Cirrus Engine Out: Didn't Pull Red Handle

Let'sgoflying! said:
Pull during the rollout! Like a dragchute!

drag_chute_viper_by_copperbeltjack.jpg
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You think that would work?
 
Smart pilot, landed out instead of pulling the red handle and also remembered to leave the gear up for a nice soft belly landing.
Which model is this? Haven't seen a retract Cirrus yet.
:D
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In all seriousness, glad they got out okay. IMHO, we could use more good news every day.
 
BigBadLou said:
Smart pilot, landed out instead of pulling the red handle and also remembered to leave the gear up for a nice soft belly landing.
Which model is this? Haven't seen a retract Cirrus yet.
:D
KathrynReport.jpg



In all seriousness, glad they got out okay. IMHO, we could use more good news every day.
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Looking at those tracks, I really wonder if it still has its gear, if the powder is deep which it actually might have been far less damage than it looks like
 
Not judging one way or another. I'm just curious where he would have landed under chute.
 
yeah but how much is it gonna cost the insurance people to airlift that thing out of the mountain? I say eff it, total the thing and get yourself something with a Lyco on it. :D
 
Stupid question, but I live in the desert SW. Shouldn't that pilot get some kudos for it not flipping like a water landing with nose gear?
 
James331 said:
Looking at those tracks, I really wonder if it still has its gear, if the powder is deep which it actually might have been far less damage than it looks like
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I can't see how it would have gear. There is no snow on the plane, which means it hasn't snowed since the accident when the picture was taken. Any trench the gear left would still be there.

The left gear is definitely gone...there's no track that is anywhere deep enough for it. The nose gear depression is deeper, but still doesn't seem deep enough. The right main could still be there...I can't tell how deep the depression is due to the angle. But...I doubt it. If it were still there, the plane would have yawed right, not left, when it stopped. (And probably long before that.) The Cirrus gear are designed to shear off during a CAPS landing, so I've got to believe they sheared right where they are intentionally weak.
 
Part of me says he got lucky. Another few feet and it's over the edge to a certain firey death. Without the snow there to slow him down, he's probably dead and the chute suddenly doesn't sound so bad.
 
arnoha said:
The Cirrus gear are designed to shear off during a CAPS landing, so I've got to believe they sheared right where they are intentionally weak.
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So, if there is minimal wind and therefore minimal lateral velocity on landing after a CAPS pull, how does the gear shear off?

I always thought the gear was designed to help absorb and limit the vertical forces on touchdown after a pull, but not to actually separate from the airframe. :confused: o_O
 
I'm rather interested in what caused the engine failure. I can't wait until they figure it out.
 
"according to the pilot, 'we were fortunate that I had just installed an ACME AoA indicator. Just a casual glance after we lost our #1 engine, and I was able to know for certain that the gear would shear off clean, and we would slide to a stop close enough to the edge of the cliff to have a gorgeous sunset view. No other instrument or gauge could've given me all of that information and this week's Powerball Numbers ,... so, yes, we are thankful."


lol. -- glad they made it out safely.
 
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GRG55 said:
So, if there is minimal wind and therefore minimal lateral velocity on landing after a CAPS pull, how does the gear shear off?

I always thought the gear was designed to help absorb and limit the vertical forces on touchdown after a pull, but not to actually separate from the airframe. :confused: o_O
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My understanding, though I admit it's limited, is that the gear splay outward on a CAPS touchdown, intentionally breaking along the way. It may not be a shear per se; I don't know the actual engineering involved. So, yeah, I may have been too quick to judge how they left. But I'm pretty convinced looking at that picture that they have left.
 
arnoha said:
My understanding, though I admit it's limited, is that the gear splay outward on a CAPS touchdown, intentionally breaking along the way. It may not be a shear per se; I don't know the actual engineering involved. So, yeah, I may have been too quick to judge how they left. But I'm pretty convinced looking at that picture that they have left.
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I get what you're saying, but I think the word you should have originally used is "collapse" (breakage from a parallel force) and not "shear" (breakage from a perpendicular force).
 
arnoha said:
I can't see how it would have gear. There is no snow on the plane, which means it hasn't snowed since the accident when the picture was taken. Any trench the gear left would still be there.

