Ground looping a cherokee 140?

Rudy

Rudy

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Rudy
Alright this happened to me on i think my second solo in the pattern. I had already made 2 landings and was coming around for my third. Exactly the point i touched down the plane spun around on me and went in the grass off the runway. Myself completely confused taxied back up to the hangar and came to the conclusion that i had my right foot on the brake when i touched down and it more or less ground looped me. I have a size 13 so that was at least a decent excuse haha. You can bet the tips of my toes are the only thing touching those rudder pedals upon touchdown now. It was interesting and a good lesson on what not to do. haha
 
Rudy said:
Alright this happened to me on i think my second solo in the pattern. I had already made 2 landings and was coming around for my third. Exactly the point i touched down the plane spun around on me and went in the grass off the runway.
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Rudy~
Good to know that the main gear on the Cherokee was able to stand the side loadings of that little whoopsie! I have looked at the ones on my Cherokee 180 often, and have wondered if they were stout enough to hold up to that.

Don't think I'll test them though. LOL... what was the condition of the upholstery when you climbed out at the hanger? :D
 
Glad to hear you are ok. Just take it as an experience and learn from it. I was teaching a tailwheel student in a Supercub. He landed, overcorrected and possibly hit a little brake. I wasnt fast enough on the controls, and we groundlooped. Part way through the groundloop there was a snowbank in the way. We hit that and flipped over. No one was hurt. Still waiting to do my 709 ride with the FAA. I learned a ton from that experience.
Here are the pics
 
citationxjl said:
Glad to hear you are ok. Just take it as an experience and learn from it. I was teaching a tailwheel student in a Supercub. He landed, overcorrected and possibly hit a little brake. I wasnt fast enough on the controls, and we groundlooped. Part way through the groundloop there was a snowbank in the way. We hit that and flipped over. No one was hurt. Still waiting to do my 709 ride with the FAA. I learned a ton from that experience.
Here are the pics
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Jeff~
Thanks for sharing that. The plane appears to be remarkably undamaged in the photos... what was the extent of airframe and engine damage? Sudden stoppage tear down needed? Damn, that just sucks!

Good luck on the 709 ride. I'll bet tailwheel instructors get more than their fair share of those, eh?
 
n741dm said:
Jeff~
Thanks for sharing that. The plane appears to be remarkably undamaged in the photos... what was the extent of airframe and engine damage? Sudden stoppage tear down needed? Damn, that just sucks!

Good luck on the 709 ride. I'll bet tailwheel instructors get more than their fair share of those, eh?
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Engine needs to be tore down, and there was some twisting with the wing, so it will have to be repaired. The fuselage was in pretty good shape.
 
citationxjl said:
Glad to hear you are ok. Just take it as an experience and learn from it. I learned a ton from that experience.
Here are the pics
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Ok, here's mine.
 
citationxjl said:
You mean I am not the only tailwheel pilot to ever flip over a plane? ;)
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Nope. And my husband (CFI) shows these pictures in his ground school class, doesn't he Rudy? ;)
 
Diana said:
Nope. And my husband (CFI) shows these pictures in his ground school class, doesn't he Rudy? ;)
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I knew i have seen those somewhere.

Ha the upholstery was clean luckily haha
It actually held up pretty well, i never had a feeling that i would tip over or anything but it all happened so fast i could have been close and not even known.

Oh well no one was hurt and no damage so i just walked away with a bruised ego. I am over it now though, doubt i ever do that again haha
 
ouch yall! I was just reading about ground looping in stick n rudder yesterday. guess it's not too uncommon in tail draggers huh.
 
I rebuilt a C140 that had been gl'd about 6 yrs ago. What a pile of work. One wing had two bent spars, the sameside gear box was yanked out of the fuselage, the tailwheel bracket was toast. The gear leg penetrated the cabin and almost got the 'pilot' (turns out he flew and mechanicked for years with not a certificate one).
I got my rating in it after the repair then immediately put it up for sale before I rolled it into a ball. I never did feel ahead of that airplane near the ground, it seemed like it was always poised to slap you one good.
 
