Abbreviated First flight

W

wilzup

Pre-Flight
Joined
Nov 1, 2014
Messages
78
Location
Atlanta
Display Name
Display name:
Eric D
Yesterday was a perfect day to fly and I decided that it was the day that I would finally get my wife up there with me. My 16 yr old daughter tagged along(she had been up with me previously). Precheck went as normal and we taxi'do to the run-up area and everything is satisfactory. We get clearance to depart and we are airborn. Climb out is far slower than usual but is expected so no worries ( first time with rear passenger). But about 400ft off the deck, I notice my CHT#3 is overheating. I troubleshot for about 30 sec and decided to get it back on the ground. I checked all other indications, leveled out and reduced power to see if the temp would drop but nothing help. I wrote it up after I got back to the FBO and discussed with a couple of seasoned pilots. They all agreed I acted appropriately. So.... My first inflight issue and I am happy with the way I handled it and my decision making process. Needlessly to say, my wife was disappointed but, we get an opportunity to do it again!

Eric
 
The only problem I see above is troubleshooting at 400 AGL.

Too low. Determine if you can climb or not. If you can, continue onto downwind where you MIGHT troubleshoot a little in an empty pattern, and then land. If you can't climb, land somewhere you can see through the front window.

At 400 AGL, you have significant risk of losing control of the aircraft with no room for recovery, or hitting obstructions or other traffic.

Fly the plane first. More than one accident has occurred due to fixation on a problem indication.

Your passenger can never be a factor in a decision like this.
 
MAKG1 said:
The only problem I see above is troubleshooting at 400 AGL.

Too low. Determine if you can climb or not. If you can, continue onto downwind where you MIGHT troubleshoot a little in an empty pattern, and then land. If you can't climb, land somewhere you can see through the front window.

At 400 AGL, you have significant risk of losing control of the aircraft with no room for recovery, or hitting obstructions or other traffic.

Fly the plane first. More than one accident has occurred due to fixation on a problem indication.

Your passenger can never be a factor in a decision like this.
Click to expand...

Good point! I should have clarified that I noticed it at 400' however, I did wait until I had sufficient space under me before I leveled out and powered down.

Eric
 
MAKG1 said:
The only problem I see above is troubleshooting at 400 AGL.

Too low. Determine if you can climb or not. If you can, continue onto downwind where you MIGHT troubleshoot a little in an empty pattern, and then land. If you can't climb, land somewhere you can see through the front window.

At 400 AGL, you have significant risk of losing control of the aircraft with no room for recovery, or hitting obstructions or other traffic.

Fly the plane first. More than one accident has occurred due to fixation on a problem indication.

Your passenger can never be a factor in a decision like this.
Click to expand...


A pilot's risk of losing control is the same at 4000' or 400'. Some rather aggressive maneuvering would be required to cause a deadly encounter with the ground from 400 ft. The obstruction advice is sound. On the fence about your traffic concerns at 400'. I stay below 500' most of the day and the only traffic i see are other spray planes.

I do however agree with your advice just the reasons you gave were off color slightly in my opinion.
 
Fly the aircraft,get it to a safe place,then troubleshoot. Good choice on landing.
 
Tar Heel, he's in an airport traffic pattern. There will certainly be more low altitude traffic around than normal, especially if nontowered and winds are calm, or if there are helicopters in the area.

And a new pilot can quite easily dial a bit too much nose up trim and then unconsciously yank back when the emergency hits. Lots of bad things can happen quickly with heads down, and an unusual attitude at 400 AGL is pretty worrisome for a new pilot.

In certain locales, I run into rapidly moving 500 AGL traffic more often than I'd like. At a CAP exercise a few months ago (which include brief jaunts down to 500), I got interrupted several times by passing NORDO helicopters, probably inspecting nearby power lines. Real sucky grid. The higher altitudes were used as a practice area by a nearby flight school, and they were doing GRMs at 1000 (seemingly oblivious to the helicopters).
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top