Argh! Navion broke

Great job! Can't wait to hear why the engine seized. Small pieces of a broken valve will not seize an engine like that. It needs something catastrophic for that...
 
Wasn't clear from the linked article, did you file a flight plan? Glad you got her and you down safely. Good luck on getting this sorted out quickly.
 
Matthew said:
The yellow tape around it is a nice touch. Makes it look like a pretty static display in the sunset.
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This is what happens when you have a local cop, the county sheriff and two state troupers on the scene.
 
masloki said:
Wasn't clear from the linked article, did you file a flight plan? Glad you got her and you down safely. Good luck on getting this sorted out quickly.
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Not sure that the local TV station knew what a flight plan was, but the answer was no (rarely file VFR ones these days). I usually get flight following as a matter of course, but since I was driving around a few build ups I figured it would be easier to hold off calling them until I got past the weather. I was just clearing it when this happened. I was however on the right frequency. Force of habit. I switched to PCT just to get rid of the chatter on the CTAF frequency at CJR which is shared by a bunch of airports in the area. I had tuned to ROA at the normal place I'd have gotten handed off because I figured I'd call and ask for flight following soon.
 
Except for the yellow tape that pic looks like one you'd see in a "buy a plane and enjoy the great outdoors" brochure. Didn't someone start an off airport landing experiences thread a few days ago? Ya know, ya coulda just made something up, you didn't really have do this. LOL. Anyway, nice job. She'll live to fly another day. Always a shame to see another one of a dying breed get totaled. Oh yeah, glad you didn't get hurt in Hurt also.
 
Someone said it looked like maybe it was a drug bust rather than an emergency landing.
 
You should have told the reporters your name was Ron Jeremy.
 
Or at least told the reporter that it is unusual to land in a field when the engine quits running, that normally you would fly to the nearest airport then switch off the engine to land....o_O
 
If you don't have a glider endorsement, are you authorized to land that plane once it becomes a glider?
 
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denverpilot said:
Or Bang Ding Ow, Ho Le Fook, or We Too Lo... hehehehe.
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One could only hope that such an obvious mistake will never happen again. Though it was funny as heck when it happened the first time.

For those who didn't see it, yes, it was real. Pretty hard to imagine, but some local newscasters really were that stupid.

 
MAKG1 said:
One could only hope that such an obvious mistake will never happen again. Though it was funny as heck when it happened the first time.

For those who didn't see it, yes, it was real. Pretty hard to imagine, but some local newscasters really were that stupid.

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That was no mistake. It was planned by a couple of guys in the newsroom. They are probably still searching for new jobs.
 
MAKG1 said:
One could only hope that such an obvious mistake will never happen again. Though it was funny as heck when it happened the first time.

For those who didn't see it, yes, it was real. Pretty hard to imagine, but some local newscasters really were that stupid.

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Not hard to imagine at all.

To quote Don Henley:
We got the bubble headed
Bleached blonde
Comes on at five
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash
With a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundry
 
MAKG1 said:
One could only hope that such an obvious mistake will never happen again. Though it was funny as heck when it happened the first time.

For those who didn't see it, yes, it was real. Pretty hard to imagine, but some local newscasters really were that stupid.

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Tv news people don't lie, they just report what is given to them. It is up to the interns to check facts, but when the information comes from the interns.....

I saw the original report and could not believe my ears. I had to explain to everyone else in the room why I was laughing so hard.
 
I couldn't bring myself to laugh at that. 3 people dead thanks to criminally incompetent pilots and emergency crews.
 
Norman said:
That was no mistake. It was planned by a couple of guys in the newsroom. They are probably still searching for new jobs.
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Actually the root source was traced back to an intern who thought he was being funny at NTSB. The newsies just didn't catch on at all and didn't call NTSB back to confirm until after it had aired.
 
MAKG1 said:
One could only hope that such an obvious mistake will never happen again. Though it was funny as heck when it happened the first time.

For those who didn't see it, yes, it was real. Pretty hard to imagine, but some local newscasters really were that stupid.
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I will almost guarantee that it will happen again. Such is the ultra-competitive news business and the 24 hour news cycle.

Dewey defeats Truman, anyone?
 
So, Ron, back on point - how will the Navion get out of the field? Will it get disassembled and transported by truck, or will repairs be attempted there?
 
Ted DuPuis said:
So, Ron, back on point - how will the Navion get out of the field? Will it get disassembled and transported by truck, or will repairs be attempted there?
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Well, the adjuster inquired whether we could put a new engine on it and fly it out but I suggested the field isn't really big enough to do that (especially since I'd have to hit the same hole in the fence on takeoff). They'll do as I did the last time I had to ship the disabled airplane. Take it apart and truck it out. It's pretty easy actually. You block up the front and rear of the fuselage. The fuselage then demates from the wings by removing four bolts The wings are bolted together with a brazillion bolts. The last time I borrowed a trailer from the restoration shop that already had cradles to hold the fuselage (using the same four bolts) and the wings. Margy and I team drove it from KOKV to KAUH (we through an air mattress in the back of the Suburban) over MLKJr weekend a bunch of years back. I remember we stopped for breakfast at the Iowa-80 truckstop and that's when we heard of the Columbia accident on reentry.