The left gear is definitely gone...there's no track that is anywhere deep enough for it. The nose gear depression is deeper, but still doesn't seem deep enough. The right main could still be there...I can't tell how deep the depression is due to the angle. But...I doubt it. If it were still there, the plane would have yawed right, not left, when it stopped. (And probably long before that.) The Cirrus gear are designed to shear off during a CAPS landing, so I've got to believe they sheared right where they are intentionally weak.
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This is weird, but I'm going to agree with James....I once saw a plane that I thought had broken it's landing gear off, landing in sand. Turns out, the gear was just buried in the sand and completely fine. There still could be gear under there if it was powder snow.
 
BigBadLou said:
Smart pilot, landed out instead of pulling the red handle and also remembered to leave the gear up for a nice soft belly landing.
Which model is this? Haven't seen a retract Cirrus yet.
:D
KathrynReport.jpg



In all seriousness, glad they got out okay. IMHO, we could use more good news every day.
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Landing gear looks gone to me. Depressions in the snow don't look deep enough or wide enough if the gear/tires were still attached.
 
From CPA today ...

Please forward (the following) and suggest that members click on the 9news story. This shows CPA members the background on the recent rescue mission and the part played by Civil Air Patrol's National Radar Analysis Team. Note that after Christmas, the team had seven missions straight with 24 fatalities. Incident Commander Mark Young was especially glad to meet the Fords, survivors from a traumatic experience at a -18F temperature.

-------------------

From: USAFAUX/CAP LtCol Mark Young
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2017 12:48 AM
To: <...>
Subject: 17-M-0019A

All,

The Ford family wanted to make sure you were all thanked for your work in CAP and those directly related to this mission. This aired much sooner than I anticipated. While I tried to emphasize our local partners, that part was cut.

http://www.9news.com/news/local/couple-meets-col-who-helped-save-them/386597330

I really want to thank Sheriff Anthony Mazzola of Rio Blanco County. The Fords plan to travel up there this summer and would like to meet with him and his team. They plan to take their sons for a camping trip in the Flattops. I encouraged them to buy a hiking license and PLB, just in case! :)

Sheriff Mazzola,

They are so grateful for you and your staff. They were very pleased with the assistance from your office helping them get a hotel in town for the night! You did an awesome job at taking over IC duties and setting up a great command team!

AWESOME JOB Team Colorado including Rio Blanco Sheriff and SAR teams, Garfield County Sheriff and OEM, Meeker Fire and EMS, St. Marys's Careflight Classic air Ambulance, the Army National Guard HAATS, Coulter Aviation, AFRCC and the NRAT under the great leadership of Squadron Commander Col Greg Cortum.

Great Team Work, thank you all!

Mark Young, LtCol CAP IC1, NRAT COWG Assistant DO
 
mscard88 said:
Landing gear looks gone to me. Depressions in the snow don't look deep enough or wide enough if the gear/tires were still attached.
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Think it's likely they are shoved up into the wings and leaving those shallow marks in the snow? Look by the door, there's something sticking up on the top side of the wing. Maybe displaced wing surface due to gear.
 
Joshuajayg said:
Think it's likely they are shoved up into the wings and leaving those shallow marks in the snow? Look by the door, there's something sticking up on the top side of the wing. Maybe displaced wing surface due to gear.
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Could be. Seems like they would've ripped off and come from together out of site of that picture. :dunno:
 
abqtj said:
Do they recover wreckage like that or leave it there?
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Depends. CO CAP have a long list of waypoints in the aircraft databases of "known wreckage" that's been left in some places, so as not to accidentally confuse a known chunk of wreckage with a new search. There's all sorts of interesting stuff scattered around, if you ignore the fact that many were fatals.

Down in SW CO there's most of the carcass of a military jet including the turbine section and the fan blades, just sitting quietly on top of a similar mesa.

An aircraft as intact as that one, on top of a mesa, they'll probably yank it out of there with a helicopter to the nearest road or reasonable staging area. Sometimes while it's still snowy, sometimes they wait until spring.

Might use a private helicopter company, might use it as training for the Blackhawk kids doing their high altitude work.

Have also seen them disassemble stuff on site and load individual pieces on snowmobiles.

Doesn't seem to be any real rhyme or reason to it. It's up to the higher powers that be, and the local Sheriff.
 
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