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"Magic Bike"gets Damaged

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Dennis.Kirby(at)kirtland.
Guest

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:17 am Post subject: "Magic Bike"gets Damaged

Dear Kolb Friends -



It is with a heavy heart that I share this story with you.  But if what

I pass on can save any of you from repeating my mistake, then it is

worth the telling.



Last week, I experienced an off-airport landing in my Mark-III.  It was

a beautiful Sunday morning, and I was flying with my 13-year-old son,

Michael.  We were about 30 miles from our home airport, when I suddenly

heard a loud bang, followed by some significant vibration in the engine.

I knew that something bigger than a bolt or muffler spring had gone thru

the prop.



We were over some salt flats in this part of central New Mexico, so I

elected to do a precautionary landing on the dry lake bed below us.  It

turns out that the lake bed was far from dry.  What looked like dry,

solid ground was in fact merely a half-inch thick layer of dry surface

crust.  Underneath was very wet mud.  As soon as we touched down, the

wheels bogged in and we went over the nose, coming to rest upside down.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt.  We clambered out into knee-deep of the

wettest, gooiest mud I've ever seen.  We hiked out to safety, found a

nearby ranch, and we were able to sleep in my own beds that night.  But

my Mark-III would remain upside-down in the mud until I could rescue

her.



I realized there was no way to go back out in the mud by foot to

retrieve the plane.  The ONLY way to get it out would be a helicopter.

So, two days later, I hired a Bell Jet Ranger to extract my Kolb from

the mud and deposit it on the shore where I could access it.  Within an

hour of the helicopter rescue, my Mark-III was back on its trailer and

we headed home.



I discovered that the oil cap had come off and gone thru the prop.

Evidently, during my preflight when I checked my oil level, I had not

secured the oil cap all the way to the detent that locks it in place.

During the flight, it worked its way loose and came off.  This was

verified because the oil tank had no cap when I recovered the plane, and

there was a fair-sized chunk missing from the leading edge of one of my

prop blades.



Could I have made it back to my home airport with the vibrating prop?

Maybe, but I did not want to take that chance.  I chose what looked like

the best landing site available to me at the time, and that turned out

to be a bad choice.  Believe me, if I knew it was wet underneath the dry

crust on that surface, I'd have landed elsewhere!



The good news is (besides we are OK), damage to my plane is minimal.  In

fact, the majority of damage was due to the helicopter rescue, not the

landing itself.  I need to rebuild the rudder, the gap seal, and get a

new prop.  I'll also need to replace all the instruments, as they got

soaked in the wet mud during those 48 hours upside down.  Luckily, my

912 engine remained just above the mud surface and was not immersed.



And so begin the repair efforts.  I'll keep you all posted on my

progress.



And here is the lesson to take with you:  Always double-check that

EVERYTHING IS SECURE in your engine area when doing your preflight.  You

don't want stuff going through your propeller.  Could ruin you day, as

it did mine!



Regards -

Dennis Kirby

Mark-III, 912ul, 85 hrs TT, in

Cedar Crest, New Mexico

jcooley380(at)hughes.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:46 am Post subject: "Magic Bike"gets Damaged

Dennis,

Very sorry to hear of your misfortunate accident but very glad you and your

son was able to walk away from it. It is so easy for things to go wrong in

this sport and you can never be too cautious in doing a preflight. Something

like what happened to you could easily happen to most of us.  

Count you blessings that no one was hurt and damage to your plane was

minimal.



Do not archive



Later,

John 



 



--

biglar

Joined: 14 Jan 2006
Posts: 457

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:03 am Post subject: "Magic Bike"gets Damaged

I'll 2nd that.  What rotten luck, eh ??  I would've thought the lakes were plenty solid by now.  I'm glad you and your son are OK, and that your plane wasn't too badly damaged.  Good Luck.                  Lar.                  Do not Archive. 



 On 7/2/07, John Cooley <jcooley380(at)hughes.net (jcooley380(at)hughes.net)> wrote: [quote]--> Kolb-List message posted by: "John Cooley" <jcooley380(at)hughes.net  (jcooley380(at)hughes.net)>



Dennis,

Very sorry to hear of your misfortunate accident but very glad you and your

son was able to walk away from it. It is so easy for things to go wrong in

this sport and you can never be too cautious in doing a preflight. Something 

like what happened to you could easily happen to most of us.

Count you blessings that no one was hurt and damage to your plane was

minimal.



Do not archive



Later,

John



--

_________________
Larry Bourne
Palm Springs, CA
Building Kolb Mk IIIC
"Vamoose"

jghunter(at)nol.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:04 am Post subject: "Magic Bike"gets Damaged

can u tell us about this? what was hrly rate? how did they do it, any pix?

jg



The ONLY way to get it out would be a helicopter.

