached up to close the Grob sliding window and unlached the aft canopy in the process. At least that's his story.
>
> Bill

--
Dan Marotta

[Dan Marotta]

How could I forget?

Neither the Blanik nor the Pawnee had a radio so we both had hand
helds. It was cold so we were bundled up with the radios inside our
clothes and we had pre-briefed that you would move from high to low tow
and back if you wanted to talk to me. We had crossed Music Pass, the
Sand Dunes, and the San Louis Valley and were just heading into the
mountains beyond when you gave me the signal. When I got out my radio
and called you, you told me I was trailing black smoke. I immediately
started looking for places to land, all of which were behind by now.
Then I noticed that I'd neglected to lean the mixture as we continued
climbing to about 12,500' MSL.

Mixture is not one the things done often when all your power flying is
from the surface to about 2K and back down. Thanks for the reminder.

On 12/24/2014 9:46 PM, wrote:
> Speaking of mixture, remember the XC tow we did from Westcliffe to Salida?
>
> Smoke over the Rockies... ;-)

--
Dan Marotta

[Bill T]

Roger on the leaning. Surprised you do not normally lean on tow. In summer temps here I start leaning at 200-500 AGL, even for a 2K tow.
I can watch the RPM come up when I lean. DA is already at 5500 or higher on the ground.

[Dan Marotta]

Hi Bill,

We run DA in the 8,500+ range in the summer at Moriarty; the field
elevation at Silver West (C08) is 8,290' MSL so I expect DA was
considerably much higher. Back when the EGT and manifold pressure
gauges worked, I would lean on tow but, with a constant speed prop it's
better not to mess with it since cylinder head temperature is too slow
to respond.

Where are you flying?

On 12/25/2014 2:20 PM, Bill T wrote:
> Roger on the leaning. Surprised you do not normally lean on tow. In summer temps here I start leaning at 200-500 AGL, even for a 2K tow.
> I can watch the RPM come up when I lean. DA is already at 5500 or higher on the ground.

--
Dan Marotta

[Bill D]

On Friday, December 26, 2014 9:59:26 AM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
> Hi Bill,
>
>
>
> We run DA in the 8,500+ range in the summer at Moriarty; the field
> elevation at Silver West (C08) is 8,290' MSL so I expect DA was
> considerably much higher.* Back when the EGT and manifold pressure
> gauges worked, I would lean on tow but, with a constant speed prop
> it's better not to mess with it since cylinder head temperature is
> too slow to respond.
>
>
>
> Where are you flying?
>
>
>
>
> On 12/25/2014 2:20 PM, Bill T wrote:
>
>
>
> Roger on the leaning. Surprised you do not normally lean on tow. In summer temps here I start leaning at 200-500 AGL, even for a 2K tow.
> I can watch the RPM come up when I lean. DA is already at 5500 or higher on the ground.
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Dan Marotta

I once sat next to a Lycoming engineer on an airline flight. His advice for leaning an engine with CS prop at high DA was to ignore the gauges and lean slowly until you feel a light stumble then enrich just enough so that it smooths out.

Gauges, he said, can lead a pilot to do stupid things with a mixture control. He said there was no chance whatsoever of harming an engine by leaning above 5,000' DA. His main point is if an engine is running strong and smooth, it's happy and lean engines are happier than rich ones.

It worked for me over many thousands of hours. I could cover the engine analyzer and lean "by ear/feel" then look at the analyzer to find it was showing that the engine was perfectly leaned. If you really do over-lean an engine at high DA, it will just quit as you found out.

Still another tip from the Lycoming guy was to lean for taxi using the technique above so the plugs stay clean.

Finally, the Lyc guy made an interesting economic argument. (using current costs) If an O-540 averages 15 GPH and AVGAS costs an average of $5/gal then a 2000 hr TBO run will have burned $150,000 worth of gas. An O-540 overhaul is about $35,000 so it's easy to see one might burn more dollars in gas by running rich than what, if anything, could be saved at overhaul.

[Bill T]

Jean, NV. 2,833MSL, 100F jacks the DA.

[Bill T]

The C-182RG I fly is not fuel injected and no good engine temp gauge. So that's what I do for cruise, lean until it stumbles then one rotation rich. Vernier mixture control. Learned that when I first learned to fly in C-150s. Same technique still works.

[Bill D]

On Friday, December 26, 2014 4:00:53 PM UTC-7, Bill T wrote:
> The C-182RG I fly is not fuel injected and no good engine temp gauge. So that's what I do for cruise, lean until it stumbles then one rotation rich. Vernier mixture control. Learned that when I first learned to fly in C-150s. Same technique still works.

Adjusting to the break point between rough and smooth gives best power mixture. To get best economy mixture, lean until the engine shakes so bad you can't stand it - then enrich the mixture slowly until you can just barely stand it. Best economy will always be slightly rough.

[Bill D]

On Friday, December 26, 2014 3:57:09 PM UTC-7, Bill T wrote:
> Jean, NV. 2,833MSL, 100F jacks the DA.

I used to do mountain flying checkouts for flatland pilots in my Archer II. One warm afternoon we were taxiing out at Teluride, CO and the AWOS said the density altitude was 16,000'. My checkee looked alarmed and asked what the ceiling of the Archer was. I said 13,800' - no problem.

