I had the same occurance in my Grumman AA1A years ago. Full tanks, loss of
power in flight shortly after takeoff. In my case, it was a very cold day.
Temp around 10 degrees. In my case, I milked it back to the airport and
after landing, got a tow back to the ramp.After close investigation, there
was ice in the fuel lines. This after a carefull preflight with lots of fuel
testing prior to take off.





"Karl Striedieck" wrote in message
...
To all of my flying friends,



Glider Training is what seamlessly enabled me to switch gears and take
this event in stride on this one. A guardian angel might have helped as
well.

I was talking to Detroit Metro tower, circling over a densely populated
site 8 miles east of Detroit Metro (DTW) airport in a borrowed airplane
when the engine started to run rough. After application of carburetor
heat, the engine ran slightly better, then rough again. Full throttle and
mixture were applied to no effect. It was at that time that I announced
to the Metro tower cab that I was not able to maintain altitude and was
going to have to "set it down". They gave me the wind data and said they
would inform emergency services about the situation. I was only 1500 feet
above the ground and because the Cessna 152 has at a glide ratio of 7:1
which yields 2 miles in range and 90 seconds to touchdown although the
engine was intermittently producing some power which helped to extend my
glide somewhat. In my view to the South West were several options: 1st a
school yard, too small and what about the kids? 2nd and further away was
an industrial area with a snow covered field. Snow covered fields may look
good from afar but what lurks beneath? Nonetheless that was my goal with
I-75 below me along the way i traveled Southwest bound with the vehicular
traffic, and into the wind. Aware that I wouldn't make the 2nd option I
concentrated on I-75. Over the freeway I settled earthward, lower and
lower until I became aware of huge power transmission lines paralleling my
flight path, the tops of which were now at my altitude, and 50 yards to my
right. Also prominent in view were the tops of cars and trucks but more
importantly, open areas of concrete looming closer below. Since my
airspeed was roughly equal to the speed of the moving traffic I was able
to adjust my relative position for and aft pushing and pulling on the yoke
to drop into an opening between the vehicles and eventually settled down
onto the pavement in the flair between the cars. I was careful to let the
Cessna roll as far as I could so that the traffic behind could avoid
hitting me. The Engine had stopped some time ago.

I got lucky because there was not a scratch on the aircraft, nor any
fender benders in any of the 6 miles of traffic which had eventually
accumulated behind me.



After getting out of the aircraft the first eye contact I made with and
individual was a woman passing by in a sport utility vehicle flipping me
off! To her I say, in the words of Steve Martin, "Well Excuse Me!!!"

My first task was to push the aircraft back to the side of the freeway
which allowed a lane of traffic to flow. I then called the owner of the
aircraft to inform them of the situation. Next was a call to the Detroit
Metro tower staff and I talked Angelina to let those people know that I
got down safe and sound. Then I called the FAA where I got into voice mail
but it turned out that he was trying to call me so we connected and by
then blue-suits from 5 different agency's arrived which was reassuring
because not a single vehicle driving by bothered to stop and check if I
needed any help. And that was a lot of cars. The cops gave me a
breathalyzer test which was fun but it was so cold out I had to try 10
times before it worked. By then I was sober right? The FAA wanted to make
sure that there was fuel in the aircraft so they had the police check the
gauges which confirmed that they were full to the brim and I was off the
hook so it was ok to move the aircraft.

We actually got the airplane onto a standard automotive flatbed truck and
hauled it down the freeway and Westbound to Metro airport and what a
parade it was. People anticipated our passing with cameras in large groups
the entire route. We had an escort of 6 police cars ahead and at least as
many behind, lights flashing for the 8 mile ride which too an hour and a
half at 5 miles per hour. So the Cessna sits in a hanger metro waiting
for the FAA to look at it and perhaps discover some information which
might help to prevent this kind of an event from happening again.



Best Regards,

John Sullivan















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