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Tree landings

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grantr

Joined: 12 Sep 2007
Posts: 217

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 9:14 am Post subject: Tree landings

I though this would be another good topic to bring up. Tree landings

scare me! Luckily I have mostly open fields where I fly but one end of

our runway has trees and some other obstructions.



Pine trees in particular do not have many branches and the few they

have are located at the top of the trees. So if you had to make a

landing in the pines it's a good chance your airplane will fall right

through the trees and plummet to the ground some 50+ feet. That would

be very bad!



So what do you do if you have a tight road with possible power lines

crossing that you can't see and road signs in close? Take the trees or

attempt the road? Not sure if our light planes would takeout a power

line without losing control.



Have any of you had a tree landings? I guess if you had a

brs it would help in a tree landings since the chute would get tangled

in the trees. I don't have a brs.



Grant

rlaird

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 373
Location: Houston

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 9:20 am Post subject: Tree landings

Don't know if it will help, but here's an account of a friends' crash:



http://www.texas-flyer.com/RicksCrash/



On Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 12:14 PM, grantr <grant_richardson25(at)yahoo.com> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   



 I though this would be another good topic to bring up. Tree landings

 scare me! Luckily I have mostly open fields where I fly but one end of

 our runway has trees and some other obstructions.



 Pine trees in particular do not have many branches and the few they

 have are located at the top of the trees. So if you had to make a

 landing in the pines it's a good chance your airplane will fall right

 through the trees and plummet to the ground some 50+ feet. That would

 be very bad!



 So what do you do if you have a tight road with possible power lines

 crossing that you can't see and road signs in close? Take the trees or

 attempt the road? Not sure if our light planes would takeout a power

 line without losing control.



 Have any of you had a tree landings? I guess if you had a

 brs it would help in a tree landings since the chute would get tangled

 in the trees. I don't have a brs.



 Grant





 Read this topic online here:



 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p 10808#210808

_________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert Laird
formerly: MkIIIc w/ 912ULS & Gyrobee
current: Autogyro Cavalon w/ 914ULS
Houston, TX area
http://www.Texas-Flyer.com

grantr

Joined: 12 Sep 2007
Posts: 217

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:19 am Post subject: Re: Tree landings

Thanks for sharing that. A single line of trees would definitely not be good.



Really amazed that he wasn't hurt.  It looks like he could have landed in the  field on the other side of the road.

rlaird

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 373
Location: Houston

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:48 am Post subject: Tree landings

He's gone over and over the whole thing in his head a thousand times,

and, in 20-20 hindsight, there were lots of options, but as it was

happening, I guess tunnel vision tends to restrict it to what you see

ahead of you.  He also freely admits that he had yet to practice any

engine-outs in -that- plane, so he was unfamiliar with how fast it

would descend, and that reached up an bit him.



As for being unhurt, I'd say it was mostly luck, but, the Buccaneer is

a sea-plane, and sea-planes are usually built much more robustly than

land-planes, and that may have had a lot to do with it.



  -- Robert

On Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 2:19 PM, grantr <grant_richardson25(at)yahoo.com> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   



 Thanks for sharing that. A single line of trees would definitely not be good.



 Really amazed that he wasn't hurt.  It looks like he could have landed in the  field on the other side of the road.





 Read this topic online here:



 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p 10825#210825

_________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert Laird
formerly: MkIIIc w/ 912ULS & Gyrobee
current: Autogyro Cavalon w/ 914ULS
Houston, TX area
http://www.Texas-Flyer.com

slyck(at)frontiernet.net
Guest

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:03 pm Post subject: Tree landings

Good story.

-also a lesson to not diddle getting to the best spot, if any.  Too  

high is much better than too low.

When close enough for confidence you can do all the other stuff like  

flaps, dump slipping,

S-turns.  Have to admit I didn't use my flaps going into the high  

alfalfa this spring,

but then I was low and slow to begin.

The last good thing to avail is the high drag a kolb has.  Just push  

the nose down toward your best spot

and head right there.  If you are looking at a fence coming up don't  

bother with a stall, plant it.

Just before you hit that barbed wire do a ground loop.



-done it all, not much damage.

BB

On 28, Oct 2008, at 1:20 PM, Robert Laird wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   



 Don't know if it will help, but here's an account of a friends' crash:



 http://www.texas-flyer.com/RicksCrash/



 On Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 12:14 PM, grantr  

 <grant_richardson25(at)yahoo.com> wrote:

> 

> <grant_richardson25(at)yahoo.com>

>

> I though this would be another good topic to bring up. Tree landings

> scare me! Luckily I have mostly open fields where I fly but one  

> end of

> our runway has trees and some other obstructions.

>

> Pine trees in particular do not have many branches and the few they

> have are located at the top of the trees. So if you had to make a

> landing in the pines it's a good chance your airplane will fall right

> through the trees and plummet to the ground some 50+ feet. That would

> be very bad!

>

> So what do you do if you have a tight road with possible power lines

> crossing that you can't see and road signs in close? Take the  

> trees or

> attempt the road? Not sure if our light planes would takeout a power

> line without losing control.

