deleted due to douchebaggery

What, folks in Norcal (a very large place, indeed) cannot live as free men?

We're starting to experience some constructive interference of douchebaggery here. Let's stay on topic.

courierguy wrote:Speaking of power lines....I may as well fess up, I got tangled up in some this weekend. An initial distraction, followed by other distractions was all it took. I heard a noise that sounded like a combo of POP and CRUNCH, but didn't feel anything untoward, so kept going. The first indication I had of a real problem was a women hollering "you're in the wires!"

I was in the operator cab of my 30 ton National crane, working on a project (lifting a 3,000' pound modern/new sheep camp, and setting it 50' away) for what are my closet neighbors, and the reason I mention that is I think that maybe that lulled me into, or out of, my normal work mode mind set. The initial distraction was when I first stopped on the 20% grade, thinking I was along side the area it was going to be set, and i immediately noticed the proximity of the power lines, and made a mental note.Turns out, the area was another 60' or so up the driveway. The second distraction, was the extreme slope required some special techniques to get enough dunnage under my outriggers, to get the crane level (always required) before running out of outrigger travel. These two initial distractions, combined with the nearness to my place (I could see it) in retrospect through me off my usual all business mindset. I even had my dog along,and that doesn't happen at my usual work. So once I sat my ass in the op seat, it was boom up and lets lift a sheep camp.

THE GOOD THING WAS: all I had snagged (and broken...) was the lower ground wire, the "hot" wire of the residential line was 2' vert above. I can estimate, using a little mental geometry, how close the boom tip came to the hot wire, based on the boom extension and angle, and so on and so forth. but lets just say it was too damn close! Maybe an inch or two, no more then 18-20". There is no way of knowing for sure what would have happened if I had contacted the hot, it depends on the pole's breaker, how well or not the crane was grounded, etc., but it could have been a deal breaker. A pilot buddy who also operates the smaller cranes/larger boom trucks, burned his rig to the ground (though he didn't get zapped) as it sat there and boiled off the hydraulic fluid, and then the tires. Many times, I'm told, all that happens is the nearest disconnect pops open (I called it a breaker earlier) some sparks fly, and that's about all. Other times...... My first reaction was to try to kick myself in the ass, I was pissed at my stupidity, really pissed. I got away with it, no damage at all except for what will probably be less then a $500.00 bill from the utility, they arrived from town with a 2 man crew and a small bucket truck, and were driving down the road leaving 40 minutes later. I kinda hope they sock it to me on the bill, just so the lesson sinks in real good. Exactly like in flying, complacency is the big enemy, I'm coming up on 20 K hours as an operator, and got a good (and cheap) wake up call. TOO CLOSE, WAY TOO CLOSE, indeed.

30 ton? Operator in training, 250 ton Manitowoc, 200’ of stick, floating on a barge[emoji1]. No ADS-B but it does have GPS for position while dredging.

Looks so easy to operate, a kid can do it!

drifted

We gave Chinook pilots a hard time. But they did one thing at a time, they did it very well, and then they moved on.

hotrod180 wrote:I've set a lot of HVAC equipment over the years,
being the guy on the roof makes you really appreciate a smooth crane operator-
esp if they obey the signal man (not all do!!!).
A good operator makes it look easy,
a bad operator just makes it dangerous.

Couldn't agree more, and good signal man also make it easy and safe, and they are rarer then I would like.

drifted

Deleted, due to record breaking thread drift.

Well this post stayed on track.

I'm out walking the runway yesterday and I hear a 180 approaching. It's the same 180 that nearly took me out. As I watch him cross the end of my runway on approach to his runway I see he has slowed it well but he's too low. No way he can reach the end of his runway without adding power. And yep I'm right, he not only has to add power but also has to maintain it the remainder of the way. Too low across my strip for sure (although not as low as before).

Somehow pilots and a lot of instructors have gotten away from practicing and teaching power off landings, hence dragging it in. Here is a news flash- if a pilot has to drag the plane in under power then the approach is flatter so the approach ground speed is higher which equals a longer landing, usually much longer.

On that subject I'll admit I've never done a full power off landing in the SQ-2. Why, well it's certainly an excuse but all my landings are precision, short landings and almost always need a burp of power at some point- and that's because I'm way behind curve (in more ways than one I think)- so I've just never done one- poor excuse for sure.

Earlier this month it was time for my BFR. Last BFR my instructor made me fly around with my eyes closed- seriously- I didn't think that was fun at all.

