Overweight? Out of CG? Stalled? Too slow?

Matt Whiting wrote:
You know, I almost wonder if the pilot's seat didn't slip back on him. That
might explain the cocked attitude going down the runway. If his load was
marginal (and it sure looked like it was) it would have been easy to lose it
while trying to reach the rudder pedals without pulling back the yoke at the
same time as he tried to scoot forward. Plausible?

I'd say it is plausible as this has been know to happen on Cessna's with
worn seat rails and was the course of an SB or maybe even an AD, I can't
remember now the details.


I had it happen to me one day years ago when I was atempting to fly a Turbo
C-206 off a short grass strip on a hillside. The runway lead directly to Lake
Norman but there was a small shed right at the water's edge (and right in the
middle of the slot between the trees). I'd never flown one before and I was by
myself. When I poured the coal to it, the seat slid back. I definitely had my
hands full until shortly after liftoff when I got it sorted out.

I'm pretty sure my takeoff looked much like the video for the first 30 seconds
or so. Of course, I didn't crash and had plenty of excess power. The memory of
that is what prompted my original comments.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE