Czech Mate - Sherman Smoot

Lowflynjack

Lowflynjack

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Jack Fleetwood
We've lost Sherman Smoot and Czech Mate. Such a sad day. Lost his engine on takeoff and turned back... didn't make it.

https://www.kget.com/news/local-new...ygDPczTsWLbeErgdiNPf67pcvi7-3_irrUiwX94tezr9w

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These are always horrible to read about.

Student here - the CFI and I always verbally go over engine failure scenarios during run-up. If such an experienced and highly-trained aviator such as him is killed in one of them, how much hope is there for someone like me?

Condolences to his loved ones.
 
Baked Potato said:
Student here - the CFI and I always verbally go over engine failure scenarios during run-up. If such an experienced and highly-trained aviator such as him is killed in one of them, how much hope is there for someone like me?
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Your instructor will teach you. Listen and learn when practicing engine-outs. This is not your typical plane. They built this racer to do well over 400mph.
 
Lowflynjack said:
Your instructor will teach you. Listen and learn when practicing engine-outs. This is not your typical plane. They built this racer to do well over 400mph.
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agreed, and as I understood, Czech Mate was even more difficult than some of the other unlimiteds when things went sideways.

RIP to Sherman.
 
I’ve visited the winery he co-owned and really enjoyed it. So sad to see this.
 
Baked Potato said:
If such an experienced and highly-trained aviator such as him is killed in one of them, how much hope is there for someone like me?
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That, kind Sir, is ENTIRELY up to you!

Your description of your habit of talking it through EVERY time, is very encouraging.

Being resigned to it being insurmountable, is less so…

That being said, sometimes such an event is simply NOT survivable.

Train, exercise good judgement, and NEVER NEVER NEVER give up. That’s all you can do.
 
Baked Potato said:
These are always horrible to read about.

Student here - the CFI and I always verbally go over engine failure scenarios during run-up. If such an experienced and highly-trained aviator such as him is killed in one of them, how much hope is there for someone like me?

Condolences to his loved ones.
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Some airplanes are a lot less forgiving than others. If you’re gonna fly something like the plane he was flying you have to understand that your chances of survival in an emergency are realistically a lot worse than your chances of survival in a Kitfox with a BRS.
 
Baked Potato said:
These are always horrible to read about.

Student here - the CFI and I always verbally go over engine failure scenarios during run-up. If such an experienced and highly-trained aviator such as him is killed in one of them, how much hope is there for someone like me?

Condolences to his loved ones.
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With nothing but fields around that airport, it looks like he tried to come back and save the plane - don’t do that.
 
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Warmi said:
With nothing but fields around that airport, it looks like tried to come back and save the plane - don’t do that.
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He may not have had a choice. That plane needs a lot more space to land and another website said it had to be three pointed due to prop clearance issues. It’s just speculation on my part but I suspect it’d probably be easy to flip the thing over in an emergency.
 
RyanShort1 said:
He may not have had a choice. That plane needs a lot more space to land and another website said it had to be three pointed due to prop clearance issues. It’s just speculation on my part but I suspect it’d probably be easy to flip the thing over in an emergency.
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Any sort of forward landing ( short of running high speed into a hangar or a building ) will offer better chances of survival than a spin right into the ground - I have been told that over and over again and it makes perfect sense to me.
 
Stall spin at low altitude,very sad RIP
 
A stall-spin is a likely result of attempting a tight turn at low airspeed with the engine out.

As Juan mentioned in his video, with the large prop and large frontal area, all of that thrust turns into all of that drag ... in a heartbeat.

R.I.P.
 
Capngrog said:
A stall-spin is a likely result of attempting a tight turn at low airspeed with the engine out.
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Not necessarily. Doesn't even have to be a turn at all. Can be as simple as trying to increase pitch attitude in the straight and level hoping to clear an obstacle.

Not every airplane has the same stall characteristics and I would submit that none of us on this board who can really attest for the characteristics of Czech-Mate.
 