YEOW, you guys. I can't imagine flipping an airplane. I imagine it feels rather weird falling down when you take off your seatbelt.

Jeff, hope the 709 goes well. I am sure it will.
 
Carol said:
YEOW, you guys. I can't imagine flipping an airplane. I imagine it feels rather weird falling down when you take off your seatbelt.
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Well, for some reason, I started worrying about the airplane catching on fire as it was s-l-o-w-l-y going inverted after it impacted the ditch; all I could think about was getting out fast. After it landed inverted, I quickly dropped on my head and rolled out. One of the local seasoned cropdusters suggested to me later that if I should be in that predicament again, that next time I should brace myself with my arm before dropping.

Carol, you might appreciate the nursing assessment issues. Later in the airport bathroom (as I was cleaning wounds) I was trying to do a neuro assessment on myself since I had a bad headache. It finally dawned on me that I was not the most qualified person to be doing a neuro assessment at the time :) So, off to the ER for a tetanus shot (the previous tetanus shot was for deep puncture wounds after being attacked by a feral cat in my greenhouse), neuro assessment and antibiotics.
 
Diana said:
Well, for some reason, I started worrying about the airplane catching on fire as it was s-l-o-w-l-y going inverted after it impacted the ditch; all I could think about was getting out fast. After it landed inverted, I quickly dropped on my head and rolled out. One of the local seasoned cropdusters suggested to me later that if I should be in that predicament again, that next time I should brace myself with my arm before dropping.

Carol, you might appreciate the nursing assessment issues. Later in the airport bathroom (as I was cleaning wounds) I was trying to do a neuro assessment on myself since I had a bad headache. It finally dawned on me that I was not the most qualified person to be doing a neuro assessment at the time :) So, off to the ER for a tetanus shot (the previous tetanus shot was for deep puncture wounds after being attacked by a feral cat in my greenhouse), neuro assessment and antibiotics.
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HAHAHA

I am picturing Diana standing there:

"Pupils okay. Pretty close to being the same size. Not feeling too dizzy. Can almost put my finger to my nose without having to look in the mirror." :D

I'd be afraid of a postcrash fire too. That's something that worries me about flying an airplane with one door especially if there are other people in it with me...but not enough to change airplanes.
 
Carol said:
HAHAHA

I am picturing Diana standing there:

"Pupils okay. Pretty close to being the same size. Not feeling too dizzy. Can almost put my finger to my nose without having to look in the mirror." :D
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LOL! Exactly as you described. I knew you would appreciate that. :)
 
Rudy,

Can you tell us a bit more about the conditions whe you were landing? Xwind, flap setting, etc. Anything that was unusual?

David
 
They look sad on their backs, don't they?

What a wild ride! I don't guess they call them "groundloops" for nothing!
 
lsimonds said:
They look sad on their backs, don't they?
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Sad wounded birds who have temporarily lost their grace and dignity (kind of like the pilots).
 
dkneisler said:
Rudy,

Can you tell us a bit more about the conditions whe you were landing? Xwind, flap setting, etc. Anything that was unusual?

David
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Yeah a little crosswind but the main reason i did it was because it pulled a little left on me when i landed so i went to put right rudder in and hit the brake on accident.

I got a good ride out of it hah.
 
Glad you all were OK and able to tell the story. NOTE TO SELF, be aware of where your feet are on the rudder pedals. Picture worth a 1000 words.
 
Well everything is back to normal. The FSDO didnt have any examiners light enough to fly with me in the Decathalon for a 709 ride, so they put a restriction on my certificate that said "not valid for conventional operations" To have it removed I needed to do a 709 ride with another FSDO, or get another tailwheel endorsement from a CFI. I went up with a CFI for 1 hr and did a ton of landings and he gave me another endorsement. Submitted that to the FSDO and the restriction was removed.
Now I just have to find a place down here in AZ that I can fly acro and tailwheel!!!
 
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