The only slight screw up is that the State Trooper had me lock the aircraft before I left, so I had to fedex the keys to the recovery guys so they could easily open the thing up.

Insurance is handling getting it moved to my hangar at CJR where the work will be done.
Originally, they were going to bring it to my house which might have been more convenient for me but certainly not for whatever mechanic was going to work on it.
 
bnt83 said:
Any idea what happened? Connecting rod break?
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Well, the rods came through the top of the engine, but I'm pretty sure that was a secondary event. The engine developed a pretty rough puh, puh, puh while still producing power. A bit later (right after I turned towards LYH), BOOM, big noise, much rougher, oil coming out, no power developed (but the prop continued to windmill, and the thing continued to shake all the way down).

The windmilling is fortuitous as it allows the engine driven the hydraulic pump to continue to build pressure allowing me to lower the gear normally. I don't actually recall turning on the hydraulics, but I remember moving the handle down (you can force it if you have to, but the emergency extension is a bigger handle which I know I did not use). However, pulling out the hydraulic knob before reaching for the gear and flaps is pretty ingrained in my behavior, so I probably did.
I did remember thinking that I intended to land on the gear and I held off putting it down until I was on a short base-to-final and had the field made. I also remember really looking at the ASI then wondering if I'd sped up trying to get down, but it was right at 80 MPH, my normal "over the fence" speed. I didn't use flaps, but I'm not sure they'd have made a difference here.
 
flyingron said:
Well, the adjuster inquired whether we could put a new engine on it and fly it out but I suggested the field isn't really big enough to do that (especially since I'd have to hit the same hole in the fence on takeoff). They'll do as I did the last time I had to ship the disabled airplane. Take it apart and truck it out. It's pretty easy actually. You block up the front and rear of the fuselage. The fuselage then demates from the wings by removing four bolts The wings are bolted together with a brazillion bolts. The last time I borrowed a trailer from the restoration shop that already had cradles to hold the fuselage (using the same four bolts) and the wings. Margy and I team drove it from KOKV to KAUH (we through an air mattress in the back of the Suburban) over MLKJr weekend a bunch of years back. I remember we stopped for breakfast at the Iowa-80 truckstop and that's when we heard of the Columbia accident on reentry.

The only slight screw up is that the State Trooper had me lock the aircraft before I left, so I had to fedex the keys to the recovery guys so they could easily open the thing up.

Insurance is handling getting it moved to my hangar at CJR where the work will be done.
Originally, they were going to bring it to my house which might have been more convenient for me but certainly not for whatever mechanic was going to work on it.
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I had figured that would be the likely course of action, I was just curious how it would play out.

Your status on this forum of "Touchdown! Greaser!" is particularly appropriate. :)
 
Hey Ron,

My former boss shoehorned a TSIO 520 into one of those critters. PM me if you're interested.
 
I have a couple of other Navioneers I know who put in TSIOs. It's intriguing (especially when I'm trying to dodge weather...while I've managed to get the normally aspirated one up to 17,000 once, it's not usually feasible. I've not even yet thought about what I'm going to do yet. I really did like the IO-550 I had. It had 9 hours on it when I got it and was well tuned from the factory.

Right now I'm totalling the hours in my log book. I've not computed a total since I got my instrument rating nearly ten years ago and the insurance company wants the number of hours totalled on the last page of my log book.
 
I made a political crack in one of the other threads and then followed it up. The forum software gave me two "dings" in rapid succession (hence I didn't get a warning). Thanks to the other Ron helping me communicate with the MC and the MC guys for giving me a second chance. I won't sin again.
 
flyingron said:
I made a political crack in one of the other threads and then followed it up. The forum software gave me two "dings" in rapid succession (hence I didn't get a warning). Thanks to the other Ron helping me communicate with the MC and the MC guys for giving me a second chance. I won't sin again.
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LOL! So warnings or dings or whatever knock down the label under your name?

Some people would see that as a penalty... I guess.

(Anyone on tapatalk never even sees it. I had to switch to web view to even notice what you were talking about. All that stuff is just web fluff...) ;)
 
Glad everything (you) turned out OK. Sorry about the plane. I would love to hear a little more detail about the experience. Especially since you've had a few days to think it over, anything you would have done differently? Things you really liked that you did, etc? I enjoy learning from others, especially in a situation like this.
 
It was the suspension that changed my title to "pulled the eject handle." It reverted when I got reinstated.
 
flyingron said:
It was the suspension that changed my title to "pulled the eject handle." It reverted when I got reinstated.
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LOL! Thats hilarious! Not true even... if someone else pulled the handle for you. It should probably read, "Thrown overboard..." in that case.
 
Yikes! Here I was hoping this thread updated to say you were back into the air. Wow.

Congrats on getting down safe.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
He was up in the air!

Briefly...
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So are the connecting rods, apparently...

Nice job Ron, sounds like you made great work of the crappy hand you were dealt. Sorry you're having to deal with all this though.
 
thats a nice looking Navion also good job
 
A friend of mine who was watching them unload the Navion in my hangar sent me this picture:

14525167_10207309209679519_3814666025990414932_o.jpg
 
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