Gliding Experience Helps

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















www.skypics.com

Aerial Associates Photography

1028 Martin Place

Ann Arbor, MI 48104

1-734-668-6868

John,

You may have a future in Supense Essays . Great account .
A question for you - " Do you think you would have been any better off
landing in the traffic had you been in the same situation in your
Ventus2CM " ?

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

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?

On the west side of the expressway just south (1/2 mile?) of where you
touched down? Probably would have been OK. It gets mowed a couple times a
year. There's a park almost next to where you landed, but that would have
been a bad choice - picnic tables, small trees, parking blocks, fence around
the tennis court, etc.

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.

Another mile or so south and there are a lot of power lines crossing the
expressway.

Also prominent in view were the tops of cars and trucks but more
importantly, open areas of concrete looming closer below.

Good thing it wasn't about an hour later in the day when traffic is heavier.
Eh?

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.

You Da MAN!

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.


I got lucky and saw the traffic stopped on an overpass and took and
alternate route home.

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!!!"

Welcome to Detroit :-(

Glad it worked out as well as it did under the circumstances.

Story in the Detroit Free Press:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...WS01/512200372
Had a generally complementary tone:
Using the highway traffic as his guide, a pilot gently landed his
Cessna 152 plane onto I-75 in Allen Park...
"He got it down pretty clean," said Allen Park Police Officer Dan
Cerroni...

--
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.

wrote in message
ups.com...
John,

You may have a future in Supense Essays . Great account .
A question for you - " Do you think you would have been any better off
landing in the traffic had you been in the same situation in your
Ventus2CM " ?

The expressway there is three lanes but has almost no shoulder on either
side (not wide enough to pull off with a car). There is a 20 foot sound wall
on the edge and a concrete barrier with light poles stuck in it in the
center.

What's the span of a Vetus2CM? He probably had 50 feet of road to work with.
My guess is he would have been hosed. Eh?

--
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.

Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe wrote:
What's the span of a Vetus2CM? He probably had 50 feet of road to work with.
My guess is he would have been hosed. Eh?

With a Ventus 2CM he has well over 40:1 glide ratio to play with and
hence rather more options than the 152's paltry 7:1 leaves you.

His second choice field should have been reached quite easily.

For that matter Detroit Metro is only 45 degrees away from straight
downwind, so assuming nothing tall was in the way and there's flat
ground all the way (I've never been to Detroit) a Ventus should get
there with about 500 ft to spare, even allowing for height loss while he
sucked in the dead donk.

--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. |
org | Zappa fan & glider pilot

Congratulations on your successful landing in a difficult
situation.

I'd always wondered if it would be possible to merge
in with the traffic in an emergency if there was absolutely
no other options.

Kind Regards,

Luke Roberts
U.K



At 16:42 21 December 2005, Karl Striedieck wrote:
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















www.skypics.com

Aerial Associates Photography

1028 Martin Place

Ann Arbor, MI 48104

1-734-668-6868

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















www.skypics.com

Aerial Associates Photography

1028 Martin Place

Ann Arbor, MI 48104

1-734-668-6868

My wife was reading about this. She could see the SUV driver flipping you
off,
I think she said "What does he expect, the key to the city".

Sorry, but i thought her reaction was sort of funny....

Scott.

My experience since the Cessna land out has been culturally
enlightening.
Each news organization has its own style of handling the presentation
of the news which affected the accuracy of the reporting. Even the
type media seemed to effect the accuracy. My conclusion is that radio
is more accurate than video because verbal statements aren't edited
the same way video is. In audio transcripts it's harder to make cuts
mid stream.
It seems producing news is like producing a product which can be used
to entertain the masses. There is motivation to hype the factors
involved in the production of the report to make it juicer.

Chanel 4 did a pre-interview of me in which the VJ talked of a
suspected fuel leak. I never mentioned any thing about a fuel leak.
There was no fuel leak. Because this pre interview was done without me
present I was not aware that a fuel leak was being bandied about as a
factor involved until I saw the piece on TV.

john Sullivan UFO

My experience since the Cessna land out has been culturally
enlightening.
Each news organization has its own style of handling the presentation
of the news which affected the accuracy of the reporting. Even the
type media seemed to effect the accuracy. My conclusion is that radio
is more accurate than video because verbal statements aren't edited
the same way video is. In audio transcripts it's harder to make cuts
mid stream.
It seems producing news is like producing a product which can be used
to entertain the masses. There is motivation to hype the factors
involved in the production of the report to make it juicer.

Chanel 4 did a pre-interview of me in which the VJ talked of a
suspected fuel leak. I never mentioned any thing about a fuel leak.
There was no fuel leak. Because this pre interview was done without me
present I was not aware that a fuel leak was being bandied about as a
factor involved until I saw the piece on TV.

john Sullivan UFO