This BFR, after doing some flying around and navigating under the hood (and no I'm not IFR certified), and then doing some "engine out find the best place to land in the trees" drills, my instructor says let's climb to 2,000 feet above the runway (Soldotna), get on the downwind leg, and then pull power to idle and land within a 100' of the end of the gravel strip. Wind is quartering maybe 8-10. "Okay this is going to be fun" I think. Like I already said, I never practice this and certainly not from 2,000 agl.

I continue on downwind for a short time, and then throw the stick over, coasting towards the ground and the strip. Best glide speed and no flaps- but I did forget to pull the prop all the way back- my bad.

As I get about 2' off the deck I realize I'll be just a little short. I pop 10 degrees of flaps, get a momentary ballon, and kiss the strip with a sweet three point right on the end- no flying energy left at all. Beaming, I'm thinking "well I'm ready to go in, how about you?".

"Okay let's go back up same altitude and I want you to do the same thing but with a wheel landing" says he. Gulp. "Better not cut this one short" I think.

Up we go. Throttle pulled to idle and down I head again. Turning in earlier this time I'm thinking I'll just slip it if I need to scrub off altitude. And I did- and I did. But maybe not quite enough cause the end of the strip went right under us while still a foot off the ground. I dumped flaps, tail wheel low'd it onto the strip and pushed the stick forward-JUST as the 100' cone went by. Heh, I did it, just used up a 100' that might have put me into harms way in a real dead stick landing.

Anyway I'll admit flying with this instructor is loads of fun. He always surprises me and gives me something challenging to do. Will I practice more dead stick landing? Without a throttle burp right before touchdown? In all honesty probably not, at least not in the SQ-2. But I want you guys to practice. Do as I say not as I do. And for heaven's sake stop dragging it in to landings.

I also didn't do much power off short field except for real. I don't like giving up the very useful throttle to control glide angle all the way down. Of course, to keep throttle all the way down, we have to decelerate on short final.

Like Barnstormer, the apparent brisk walk rate of closure short final approach likes to have some angle. If we are low and not hovering in low ground effect, giving up the deceleration part makes timing of the closing of the throttle more difficult. Crop dusters in the older slower ships appeared to be dragging it in as they never got more than 100' high. But most hover taxied over the dirt part of the strip up to the gravel, mechadem, or concrete portion of the spray strip. In wet muddy country a short piece of prepared surface was necessary for all weather work.

The use of the very steep approach, preferred by some, forces the apparent brisk walk rate closure style approach to very nearly touchdown. Unless we approach slow or decelerate on short final, we will have to round out and hold off or go around.

Some great stories so I thought I'd add my "Way too close" encounter

I was at 3000' on an IFR flight plan, solid, in a Twin Otter from BOS to MVY. I had just leveled off at 3000' and departure called out a twin that was passing in front of me right to left at 4,000'. A few moments later as i looked out into the solid IFR conditions I saw a face. Yes, a face of someone for a split second, at exactly my same altitude, and it was gone. I did use some very un PC language calling departure. They asked me my altitude and I said 3050'. I then asked the other aircraft's altitude and was told he was assigned 4000' but his xponder was inop. I made it very clear he was not at 4000 and had he been a small fraction of a second slower or me being that same fraction faster we would not be talking now. When I landed in MVY I called the number they gave me and they asked what color was the twin I encountered and when I told him light grey it seemed, he said when it landed in Boston it indeed was a light grey color. That was in 1983 and I have never forgot just how lucky I and everyone in both planes were that morning.
Needless to say I had ADSB-in as soon as it was available.

I recently added ADS-B to my airplane in the form of a Stratux receiver.
It bluetooths to the Avare app on my tablet.
Yes, it shows other traffic, as a small colored dot
(but I don't know what the various colors mean),
unfortunately watching the screen for other traffic
takes away from looking out the window--
just what I was afraid of.
As a result, my primary defense is still the mark one eyeball.
The ADS-B in would be great IF I had a RIO to monitor it all the time.

FWIW the very first airplane I encountered after getting the Stratux
did not show up on the screen-- not ADS-B out equipped, I guess.

I was on my way to my home airport KLSN from KWVI couple of months back in my Tomahawk. Right after Hollister KCVH I was at 5500’. It was a quite midweek day with not much of traffic around. But then I noticed a straight line pointing towards my plane on my iPad mini screen running ForeFlight.
Next to that aircraft's icon there was a -500 ark. I thought he was ok and going to land to KCVH probably. But then to my surprise, an upward arrow appeared next to its icon. He was climbing and at 130 Knots!!