>

> Have any of you had a tree landings? I guess if you had a

> brs it would help in a tree landings since the chute would get  

> tangled

> in the trees. I don't have a brs.

>

> Grant

>

>

> Read this topic online here:

>

> http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p 10808#210808

>

NeilsenRM(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:30 pm Post subject: Tree landings

A friend of mine's 80 year old dad crashed his Kolb (seems like it was a 

firefly) in a tree. I think it was in a woods not a single tree. It was in 

the UP of Michigan were there aren't many single trees. Any way, he didn't 

get hurt and I don't think the plane was hurt much either. He did sprain an 

ankle climbing down to the ground. The next time he flew the plane, he 

crashed the Kolb in a river. Again he wasn't hurt. Another story recovering 

the plane from the river After that he was grounded from flying so there 

were no more crashes.



Rick Neilsen

Redrive VW powered MKIIIC



---

grantr

Joined: 12 Sep 2007
Posts: 217

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:42 pm Post subject: Re: Tree landings

Why ground the guy hes 80 for crying out loud if he likes to fly let him do it!   Were the crashes  pilot error or other?

Possums

Joined: 03 Nov 2007
Posts: 247

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:24 pm Post subject: Tree landings

At 01:14 PM 10/28/2008, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  



I though this would be another good topic to bring up. Tree landings

scare me! Luckily I have mostly open fields where I fly but one end of

our runway has trees and some other obstructions.


	




Here's one with a 20 mph crosswind landing,

flipped him up, over and upside down into the trees before he

ever touched down in. Four of us made it down before him and he was

dragging behind everybody because of his floats.

We were actually eating lunch at the other end of the runway (couldn't see him)

when we first heard his engine go from

normal to this God awful "full throttle/chain saw" sound.

You might notice that his "nose" never touched the ground.

Got a Wrecker to pick his plane up and put it on the runway.

He towed it home - one less Possum.

Another one of us landing into our home field with a almost new 

Firestar II. Missed the

downwind turn, totaled the plane, in the woods big time, EMT's  Ambulance,

Sheriff's deputies, FAA the next day, etc.

Tore the wings off coming through the trees full throttle back 300 ft 

in the woods..

All he did was break his arm and wouldn't have had that if he had 

keep his arm inside

the cockpit. He was still strapped into the cage and mumbling about

something or other. Later he said he couldn't remember anything after he

hit the first tree.



There used to be big trees where these houses are.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid 63159682459782825&hl=en

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_________________
Possum

Dana

Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Posts: 1047
Location: Connecticut, USA

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:37 pm Post subject: Tree landings

At 01:14 PM 10/28/2008, grantr wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  So what do you do if you have a tight road with possible power lines

crossing that you can't see and road signs in close? Take the trees or

attempt the road? Not sure if our light planes would takeout a power

line without losing control.



Have any of you had a tree landings? I guess if you had a

brs it would help in a tree landings since the chute would get tangled

in the trees. I don't have a brs.


	


I think the trees would be a better choice than power lines.  If you hit 

the lines at one point it'll snap you around fast; with luck trees you'll 

hit both wings and absorb some energy.  Going full into the trees is a 

better choice than a tree lined road that's narrower than your wingspan.



About a month ago I related my friend's tree landing in his MKIII, due 

[apparently] to water in the gas.  Probably shouldn't call it a landing 

though, it was the classic stall/spin scenario through trying to turn back 

to the airport after an the engine failed on takeoff.  The better choice, 

in retrospect, would have been to go into the water straight ahead.  From 

the point where he hit the treetops to point of impact was about a 45° 

angle.  Surgery to try to rebuild his shattered angle is Thursday; his 

passenger is sore but recovering from a pelvis cracked in three places.



-Dana

--

  The Definition of an Upgrade: Take old bugs out, put new ones in.

ElleryWeld(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject: Tree landings

Don't fly over anything you don't want to land on if  you are worried about your equipment 

 do not archive

 Ellery in Maine

  

  In a message dated 10/28/2008 12:15:53 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  grant_richardson25(at)yahoo.com writes:

  	  Quote: 	
		  -->    Kolb-List message posted by: "grantr"    <grant_richardson25(at)yahoo.com>



I though this would be another    good topic to bring up. Tree landings

scare me! Luckily I have mostly open    fields where I fly but one end of

our runway has trees and some other    obstructions.



Pine trees in particular do not have many branches and    the few they

have are located at the top of the trees. So if you had to    make a

landing in the pines it's a good chance your airplane will fall    right

through the trees and plummet to the ground some 50+ feet. That    would

be very bad!



So what do you do if you have a tight road with    possible power lines

crossing that you can't see and road signs in close?    Take the trees or

attempt the road? Not sure if our light planes would    takeout a power

line without losing control.



Have any of you had a    tree landings? I guess if you had a

brs it would help in a tree landings    since the chute would get tangled

in the trees. I don't have a    brs.



Grant





Read this topic online    here:



http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=210808#210808

	




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