TEX is at 9,078' MSL and prior to 2009 had an 85' deep swayback in the middle of the 6,900' long runway with 800' drop-offs on three sides and a mountain on the forth. I knew the little Archer could get airborne in ground effect well before reaching the bottom of the dip and I could turn out over the valley at mid-field giving me good terrain clearance. If I flew the valley westbound it became lower as I went. I would either find a thermal or reach the airport at Montrose. I hit a 1,200 FPM thermal at Saw Pit, soared the Archer to 17,500 and cruised to APA.

[Peter von Tresckow]

Bill D > wrote:
> On Friday, December 26, 2014 9:59:26 AM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
>> Hi Bill,
>>
>>
>>
>> We run DA in the 8,500+ range in the summer at Moriarty; the field
>> elevation at Silver West (C08) is 8,290' MSL so I expect DA was
>> considerably much higher. Back when the EGT and manifold pressure
>> gauges worked, I would lean on tow but, with a constant speed prop
>> it's better not to mess with it since cylinder head temperature is
>> too slow to respond.
>>
>>
>>
>> Where are you flying?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 12/25/2014 2:20 PM, Bill T wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Roger on the leaning. Surprised you do not normally lean on tow.
>> In summer temps here I start leaning at 200-500 AGL, even for a 2K tow.
>> I can watch the RPM come up when I lean. DA is already at 5500 or higher on the ground.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Dan Marotta
>
> I once sat next to a Lycoming engineer on an airline flight. His advice
> for leaning an engine with CS prop at high DA was to ignore the gauges
> and lean slowly until you feel a light stumble then enrich just enough so
> that it smooths out.
>
> Gauges, he said, can lead a pilot to do stupid things with a mixture
> control. He said there was no chance whatsoever of harming an engine by
> leaning above 5,000' DA. His main point is if an engine is running
> strong and smooth, it's happy and lean engines are happier than rich ones.
>
> It worked for me over many thousands of hours. I could cover the engine
> analyzer and lean "by ear/feel" then look at the analyzer to find it was
> showing that the engine was perfectly leaned. If you really do over-lean
> an engine at high DA, it will just quit as you found out.
>
> Still another tip from the Lycoming guy was to lean for taxi using the
> technique above so the plugs stay clean.
>
> Finally, the Lyc guy made an interesting economic argument. (using
> current costs) If an O-540 averages 15 GPH and AVGAS costs an average of
> $5/gal then a 2000 hr TBO run will have burned $150,000 worth of gas. An
> O-540 overhaul is about $35,000 so it's easy to see one might burn more
> dollars in gas by running rich than what, if anything, could be saved at overhaul.

When we first got a JPI for our power flying club's 182, I leaned it using
the fancy gauges and then by the method mentioned above.

It ended up pretty much at the same settings both times. YMMV

Pete

[Dan Marotta]

All good stuff but I gotta do as the owner wants. He'd rather spend
money for gas than "burn the engine up". I've tried to convince him
otherwise but, to keep the peace, I fly it like he wants it.

BTW, we get 100 degree days here at 6,200' though not as often as you do.


On 12/26/2014 4:00 PM, Bill T wrote:
> The C-182RG I fly is not fuel injected and no good engine temp gauge. So that's what I do for cruise, lean until it stumbles then one rotation rich. Vernier mixture control. Learned that when I first learned to fly in C-150s. Same technique still works.

--
Dan Marotta

[Dan Marotta]

I've flown the Alaska Range and the Brooks range but, when I got to
Colorado, I "needed" a mountain checkout to fly a club 182. We went to
Leadville via Mosquito Pass (elev. 13,186'). On departure my CFI warned
me about density altitude. There was a booming thermal at the departure
end and you should have heard the alarm as I rolled into a turn and
climbed up to 14,000' before heading back to the Denver area. The
following weekend I gave him a ride in a glider.


On 12/26/2014 4:44 PM, Bill D wrote:
> On Friday, December 26, 2014 3:57:09 PM UTC-7, Bill T wrote:
>> Jean, NV. 2,833MSL, 100F jacks the DA.
> I used to do mountain flying checkouts for flatland pilots in my Archer II. One warm afternoon we were taxiing out at Teluride, CO and the AWOS said the density altitude was 16,000'. My checkee looked alarmed and asked what the ceiling of the Archer was. I said 13,800' - no problem.
>
> TEX is at 9,078' MSL and prior to 2009 had an 85' deep swayback in the middle of the 6,900' long runway with 800' drop-offs on three sides and a mountain on the forth. I knew the little Archer could get airborne in ground effect well before reaching the bottom of the dip and I could turn out over the valley at mid-field giving me good terrain clearance. If I flew the valley westbound it became lower as I went. I would either find a thermal or reach the airport at Montrose. I hit a 1,200 FPM thermal at Saw Pit, soared the Archer to 17,500 and cruised to APA.

--
Dan Marotta

[Dale Watkins]

There was a booming thermal at the departure end and you should have heard the alarm as I rolled into a turn and climbed up to 14,000' before heading back to the Denver area.* The following weekend I gave him a ride in a glider.

[[email protected]]

Nothing like glider mountain flying experience. I spent big dollars to take a mountain flying course for helicopters, I ended up by teaching the instructor pilot many things he was not aware of due to my 2,600 hours flying the Sierras. If you want to learn to fly, fly a glider!