Sneaking across Lake Superior undetected

I just KNEW somebody would call me "Osama." But thanks to everyone who
answered my message. The long and short of the answers I have received is
"Maybe, but not likely." I'll have my evasive pilot (not a terrorist but a
good guy on a mercy mission of sorts) file a flight plan, cross the lake at
a reasonable altitude, have "engine trouble" and land well short of his
posted point of arrival to offload his cargo before the sheriff arrives.

Now how could I fix the engine to seem to have had engine trouble? Loosen a
couple of magneto leads? Anyone?

Henry


"Nomen Nescio" ] wrote in message
...
From: "Henry Kisor"

Can a 172 flying at 200 feet above water across Lake Superior get through
undetected by radar or AWACS? Are there holes in radar coverage?

Nice try, Osama!

"Henry Kisor" wrote in message
...
I just KNEW somebody would call me "Osama." But thanks to everyone who
answered my message. The long and short of the answers I have received is
"Maybe, but not likely." I'll have my evasive pilot (not a terrorist but a
good guy on a mercy mission of sorts) file a flight plan, cross the lake
at
a reasonable altitude, have "engine trouble" and land well short of his
posted point of arrival to offload his cargo before the sheriff arrives.

Now how could I fix the engine to seem to have had engine trouble? Loosen
a
couple of magneto leads? Anyone?

Henry

Fuel or oil leak?



"Nomen Nescio" ] wrote in
message
...
From: "Henry Kisor"

Can a 172 flying at 200 feet above water across Lake Superior get
through
undetected by radar or AWACS? Are there holes in radar coverage?

Nice try, Osama!

"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
y.com...
Now how could I fix the engine to seem to have had engine trouble?
Loosen
a couple of magneto leads? Anyone?

Fuel or oil leak?

IMHO, carb ice would be the best option. It can create significant engine
trouble, and yet is often completely undetectable once the engine has been
shut down and the ice has melted. Claim you have carb icing, and it would
be VERY difficult for anyone to come along later and prove it wasn't.

Leaks would be one of the worst choices IMHO, since the flow pattern of a
leak would most likely be different while in flight versus while on ground.
Unless the pilot in this story actually created a leak prior to takeoff, a
good investigator could probably figure out that there was no in-flight
leak.

Loosening electrical connections might be reasonable, but the pilot would
have to be careful when loosening to not mar the surface of the connector(s)
otherwise an investigator might notice tool marks and determine that the
connector was loosened intentionally, rather than working its way out
through vibration. Of course, one would have to loosen a connector that
isn't required to be safety-wired, since otherwise the additional question
of why it wasn't safety-wired comes up.

I'd go with the carb ice. Obviously, the pilot would have to make sure he
wasn't flying a fuel-injected airplane.

Pete

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 11:35:41 -0700, Peter Duniho wrote:

I'd go with the carb ice. Obviously, the pilot would have to make sure he
wasn't flying a fuel-injected airplane.


good idea. and set the weather accordingly.

#m

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"Martin Hotze" wrote in message
...
good idea. and set the weather accordingly.

Fortunately, carb ice can theoretically occur in a wide range of weather
conditions. Furthermore, it's hard for someone to claim that there weren't
localized areas where carb ice could occur, in spite of generally forecast
conditions that might suggest otherwise.

IMHO, rather than making the weather just coincidentally be especially
conducive to carb icing, it makes more sense to just let the weather be
whatever it would otherwise be for the story, and have the pilot knowingly
make a false claim about having carb ice. Remember, the goal here is not
for something to actually go wrong with the airplane. Just for the pilot to
have a plausible-but-false story of engine trouble.

Pete

Hrmmmmm. could your pilot become a submariner?




"Henry Kisor" wrote in message
...
I just KNEW somebody would call me "Osama." But thanks to everyone who
answered my message. The long and short of the answers I have received is
"Maybe, but not likely." I'll have my evasive pilot (not a terrorist but a
good guy on a mercy mission of sorts) file a flight plan, cross the lake
at
a reasonable altitude, have "engine trouble" and land well short of his
posted point of arrival to offload his cargo before the sheriff arrives.

Now how could I fix the engine to seem to have had engine trouble? Loosen
a
couple of magneto leads? Anyone?

Henry


"Nomen Nescio" ] wrote in
message
...
From: "Henry Kisor"

Can a 172 flying at 200 feet above water across Lake Superior get
through
undetected by radar or AWACS? Are there holes in radar coverage?

Nice try, Osama!

"Jeff Franks" wrote in message ...
Hrmmmmm. could your pilot become a submariner?


Can someone explain to me why you would need to "sneak across" the Lake Superior
anyhow? You could fly across the thing at 12,000 feet squawking 7700 and probably
not be excessively interfered with.

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 12:11:05 -0600, "Henry Kisor"
wrote:

I just KNEW somebody would call me "Osama." But thanks to everyone who
answered my message. The long and short of the answers I have received is
"Maybe, but not likely." I'll have my evasive pilot (not a terrorist but a
good guy on a mercy mission of sorts) file a flight plan, cross the lake at
a reasonable altitude, have "engine trouble" and land well short of his
posted point of arrival to offload his cargo before the sheriff arrives.

Now how could I fix the engine to seem to have had engine trouble? Loosen a
couple of magneto leads? Anyone?

Henry

Hi Henry,

Judging from the number of reports I hear of mysterious engine
problems that come and go, just claiming that the engine acted up so
you made a precautionary landing might be believable :-/

Or... could you claim the pilot inadvertently ran run one tank empty
and didn't discover the problem until after the dead stick landing?

Rob

"Henry Kisor" wrote in
:




Given the information, I can say that you would NOT be able to avoid a
AWACS track/intercept at 200'.

Without giving out details, I spent 10 years flying around in an aircraft
with a "10-ton skunk-flavored M & M" on top in areas of the world where
they look out for these types of things. And that was over a decade ago,
and I am sure that the radar has improved.

Given the increased security post 9-11, I happen to know that for at least
a year(it may still be on-going), there was 24x7 100% coverage of N.
America.

Also, the Coast Guard and Navy ( there is a base in Michigan) routinely fly
in the Bg Bear and Snoopy MOA's. P-3 Orions from time to time.

Good Luck. I hope that you let us know the title of the book!
Larry

Henry

So easy.

Put a gallon of water in one tank and not use that tank until you have
landed. Switch to it and let engine suck up the water and quit.

On your radar question.

At 200 feet you would have to be very close to any land based radar to
be seen. On the AWACS, I doubt if they have 7/24 AWACS over the Lakes.
Too many hot spots around the world and limited resources.

There could be some Aerostats (sp) (Tethered balloons with Radar) up
there like they have along the southern border that would paint? Just
don't know about that.

Maybe someone up there is knowledgable about that system on Norther
Border???

If you are working on the Meigs Field fiasco, have at it G.

Big John



On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 12:11:05 -0600, "Henry Kisor"
wrote:

I just KNEW somebody would call me "Osama." But thanks to everyone who
answered my message. The long and short of the answers I have received is
"Maybe, but not likely." I'll have my evasive pilot (not a terrorist but a
good guy on a mercy mission of sorts) file a flight plan, cross the lake at
a reasonable altitude, have "engine trouble" and land well short of his
posted point of arrival to offload his cargo before the sheriff arrives.

Now how could I fix the engine to seem to have had engine trouble? Loosen a
couple of magneto leads? Anyone?

Henry


"Nomen Nescio" ] wrote in message
.. .
From: "Henry Kisor"

Can a 172 flying at 200 feet above water across Lake Superior get through
undetected by radar or AWACS? Are there holes in radar coverage?

Nice try, Osama!