-RV-6A landed on beach out of gas
-takeoff attempt on muddy sand flat failed
An RV-6A pilot’s apparent attempt to dodge a helicopter recovery bill for his stranded but undamaged airplane was upended last week with an ill-considered takeoff attempt from a muddy tidal estuary on Vancouver Island. He still ended up paying for the lift from the chopper but it hoisted a badly broken airplane. Canadian authorities are also now involved after video of the chain of events appeared a few days after the mishap. “We have been made aware of the incident … and we are collecting information,” the Vancouver Sun quoted a statement from the Transportation Safety Board as saying. “We have not deployed to the site of the occurrence, but we have been in contact with the pilot.”
The pilot, who has not been formally identified, put the homebuilt down on a flat expanse of wet sand near Comox, British Columbia, after running out of gas on July 1. After refueling the plane with a jerry can, he tried to take off but never got the airspeed he needed, and the nosewheel dug into the progressively wetter surface, briefly standing the homebuilt on its nose before it settled back on its gear. Bystanders helped him push it away from the incoming tide and a helicopter plucked it off the sand the next day. Local police said there were no injuries, no environmental damage and no charges pending. The TSB also said there were likely no aviation safety lessons to be learned from the mishap and has filed the incident in its archives.
Well here’s the Darwin award winner of the year. I doubt anyone can beat it. Yet…
And to think how highly I regarded the Canadian TSB all these years–wow!
And then he put it on the world wide web… The world is strange and the strange turn pro.
Seems like he might’ve had better luck if he had simply used the soft-field takeoff procedure everyone learns during primary flight training.
Looked like the elevator was full nose-up from the start of the takeoff roll. What did he miss doing?
Taking off the wheel pants would be a minimum “must do”; they’ll just pack up with mud.
Installing larger tyres all around would be next on the list, since using full up elevator just loads even more weight down onto those tiny mains.
Huh?
Simple case, facts evident, not worth taxpayer money for Transportation Safety Board to chase.
OTOH, Transport Canada may ‘have words’ with pilot about his qualification.
‘Van’s Air Force’ web site reports that he landed above tide reach (tides low this time of year).
RV-6A off field in Comox/Courtenay, BC | Van’s Air Force
I saw at least one automobile get stuck then washed by tide at the beach near the ‘Iona Island’ sewage pipe jetty beside YVR. One I remember in detail was a VW Beetle, it floated so was moved to firm sand.
Hafta get money for the helo lift somehow. :-o)
Presumably not enough lateral space to take off on that beach - or he just blew it, didn’t think about the nature of sand.
It would be safe to assume that the conversion from fast taxiing to flight experienced a sudden and completely unexpected interruption.
Otherwise, the storyline and video paints a beautiful picture of a profoundly professional example of safe and excellent airmanship.
Onward and upward!
A comedy of errors, under the airspace where serious airplanes fly (CFB Comox).
(‘Courtenay’ was mentioned, that’s the larger town on the west side of Comox BC, smaller Cumberland further west.
They are on the east side of Vancouver Island.
Plane reported to be based in Duncan which is well to the south along the island highway. Airport CYDUQ, probably along H18 north of Duncan, though there are farm fields in that area.)
BTW, if really keen on seeing the Snowbirds aerial demonstration team practice each spring. They want the visual experience of sea and mountains lacking at their Moose Jaw SK base.
Video of helo lifting airplane off of beach, appears sling is to propeller hub and under fuselage aft of wing.
Raw video: Helicopter lifts damaged plane after crash on Comox, B.C., beach Vancouver Sun | Raw video: Helicopter lifts damaged plane after crash on Comox, B.C., beach
From Russ:
A constant lament of editors everywhere.
Ya gotta wonder how long he’s been flying to ‘run out of gas’ and force a landing. No check of the tanks before takeoff? Hmmm…..where am I going next?
He missed aborting the takeoff when the nose wheel didn’t come off the ground.
Like all early C150s, mine was hopelessly under-powered. On soft or high grass fields, I used neutral elevator with flaps up to give me the best acceleration. At 5mph below Vso, I dropped 10 degrees and gently pulled back. Dunno if this guy did that, but full-up elevator is not going to get you off the ground earlier.
In all fairness, the subject was decidedly vertical: helicopter, long-line, aircraft. He would have needed to stand another thousand feet back to get that vertical composition in landscape.
Doesn’t matter because to display it properly we have to do the electronic equivalent of moving back 1,000 feet to accommodate the vertical image in a horizontal space. One of the limitations of the highly templated environment of the internet.
Bingo!
He was driving an extra 100-200 pounds of weight down onto those main tyres with all that down force being generated by aft stick.
For soft ground you want minimum drag on the wheels to gain speed quickly and then drop a little flap to unload the wheels even more. Yea, basically let it lift off flat and let it accelerate further in ground effect.
Butt upward in that case? :-o)
To win that, one has to die. (I’m pretty sure it’s been discontinued. Too bad.)