so sad.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/15267963/detail.html



The link has pictures.

Don't mess with the weather, nothing good will come from it.

Rob

I guess maules can take off out of the hangar but not land in them... with the doors closed anyhow.

Rob,
I was flying Sun., it wasn't really that bad. I think this is one of those cases of more airplane than pilot.

Hey, maybe, just maybe he was going to slide in in on the run.

Kind of like Swartzenagger did with that Corvette in the movie "True Lies"

Slide up to the hangar, stomp the brake and rudder and.... well maybe not.

See ya, Bub

And the Maule insurance premiums get yet another rate hike for no good reason.

-Matt

This is the account of the accident from the pilot who was flying. It was posted over on MaulePilots.org. It is a good learning scenario and even better that it is coming from the pilot who survived to tell about it.

Yep, that was me, and first of all I do apologize to all of you for any impact this might have on your insurance rates.

I thought I might be able to answer some questions about the accident, and maybe help someone avoid this kind of thing in the future.

The plane was based at Mathis and I had been flying out of there for almost two years. It's about 1800x35 and the hangars and clubhouse are about 35' from each side of the runway. Huge by the standards of many Maule drivers I guess, but still not a lot of open space if you get blown off the runway.

I was returning from an airport in N. Georgia, Gilmer County, which is only 15 or 20 minutes away. The weather report looked like it should have been worse in Gilmer than Mathis so I decided to go if it looked all right when I got to Gilmer. It was breezy but not bad so off I went.

On the way it was turbulent with some shear, but not really that worrisome. On final I had plenty of rudder to track the center line and stay aligned longitudinally, so I wasn't concerned. I was ready for a go-around, and I adopt Jeremy's technique of not trimming off the forces so there is one less thing to do after power is applied.

I made a wing low touchdown and then almost immediately I must have encountered a shear to a headwind since I zoomed up at least 25'. I immediately applied full power to go-around, which I now think was the wrong decision, since I was now heading sideways toward the hangars. I never did get lateral control--maybe I also got a tailwind shear I don't know-- but I hit the first hangar with the tail taking off the left horizontal stabilizer. I almost missed the next hangar and if I had I would probably be dead now.

On the good side I got out through the back doors and don't have a scratch. The cabin remained intact even though both wings were mostly destroyed and the landing gear was torn off. The Maule is incredibly tough and I don't think I would have fared as well in an aluminum frame.

Obviously in retrospect I would have been better off not going at all, but once I committed to land I think I should have just allowed it to drift into the hangars rather than try a go-around. I would have bent the plane but I would definitely have survived. As it was I picked up enough speed to kill me, but not enough to get out.

I hope this long post is helpful to some.

Jack Keller

Bad first solo, who knows, last solo?

Ouch, that looks expensive!

Jr.CubBuilder wrote:Any landing you can walk away from is a good one

Yeah but with a great landing, you're able to use the airplane again!

Just curious. Anyone know what the winds actually were when the accident happened? With the Maule in Georgia that is.

Also, he doesn't say whether he was wheel landing or three point. My bet is three point.

Hey--helicopters do that deal all the time

MTV

snoopydoc wrote:Just curious. Anyone know what the winds actually were when the accident happened? With the Maule in Georgia that is.

A fellow Maule pilot stated that winds in the local area were 25 with gust in excess of 35. He did not know what that specific airport was reporting for winds.

Mike- Why do you assume it was a 3 pointer? I would assume the same only because wheel landings are a bear in the Maule so most people 3 point them. If he had a tailwind shear as he suspects this accident could have happened in either configuration.

I can wheel land the Maule when needed and do so on occasion to stay proficient, but it is not nearly as easy to do so in a Maule as it is in many other tailwheels. As you know, Maules are short coupled with a narrow gear stance and a lot of torque of front. I normally 3 point it and dump the flaps as soon as the mains touch. If the winds are up I land with little or no flaps and will even go negative with them when the mains touch to kill as much lift as possible.

I guess I can answer some of these questions since I was on the scene. As to the winds, Mathis doesn't have any wind reporting except a single windsock which is above the roof of the two story clubhouse at about mid-field. I always overfly mid-field for a wind check and if the sock is twirling around in a 360, which it does occasionally there, I go elsewhere.

The sock was straight out and steady so it didn't appear to be particularly gusty. Also on final it seemed steady, although on the way to the airport I had noted some wind shear. Also my experience at Mathis is that due to the trees and buildings that the wind at the runway is usually about half that at the windsock.

I did a 3 point landing with full flaps. Probably a mistake but I have done this there many times in similar conditions. It brings you in steep over a lake which gives a lot of sink and you stop real quick especially since 21 is uphill.

The shear to a headwind occurred right at or just before touchdown so I was 20-25' up before I had a chance to dump flaps. As I see it I now had three choices: do nothing, and then the wind changes quickly to the prevailing x-wind and I drop like a rock from 25'; try to soften the drop with partial power, even though I'm going to hit the hangars in a little more than one second; and three do what I was trained to do, when in doubt punch out. Full power go-around.

I now think option two was correct and would probably have resulted in minor damage to the airplane, little if any to the hangar, and none to me.

The decision had to be made in half a second or less, but I think the lesson for me is that I knew that I had so little forward motion that I couldn't really get hurt, especially if I didn't passively drop. I think I was worried most about the airplane, that is until I picked up enough speed to kill myself and then I was worried about me.

Jack Keller

Jack,

Looks as if you did the right things. I think most pilots me incuded have a tendancy to arm chair a bit after the fact.

You were able to walk away, and there are are a lot of planes for sale everyday.

I've been there done that myself and Sh** happens fast.

Take care thanks for sharing, Bub

Thanks for the good words, Skylane. I'll sure be glad when I can stop replaying this three second loop.

jkeller wrote:Thanks for the good words, Skylane. I'll sure be glad when I can stop replaying this three second loop.

Hey I screwed the pooch in 1998, flying a 1954 Cessna 180. It's still a vived 3 to 5 seconds.

Someday when we meet, I'll give you a replay

Take care, remember your not the first nor the last. It will be someone else tomorrow, next week, or next month. There are some high time crusty pilots on this forum, and I'm sure there are some good campfire stories.

See ya, Bub

Anyone that will come and talk about what happened to them gets my ear and attention, thanks for relaying your event, that way folks wont make up their own story, it could happen to any of us today, tomorrow etc.

Yep,

Thanks for the recap. It takes someone who's serious about aviation safety to step up and discuss what happened in an accident.

MTV

You bet, my hat's off to you. I think you did a great job, don't get down on yourself, just get back on that ol horse....

Thanks guys. Much appreciated, and I look forward to meeting you all at the next fly-in.
Jack

Yeah, Jack, good on you for stepping up and chiming in. Glad you're OK after that harrowing experience. Hope it doesn't keep you outa the cockpit in the future.
Bub, your old 180 is out & about, looking good. Today I ran into my friend Toby who owns it. Every time I see him, he comments on how much he likes flying it.

Eric