 	  Quote: 	
		  So, two days later, I hired a Bell Jet Ranger to extract my Kolb from

the mud and deposit it on the shore where I could access it.

lcottrell

Joined: 29 May 2006
Posts: 1494
Location: Jordan Valley, Or

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:00 pm Post subject: "Magic Bike"gets Damaged

 	  Quote: 	
		   

 <Dennis.Kirby(at)kirtland.af.mil>



Dennis,
	


   Very sorry that you had to go through that experience. Having been there, 

I know full well the pain that comes with it. On the way back from MV I went 

down on the salt flats to land, and lucky for me I was very cautious and had 

the big tires on the Firestar, or I might have had the same problem. It got 

pretty soft, but I had enough power to get it out, but it was close.

Larry C

do not archive

Arty Trost

Joined: 25 May 2006
Posts: 205
Location: Sandy, Oregon

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 5:17 pm Post subject: "Magic Bike"gets Damaged

Dennis -



How did Michael and your wife handle your upside-down

incident?  I hope it didn't turn both of them off to

flying!  When you wrote that Michael was with you, my

stomach cramped.  It's one thing to have this happen

when you're by yourself or with a friend - but with

your son!  Whew!  I'm SOOOO glad that you're both o.k.



And thanks for sharing this story - we all think we

try to do good preflights, and yet realize that we can

still overlook something.  Do you use a checklist?  I

didn't use to - have changed that since my MV flight. 

It seems almost overkill, but I hope it keeps me from

overlooking something - or becoming so familiar that I

don't even see it.



Arty

--- Kirby Dennis Contr MDA/AL

<Dennis.Kirby(at)kirtland.af.mil> wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   

 MDA/AL" <Dennis.Kirby(at)kirtland.af.mil>

 

 Dear Kolb Friends -

 

 It is with a heavy heart that I share this story

 with you.  

snip
	




www.LessonsFromTheEdge.com



"Life's a daring adventure or nothing"

                      Helen Keller



"I refuse to tip toe through life just to arrive safely at death."

John Hauck

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: Titus, Alabama (hauck's holler)

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:24 pm Post subject: Re:

Dennis:



Glad you all are ok.



Airplanes are fixable.  Still hurts though.



What kind of prop were you flying?  What kind of damage to the blades.



Get her fixed.  MV 2008 is right around the corner.

_________________
John Hauck
MKIII/912ULS
hauck's holler
Titus, Alabama

Ralph B

Joined: 14 Apr 2007
Posts: 367
Location: Mound Minnesota

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:31 pm Post subject: Re:

Dennis, I know it hurts now even though you are physically ok. I'm happy to hear that you and your son are ok. The plane can be repaired. Think positive. This can give you an opportunity to add some additional strength to the wings if you need it or something else. You can make it even better than before. When you are ready to fly again, this will be a distant memory.



Ralph B

_________________
Ralph B

Kolb Kolbra 912uls
N20386
550 hours

DAquaNut(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:02 pm Post subject: "Magic Bike"gets Damaged

Dennis, 

 

     So Sorry bout your Kolb!  Glad to hear yall are ok.  I used to think if I had a 4-stroke my worries would be over, but the last three incidences that I know of have involved 4- strokes.  Just goes to show you cant be too safe or too redundant and for Arty, theres no such thing as overkill if it prevents a disaster!  May you have a speedy rebuild! 

 

          Ed Diebel    FF 62

**************************************

 See what's free at http://www.aol.com.  [quote][b]

pj.ladd(at)btinternet.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:07 am Post subject: "Magic Bike"gets Damaged

It is with a heavy heart>>



Hard luck Dennis,

thats is really sad news. Your only consolation is that you did all the 

right things ( except putting the oil cap on of course) and when the cap hit 

the fan your reactions were the best possible.

The decision to land has to be the right one. You didn`t have enough 

information to risk trying anything else. You flew the plane, sorted out a 

landing spot and , until you actually touched down, carried out an entirely 

safe routine.

The fact that the surface was not as it appeared was not something you could 

do anything about.

The biggest plus is of course that no-one was hurt. Not event the Magic 

Bicycle sustained serious damage, and recovering the plane by 

helicopter...Well.. thats style.

Reel Cool, man



Cheers



Pat

jimhefner

Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 91
Location: Tucson, AZ

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:29 am Post subject: Re:

Dennis, I'm very sorry to hear this, but am happy you and Michael walked away unhurt.  Tough luck!!  Good luck with the repairs.

_________________
Jim Hefner
Tucson, AZ
Do Not Archive

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