Plane hits ferris wheel!

[mattdaniels]

Eric Mc said:

What I would like to know is-

- why did he not periodically lower the nose on climb out to check forward view?

I'm assuming it's a VFR departure - so it's up to the pilot to be able to see where he is going. Saying "sorry I flew into a solid object on the ground but I had a nose up attitude as I was climbing" is no excuse.

Edited by mattdaniels on Monday 3rd October 17:30

[Eric Mc]

I reckon it's a bit like the bus drivers who occasionally drive a double decker bus rather than their normal single decker and try to drive under a low bridge. They forget that things are a bit different.

That's why I was wondering if the wheel was a permanent or temporary item near the airfield.

Would a ferris wheel be allowed so close to a British airfield?

[Roop]

Bizarre accident. When the plane went into the wheel the pilot banged his head, but aparrently he came round slowly.

[Eric Mc]

That's it - I'm NEVER going up on the London Eye.

[eharding]

Roop said:

Bizarre accident. When the plane went into the wheel the pilot banged his head, but aparrently he came round slowly.

...and you can go and stand in the corner, think about what you've just done, and then come back and apologise to everyone.

Anyway, the Aussie Pprune thread - just before it generated into a classic Proon bh-fest - had a link reporting this as a landing accident, hitting the ferris wheel after hitting a tree first.

Either way, a miracle no-one was seriously hurt.

[Eric Mc]

What, he hit a tree AS WELL?

[Simpo Two]

'Why did you hit the Ferris wheel?'

'My aircraft was out of control'

'Why was it out of control?'

'Because I had just hit a tree'.




I think this pilot is Chip Cobb the deaf stuntman! www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJJpDXAQTNM

[Eric Mc]

You see, I knew it wasn't the pilot's fault - it was that bloody tree.

[eharding]

Eric Mc said:

What, he hit a tree AS WELL?

Well, that was what the report said - there seems to be a distinct lack of detail surrounding the whole affair.

Sticky-uppy-pointy high things in close proximity to airfields always give me the shudders.

Never liked landing at Membury, even though the base of the mast is well over 500m from the threshold rwy 23 - wires, you see. Horrible things. <shudder>. Never tried it on the other runways, which are closer to the mast. No hurry to, either.

[Simpo Two]

eharding said:

there seems to be a distinct lack of detail surrounding the whole affair.

There is now - he flew into most of it

[magpie215]

mattdaniels said:

- why did he not periodically lower the nose on climb out to check forward view?

Once airborne you tend to pitch the aircraft to the best climb speed, trim it there and climb away.

there are so many variables as to what may have happened

he may have been overweight---longer take off and degraded climb out
engine may not have been developing full power---as above
he could have just inadvertently drifted off the runway extended centerline.

etc etc

[mattdaniels]

magpie215 said:

mattdaniels said:

- why did he not periodically lower the nose on climb out to check forward view?

Once airborne you tend to pitch the aircraft to the best climb speed, trim it there and climb away.

I know, I was still taught to lower the nose every few hundred feet to have a looksee forwards where I was going. When you're nicely trimmed it only takes a brief amount of forward pressure on the controls to have a quick check ahead.

[eharding]

magpie215 said:

Once airborne you tend to pitch the aircraft to the best climb speed, trim it there and climb away.

You do if you eventually want to fly into something. As per Matt, it costs nothing to lower the nose at regular intervals to have a look-see. The same goes for playing with all the bells and whistles inside the cockpit - don't get engrossed in a gadget-wk and let your visual scan go to pieces.

[Simpo Two]

eharding said:

As per Matt, it costs nothing to lower the nose at regular intervals to have a look-see.

Height surely?

[eharding]

Simpo Two said:

Height surely?

A tad. Risk vs. Reward is on the side of not ttting the thing you didn't see vs. ttting the thing you knew to be there but needed a maximum performance climb to avoid. Once you're above random fairground machinery, establishing and maintaining a cruise climb in the open FIR without a good lookout - and hoping for the best - is asking to be ttted, or be the tttee yourself.

[mrloudly]

"he could have just inadvertently drifted off the runway extended centerline"

Take a look at google earth image of the strip. To drift off the centreline and hit the wheel, I'd guess he flew threw the trees lining
the strip first LOL

Show-boating gone wrong...

[Simpo Two]

eharding said:

Once you're above random fairground machinery, establishing and maintaining a cruise climb in the open FIR without a good lookout - and hoping for the best - is asking to be ttted, or be the tttee yourself.

tttor and tttee I think!

I guess putting the nose down also helps build up speed so you can turn a bit without falling victim to Mr Newton. From my position as armchair pilot, would not a slight boot of rudder also enable one to see ahead or would that stall you?

[Eric Mc]

I suppose it depends on your airspeed. If you are travelling slowly, slewing/yawing the aircraft from side to side would create drag which could, in the wrong circumstances, create a stall situation.

[magpie215]

mrloudly said:

"he could have just inadvertently drifted off the runway extended centerline"

Take a look at google earth image of the strip. To drift off the centreline and hit the wheel, I'd guess he flew threw the trees lining
the strip first LOL

Show-boating gone wrong...

never looked at where it was just giving a few examples ;-)

yawing at a low airspeed with nose high attitude is asking to spin in.

[Simpo Two]

Eric Mc said:

stuff

I bet my armchair can outfly your armchair