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Clive J
Joined: 03 Nov 2007
Posts: 340
Location: UK
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 Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:51 pm Post subject: ILAFFT |
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Hi Chaps, I wrote a little story up about my last day at home
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I was having a really good day……then I learned about flying from that.
I finally had the Esqual up and running with it's new trim system and had had a few good flights one day the previous week. The flying the first day was cut short as I had a baffle come loose in a cooling duct and the noise was something that I had to figure before I flew again. The weather the first day was almost calm and clear with low cloud base but fine for local flying. The electric trim was working Ok and the plane was, as usual a joy to fly about in.
After fixing the baffle properly (real flock'd epoxy job). I packed for work a day early and had my last day of leave clear to fly the Esqual and try out the trim and the stability.
I flew the Esqual first in September with a really experienced pilot and instructor. He shook my down such that I could fly alone and then develop it. Subsequently I had even flown into a tree surrounded airfield on a gusty crosswind day, 4 months previously without any fuss. Between then and last week I'd been flying my trusty SP which I now have over 1000 hrs on over 8 years. Nothing on the Esqual however.
The Esqual like the lightning has a castoring nose wheel and toe brake steering. My first 250 hrs was done on a microlight with the same set up. Somewhat lighter and with a more effective rudder without prop blast but never the less a similar principle I felt I was 'tuned into'. This thought was to be my undoing….
I took off on the first flight and seeing 2 days previously had done 4 uneventful take off and landings decided an hour of handling checks would be appropriate. This would give me a chance to assess the stability, the trim settings and see what fuel it was using in an hours flying . This I did, thoroughly enjoyed myself, got frozen (no heater) and landed to make adjustments. The stability wasn't positive and I didn't have enough up trim for approach with landing flap. I still had some up bungee up trim set in so was planning to disconnect this to rely on the trim tab only and to adjust the throw of the tab for the up trim to be more effective at full up travel.
As I landed and taxied back I noted the right brake was a little weak. After a cuppa and a muse, I adjusted the trim tab and dropped the bungee off the elevator and noted some fluid on the cockpit floor below the brakes. I've been chasing a small leak for some time and thought 'at last, a leak big enough to find'. Sure enough I traced it to a fitting on the master on the right brake pedal and also found air had collected in the brake pipe. I bled the air and tightened the fitting, dried everything off and tested it, no drips ready to go. I'd now found my spongy right brake problem and fixed it. Back to the flying.
The weather was good a slight cross wind from the left but ideal for landing down the side of our hangar when I returned. The hangar at my base is in the middle of the one end of runway. A quaint feature that was caused many years ago by the edges of the runway not belonging to those that owned the middle. Not a problem to us local fliers as we are used to it.
I took off and climbed up as far as ATC would let me ( we are under the Northerly approach to a local airport). Still I got up enough to get some straight and level in and see what the trim was doing now. Still not positive but neutral, now I was getting somewhere. As I approached the airfield with a positive step forward in the test flying a down wind 'go around' was appropriate for the lads on the ground. That done and a tear drop to get back to approach height and to slow down I slid down the side of the hangar as I had many times before and swung onto the runway. A little fast but those big flaps will soon sort that out. The plane floated a little further than I would have liked but I soon had it down on the runway and was steering with my feet and my toes. Nothing seemed to be happening right and a slid steadily to the right of the runway, the right brake!…alas the wrong thought as I was soon off the right side sitting in the mud wondering what had happened to that positive feeling I had not 1 minute before.
Like you do, I have analysed those few seconds a few hundred times since.
Here's my list of what I did wrong:
Too fast, I have recently read the excellent article on flying the Lightning by Buz and Nick. Too fast is a no no, unless you have a mile of runway to wait above till you land. I was, I know now, too fast.
Toe brakes and castoring nose wheel, I've done little taxiing with the toe brakes since September. Lots of Jab flying with a nose wheel though. 4 months before, prior to ever leaving the ground, I'd done quite a few miles on the runway, swerving stopping, turning on a sixpence till I was back where I was in my Shadow microlight days. Surely that would do , alas it wasn't enough, should have refreshed my feet more on the ground.
Concentration, as I came in to land I was thinking about the next change I could make to help the stability. What effect will some down bungee have?
Brakes, I was still tuned into the fact I had a soft right brake, I didn't try the brakes on my landing checks, in fact I can't remember when I did a brake check in the air. Sitting in the hangar after the right brake had a harder pedal than the left. The black stripe on the runway showed that the right brake was, on that landing as good as the left if not better.
So, entirely avoidable , and I learned about flying from that.
Good news is insurance are going to support the repairs, I'm going to take the plane home to fix it for a few months and make some other improvements fit that heater for one.
(and fit a bathroom, though not in the plane).
For Esqual owners, there is a mod that can be done to the rudder pedal arrangement that stops the quadrant pivot bending. I'm not sure that the fact the pivot is bent and the pedals now make an almighty grating noise had anything to do with me loosing control of the steering but it certainly didn't help. I've attached the picture that Nick was good enough to send me which clearly shows the mod that I recommend all Esqual owners fit. Regards Clive
P.S. If you have the urge to tell me something extra I did wrong please resist the temptation to share it with me, I feel bad enough.
Clive R James
Harding OIM,
BP Exploration Operating Company Limited,
1 Wellheads Avenue, Dyce, Aberdeen AB21 7PB
Tel: +44 (0)1224 772982
Fax: +44 (0)1224 834896
e-mail: clive.james(at)bp.com (clive.james(at)bp.com)
BP Exploration Operating Company Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with the company number 305943 and VAT number GB365678995 and whose registered office is Chertsey Road, Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex TW16 7BP
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pennington(at)q.com
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| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 4:53 am Post subject: ILAFFT |
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<?xml:namespace prefix="v" /><?xml:namespace prefix="o" /><![endif]--> Good morning Clive
You have a good attitude....even when things go wrong. Good luck to you.
Gary Pennington
[quote] ---
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N1BZRich(at)AOL.COM
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| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:34 pm Post subject: ILAFFT |
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In a message dated 1/24/2009 7:54:29 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, pennington(at)q.com writes:
| Quote: | | You have a good attitude....even when things go wrong. |
Hi Clive,
I second what Gary had to say. It is always helpful if we can learn form other peoples mistakes - especially in the flying game. As someone said a long time ago, "Learn from the mistakes of others because you will never live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself". Therefore, reading things like "I learned about flying from that" may help you if you are ever faced with a similar situation. So file away that knowledge gleaned by reading about other pilot's experiences so that if the time comes, you may be able to reach into your own "bag of tricks" for a workable solution.
Blue Skies,
Buz
From Wall Street to Main Street and everywhere in between, stay up-to-date with the [url=http://aol.com?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000023 ]latest news[/url].
[quote][b]
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Clive J
Joined: 03 Nov 2007
Posts: 340
Location: UK
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| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:55 pm Post subject: ILAFFT |
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Thanks Gary + Buz, I'm an avid reader of anything 'flying' but got a
little complacent this time.
Also I try and get 'things done' just before I leave for my tour of work
and it's not the first time it's caught me out.
To be honest writing it down was a good way of purging myself. Bit like
a confessional (I imagine).
Regards, clive
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