Yesterday afternoon Paul Shultz and I went to recover a New 182 at Bullhead City ,AZ. I flew with Paul over to pick up my pick up truck at A20 10 miles to the south . Paul headed back for Boulder City with the 182 while I drove the pickup back. While Paul was 20 or so miles south of Boulder (BVU) Paul heard distressed pilot call uni com that he was inbound to BVU out of gas and gliding . Bonanza crashed 300 yards short of runway killing pilot.He hit the power lines and went vertical into desert below. Heard he was coming in from Phx. area. -they think he ran out of fuel over lake Meade. There are several landing spots out there . He could have made "old" airport in town about 2-3 miles closer to lake Meade. When you run out of fuel LAND under CONTROL forget trying to make the airport.

Sad ending when it didn't have to be that way. Good advice on flying down and landing the plane with airspeed after the engine quits for any reason. I have had four engine outs in my years of flying and was able to make it an uneventful landing each time because of choosing my own spot. The changing landscapes below don't always present good opportunities so I will ad that I am glad to have paid the "Road Tax" on my fuel, it makes me feel more entitled to use them but if I hadn't, I would anyway. No fine is worth the price this man paid.

http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12133663

In a straight line, Deer Valley (KDVT) to Henderson (HND) is only 203.6 NM.

I'm not sure how much the pilot deviated from the route and I'm not sure what speeds the winds were blowing along the pilots route, but if the pilot left Deer Valley with full tanks, I would assume the Bonanza would make that route with no problem on full tanks of fuel. Even if the pilot went on a sight seeing tour of the Grand Canyon, that would only put the pilot off route by not more than 50nm. Just my guess and assumption!!

I know of two people who have tried to glide it to an airport, one in a twin, one in a Lancair. Both died. The Lancair pilot told me he had an oil leak the week before and that his oil pressure had gotten down to 5 psi before he landed it. I told him not to fly the airplane and to pull the engine....but no he had to fly it till two rods came out of the case and he stalled it 100 yards short of the runway into a farm of trees. Looked like a truck had run over a glass bottle.

The twin (PA-23-150) ended up about 200 yards short hanging off an over pass. Hard to get out when it's 40 feet to the ground and the plane is on fire. In both cases there were many other places to put it down.......

Thanks for the report.

When my engine quit while trying to make it to Wells Nevada, I set it for best glide and had the airport in sight. When the numbers on the runway started climbing up on my windshield, I knew I was not going to make it. I then looked for an altenate. No damage. Did not even get a ticket from the NHP.

The best advice is to imediatly look for a good place to put it down. I think the problem with Bonanza and twin drivers is that to land off airport is not in thier mindset.

Tim

I watched a guy in an ailng Ercoupe fly down the length of a long & wide taxiway at Arlington WA, where the main taxiway through the show during the annual fly-in there. He was low and slow, and getting even lower and slower. He stalled and crashed from about 20' AGL when he tried to make the 120-or-so degree turn onto the runway. (don't ever let anyone tell you an Ercoupe can't stall- they just can't stall straight ahead) He could have easily landed on that taxiway just by pulling off the little power he had on. The only thing I can figure is that he was fixated on that runway, and that since he'd never landed on the taxiway it just never occured to him to do so. He was alright, just shook up, but it sure didn't do the airplane any good.

Eric

Yet another sad example of someone who could have benefited from training in gliders.

EZFlap wrote:Yet another sad example of someone who could have benefited from training in gliders.

I have about two hrs of glider training. First thing I noticed is there is no gas button.

Come to think of it, I have more glider landing in 182's than gliders. Can I log them as pic glider.

Tim

Forgive the rant, but I'm on a mission to harvest souls here... so you can all be saved and see the light

If aerial victories are any indication... The top 98 aces in WW2 were all trained in gliders. In fact the vast majority of all aces in WW2 were glider pilots trained in Germany. The top American ace, Richard Bong, who was not trained in gliders like all the Germans, was 185th on the list of WW2 aces. The only two female WW2 aces were two Russian girls trained in gliders. Before the great Jimmy Doolittle became a Thompson Trophy air racing pilot, the only survivor of the Gee Bee racers, and the world's first B-25 STOL pilot, he built and flew a hang glider from plans in Popular mechanics.

If scientific test pilots are any indication... Check out the biographies of the greatest modern era test pilots - Fitz Fulton, Einar Enevoldson, and EVERY graduate of the USAF and USN test pilot schools. Check out the bio of Hanna Reitsch, the first woman test pilot, first woman helicopter, jet and rocket pilot, the first person to fly a helicopter inside a building and the last person to survive flying out of Berlin on the last days WW2. They all are glider pilots or have significant training in gliders. Jimmy Doolittle also pioneered instrument flying ("Blind Flying" back then) while serving as a test pilot with Sperry. Before Neil Armstrong flew to the moon, he was an X-15 test pilot, and before that he achieved his FAI achievement badges in gliders. Before Alan Shepard played golf on the moon, he played with gliders.

If today's "media heroes" are any indication... Check out the achievements of Steve Fossett, an avid glider pilot. The captain of the US Air floatplane, Sullenberger, was trained in gliders. The Air Canada pilot of "the Gimli Glider", a 767 that glided 70 or 80 miles with both engines out of fuel, and then landed with almost no damage and zero fatalities, was a glider pilot.