I tried to locate this airplane with no success. He was still at 6-7 miles away. At my 10-11 o'clock position. In a very short time that distance between us reduced to 3-2-1 and on the screen he was coming towards me at a perfect collision course like if he was a SAM missile locked on my plane.
When he was just a mile away he was also at my altitude. His icon turned red on my screen. And now he was on my 9 o'clock position.
I was doing my best to locate him, call him with no success. So, I turned towards my 1-2 o’clock position in order to run away from him.
A few seconds after that his icon and my icon line on my iPad screen in Foreflight was about the touch each other and at that moment I noticed a 90 degree bend on his line at the same altitude with me.

Long story short, I never located the plane even though I was killing myself to find out where he was.
Thanks to ADSB... I've never get my eyes or established radio communication with that pilot.

Yeah, look outside of the cockpit of course, but also pay attention to your ADS-B screen too!

With the thread re-activated, I went back and re-read it to refresh. I recently had Diversity ADS-B and TAS installed. (Lynx 9000D+). I agree. There are more airplanes in close proximity than I realized. I may still have some bugs, because the audio alerts have been very last minute. Back to the avionics shop when it comes out of the paint shop.

Barnstormer also mentioned that he creates a waypoint and a warning for himself when he encounters hazardous obstacles. This prompts me to ask if anyone has experience with the Garmin obstacles database that is specified for helicopters? Is it possible, or useful, for low flying fixed wing flyers to procure and install this database?

Flying pipeline at 200' AGL makes two things clear. First cell towers can go from backhoe called as spot report to tower in place in one weeks time. Second you don't see stuff you are higher than, but you do see stuff you are lower than. Database cannot keep up with this.

Just received this from the NTSB. The Board doesn't have a lot of confidence in See'n Avoid. FWIW, neither do I.

------######--------------######-------


NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD ADVOCACY UPDATE
Midair Collision Highlights Limitations of
See-and-Avoid Concept, Benefits of Collision Avoidance Technologies

Earlier this week, the Board met to discuss its findings related to the midair collision involving two airplanes, a float-equipped de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver operated by Mountain Air Service, and a float-equipped de Havilland DHC-3 Otter, operated by Taquan Air, in Ketchikan, Alaska, on May 13, 2019. The DHC-2 pilot and four passengers sustained fatal injuries. The DHC-3 pilot sustained minor injuries, nine passengers sustained serious injuries, and one passenger sustained fatal injuries. Both aircraft were operating under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 as on-demand sightseeing flights.

What We Found...

The midair collision was caused by the inherent limitations of the see-and-avoid concept, which prevented the two pilots from seeing the other airplane before the collision, and the absence of visual and aural alerts from both airplanes’ traffic display systems, while operating in a geographic area with a high concentration of air tour activity.

Advocacy takeaway...

Midair collisions accounted for about 7 percent of Part 135 air tour operators' fatal accidents between 1982 and 2020, more than three times the percentage of fatal midair collisions for all other aviation operations in the U.S. This accident highlights how technology, such as cockpit displays of traffic information with traffic alerting, can mitigate the risk of such collisions. The use of ADS-B Out- and In-supported traffic advisory systems with aural and visual alerts, for example, can help mitigate this risk by supplementing pilots’ traffic scans and alerting them to other nearby aircraft.

We made specific recommendations to aviation industry groups encouraging them to inform their members about the circumstances of this accident and encourage operators to take the following actions:

Become familiar with the traffic display equipment installed in their aircraft;
Encourage pilots/operators to supplement the equipment with devices that provide both an aural and visual alert if their equipment does not provide an aural alert concerning proximate targets that might pose a collision threat; and
Remind pilots to include the traffic display when scanning for traffic through the aircraft’s windows.

One word of warning coming from my experience. I have ADS-B in/out in my cub with Garmin Aera 660 display with aural warnings through the intercom. I have had it for 4 years now. On 4 different occasions I have watched as planes appeared tp hunt me down as I watched them on my screen. Generally I fly very erratic directions as I am not a point A to B flyer. So I have seen planes basically try to follow me without communicating with me. I believe this happened to me last weekend except I was not watching the screen as I was scouting a gravel bar. I pulled up off the bar and made an abrupt 180 when at the same time I got an aural warning and then suddenly a plane passed over me at about 50 feet. That plane was ADS-B equipped. So I think there is this phenomena where pilots look at their ADS-B and see someone flying around and they want to come see what you are up to and start following you. Pull a quick 180 to chase a coyote and you have a recipe for disaster.