I thought he said 2800 CID. Like 2000 hp.
 
Depending on the Dash Number, the R-2800 developed from 1500 h.p. (-1) up to 2800 h.p. (-71). As far as I can tell, most R-2800s produced 2,000 h.p.; however, Czech Mate's engine was "highly-modified", and your guess is as good as mine as to its horsepower output.
 
RIP Sherman Smoot. He tried to save the plane, and lost. I wonder haw many times he succeeded in the past?

5 out of my first 6 instructors defined where we were going to "crash" if we lost power on takeoff, all a variation of straight ahead into the most level place available. They limited the choices to a max of 90 degrees of turn.

Light planes flown down to the ground at just above stall speed are very survivable. Stalling, with altitude, can impair that survivability.
 
geezer said:
Light planes flown down to the ground at just above stall speed are very survivable. Stalling, with altitude, can impair that survivability.
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With all due respect, I don’t think this plane qualifies as a light plane and considering the reason the engine was newly rebuilt, due to a propstrike according to sources and the plane had to be landed in the three point attitude, had shortened wings, and surely landed at a pretty high speed, there is a good chance other options were equally dangerous. What I’m mostly curious about is how high the plane was when they are saying it stalled.
 
Baked Potato said:
These are always horrible to read about.

Student here - the CFI and I always verbally go over engine failure scenarios during run-up. If such an experienced and highly-trained aviator such as him is killed in one of them, how much hope is there for someone like me?

Condolences to his loved ones.
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I should have included the post that I was responding to.

For those of us flying less exotic aircraft, simply avoiding solid structures and trees is the essential strategy.

In the course of half a century of our fling club, several off airport events took place, and at lest three on airport. For two, the plane never flew again. No club member or passenger had any medical treatment beyond a Band-Aid. Two flew again the same day, and one within a month.

Comparing to CzechMate, Mustang Red Baron lost the engine on takeoff, elected to land approximately straight ahead in a field, wheels up. Yes there was substantial damage, and the Reno Air Races were about a month away. Repairs went 24 hours a day, and on the last day, it flew to Reno, arrived in level flight to qualify.

That Unlimited air racer won that year at Reno, and clinched the championship.

Wheels up in a field is better than failing to make it back to the airport. It cost the sponsor a fortune to get it flying again, but an amazing crew, working 24 hours a day succeeded. My brother straightened the stainless steel motor mount for one side, and created a complete new on from raw SS material from a metal supplier. My brother made more money that month than the next 3, but the autographed picture of the plane was his prized possession, and now hangs on my son's wall.
 
Man that sucks, I was able to see Czech mate a couple of times in the hanger at shafter airport, it was with Strega.
 
Baked Potato said:
These are always horrible to read about.

Student here - the CFI and I always verbally go over engine failure scenarios during run-up. If such an experienced and highly-trained aviator such as him is killed in one of them, how much hope is there for someone like me?

Condolences to his loved ones.
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Back when I flew I always told myself that there was no going back until I reached the point where I had the altitude to turn crosswind. I had a nice big road, albeit going uphill, just past the airport fence that I could land on with just a slight turn to port.
 
all I have heard is at least second hand info and probably more so take it for what its worth. I heard he call in having low oil pressure. to me that means it was still running when he started the turn back, which would not be a bad decision if it was still making some power, however, if it seized up as he was in the turn back, the drag that would be put on the plane when that big 4 bladed prop stopped would slow it down so fast there would be no hope for even a very skilled pilot like sherm. i kind of think that is exactly what happened. what ever the cause, a great pilot, and good man was lost. rest in peace sherm.
 
Without oil pressure, the blades would go flat pitch. That assures that you are cranking with minimum propeller load. Unfortunately, it also assures max drag for engine failure.

If you have enough pressure to feather the prop, it will stay there as the engine stops. There are a lot of IFs hanging on the decision tree that Sherman had to evaluate in those last few seconds.
 
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