If history books are any indication... Check out the guy who had achieved controlled heavier than air flight before the Wright Bros, and whose gliding flights were primary inspiration for the Wrights, Otto Lilienthal.

damn good advice, tim. sometimes the best place to stuff it is right underneath u...did that maneuver once with a fully loaded 182p...all walked away and everybody won except the insurance co...!

When I was getting ready for my PPL checkride, my instructor and I were practicing engine-out landings in an Archer. He emphasized "pick the field right under you," NOT "look for a runway." I got so I looked at every place I could possibly put the plane down: fields, roads, mall parking lots, wherever. When I took the checkride, the examiner wanted me to land in a field that, at 3000', was out of my sightline (he had picked it ahead of time). Scared the heck out of me because I wasn't sure I could glide that far and what I would find when I got there. I still look for whatever is right under me.

ASW.

ASW, find a place nearby that offers glider training, and you will expand your horizons and flight skills. Sometimes (most times) there is no field right under you, and a field 1/2 mile away is safer for you and your airplane. Your Cherokee can glide to a safe landing in a farm field 5 to 6 miles away if you are 5000 feet above the ground.

Go to www.ssa.org and find a glider school in your area. Myself (and a lot of other pilots) have flown over 600 miles with no engine. There's a whole new world out there, all you have to do is walk through the door and see.

It's really like the moment in the movie "The Wizard of OZ" when the movie changes from black and white to color.

EZFlap wrote:Forgive the rant, but I'm on a mission to harvest souls here... so you can all be saved and see the light

If aerial victories are any indication... The top 98 aces in WW2 were all trained in gliders. In fact the vast majority of all aces in WW2 were glider pilots trained in Germany. The top American ace, Richard Bong, who was not trained in gliders like all the Germans, was 185th on the list of WW2 aces. The only two female WW2 aces were two Russian girls trained in gliders. Before the great Jimmy Doolittle became a Thompson Trophy air racing pilot, the only survivor of the Gee Bee racers, and the world's first B-25 STOL pilot, he built and flew a hang glider from plans in Popular mechanics.

If scientific test pilots are any indication... Check out the biographies of the greatest modern era test pilots - Fitz Fulton, Einar Enevoldson, and EVERY graduate of the USAF and USN test pilot schools. Check out the bio of Hanna Reitsch, the first woman test pilot, first woman helicopter, jet and rocket pilot, the first person to fly a helicopter inside a building and the last person to survive flying out of Berlin on the last days WW2. They all are glider pilots or have significant training in gliders. Jimmy Doolittle also pioneered instrument flying ("Blind Flying" back then) while serving as a test pilot with Sperry. Before Neil Armstrong flew to the moon, he was an X-15 test pilot, and before that he achieved his FAI achievement badges in gliders. Before Alan Shepard played golf on the moon, he played with gliders.

If today's "media heroes" are any indication... Check out the achievements of Steve Fossett, an avid glider pilot. The captain of the US Air floatplane, Sullenberger, was trained in gliders. The Air Canada pilot of "the Gimli Glider", a 767 that glided 70 or 80 miles with both engines out of fuel, and then landed with almost no damage and zero fatalities, was a glider pilot.

If history books are any indication... Check out the guy who had achieved controlled heavier than air flight before the Wright Bros, and whose gliding flights were primary inspiration for the Wrights, Otto Lilienthal.

Thanks, EZFlap, I see the light! Every one of those people gave gliders a try and then gave it up!

OK, if you go give it a try and learn how to do it, and then you decide to give it up like all those other folks... I'll take it ! If that Bonanza driver had given up flying gliders years ago, he would have had those old skills and experience available to him the other day.

I will guarantee you with no doubt that if he had flown gliders 20 years ago and quit cold, he still would have been aware of the 5 or 6 safe landing spots he passed over in the last 10 minutes of the flight. Or if he was low on fuel approaching Boulder City and knew he had pushed it too far, he would have conserved his altitude and kept that energy in reserve until a descending circling approach could be made.

I know you're kidding about all of them giving it up, and I hope you know I'm kidding about taking your mortal soul

Timing is everything, good judgment and proficiency help. On the beach at the wrong time. Driving around the perimeter at the wrong time. I lost oil pressure on my O-300 in a C170 in cruse flight at 8500' 35 miles north of Barstow Ca about 10 yrs ago. Just happened to be over a dry lake bed that was about 3 x 5 miles long. If that happened at night unless it was a full moon the timing would have been real wrong. Stretching a glide can get you in real trouble, knowing the capabilities of your machine really helps.

On this day my timing just happened to be right. You guys familiar with the Great Basin probably can relate with the turn points involved on this link. http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gl ... sId=200173
But it was a day you coulda flown a mobile home if you could have got it launched, I had a real hard time staying below class A airspace. Still ing

Damn... nice looking flight Russ.Congratulations. Did you get a 750 triangle record attempt out of that or was it just for OLC purposes?

Well, a half-mile at 3000' is practically right below me, but 5 miles out isn't. I was just real happy that I still had power because we barely made that field. He made me do it over again, this time I picked the landing spot (a field almost below me), and came down to the top of the corn before he decided it was okay. I don't plan on gliding more than a mile for each 1000' AGL in an Archer (more in my SC), and I like to see what might get me in real trouble before I land, because another nearby field might be a lot safer. I like choices, even when I don't have a choice.

BTW, I've already planned on doing the glider rating this year. Just waiting for the grass strips to open up around here.

ASW.