I had a RT failure on my cross country over balado and had to make a emergency landing at fife! G-BNOF was the bandit... Didn't help the skydiving plane was airborne at the time either ha!
Same aircraft but 20+ years before. Complete electrical failure and the battery was low too. This didnt click with me initially as all I saw was the apparent loss of fuel on the gauges. It wasnt til I attempted a radio call that I cottoned on.. live and learn eh? I had passenger that day and I didnt tell her anything was wrong til we were back on the ground.
Qualified for PPLH and my friend wanted me to take him up at Fife. 400ft Cloud but low circuit in chopper would be ok.Got the R44 up around 200ft and instantly got inadvertant IMC. Low hours pilot at this point but kept wings level, maintained 60kts and headed for land south of Kinglassie because I knew it was significantly lower that Fife airfield. Started descending, keeping wings level, at around 80ft came out of cloud. Whilst wings were level, attitude was nose down, pulled up the collective, got more forward speed and climbed away before I was about to hit the deck. Flew under the cloud, low level to the 06 threshold and parked her up in the hangar. Lesson learned, never go flying VFR if the cloud is below minima. Learning to fly fixed wing now out of Fife, enjoying the journey enormously.
A qualified competent pilot and one of Scottish rugbys rising stars. Superb achievement on both counts mate and good luck for 6 nations. Our year. Subscribed
In a strong northerly wind at Fife you are likely to lose a lot of aircraft performance. You are flying on the lee side (or downward side) of the Lomand hills to the north of the airfield which will give you extensive downdrafts. Hence the reduced rate of climb on upwind. In the absence of mechanical problems this sounds like the main cause, although the weight of the aircraft will have also negatively contributed. As for carb ice, seems very unlikely as I have never experienced carb ice in the warrior once airborne even on cold and wet days.
Thanks for the great feedback - sadly the northerly wind at Fife is a bit too common for my liking. I will be extra aware of the decreased performance in the future
Passed my PPL revalidation test on G-IT and she certainly normally handles really well. You absolutely made the right call, if something doesn't feel right then safety comes first. If nothing else, I would mirror one of the questions raised by someone else below and wonder if perhaps air density that day was your biggest factor.
Yeah I have heaps of hours in BIIT so feel like i know the aircraft really well. Very sad to miss out on a days flying though - was so excited to visit Oban for the first time. The QNH was 1014 and temp was about 2C so i didn't think that I would have any problems density wise. Plane usually performs well in the cold Scottish weather
Stuart The Pilot oban is lovely! I flew from Inverness down to Oban not that long ago and it's a really fun approach. Back to the issue you encountered, assuming that all your control surface areas were full and free of movement, it's definitely going to have to do with the engine. Did you run carb heat for a good 30 secs? No sign of icing at all? Though the air was warmer than 0 degrees, as I'm sure you know if the air is moist, then you are still running the risk of icing. And out of curiosity did your RPM levels read normal? 2300RPM in cruise should have given you IAS of 95kt so would be interesting to see if in level flight you were still not getting the right speed profile / attitude.
Yeah while in the overhead ran it for a good 20-30 seconds with no sign of icing and no improvement to performance. Straight and level flight at 2300rpm gave me about 85kts I think so way off what it should be
Cool head to climb into the overhead and assess. Tip from the airline world (which you've already grasped)...sit on your hands, ask yourself, "what happening here ? What have I got ?" Obviously one or two scenarios require immediate attention though. A pure northerly at Fife is as testing as you'll get so you had likely ZERO headwind and that does make a difference especially with the all up weight of the aircraft. Landing at Fife, chop the power early, BEFORE the threshold otherwise it's a long float. Great decision to take half flap. These situations are invaluable and make you a better pilot. Good work commander !
Thanks so much for the feedback - yeah i love the sitting on hands approach and taking a minute just to look, assess and make smart choices. Yep there was definitely zero headwind but I have taken off before on a calm day with zero wind and the climb performance was still better. Only other thing was that the engine took a while to get going. A chance over priming could have affected performance?
Stuart The Pilot Overpriming would have just been an issue with starting, possibly a flooded engine. Would be interesting to know the temperature as the DENSITY ALTITUDE typically has a bigger effect than the PRESSURE ALTITUDE. Would be interesting to know the temperature and QNH on the day. Also, have there been any further reports from others flying the aircraft ? Perhaps the only way to know if there's an issue is for the mechanics to do a compression test on the engine. Last thing, it does happen and I know you're modest enough to admit it...was the carb heat cold...?!
Temperature was 1 degrees C and QNH 1014.. thoughts? I visited airfield 10 days later and the aircraft had only been flown twice since and the instructor found it to be running fine. I then did a few circuits and all seemed ok. Just re-watched footage now and as soon as i level off at 2000ft I apply carb heat for about 30 seconds and didn't spot any rise in RPM following. However i am now thinking ice is one of the only things to explain the problems I had?
Some excellent flying, good decision making and well done for keeping your passenger at ease! That first approach looked a bit iffy :-) Good decision to go-around, but were you wondering in the back of your mind about the 2nd climb-out/performance? The closest I've had to an emergency was, with instructor, when I forgot to retract the flaps on a go-around and exceeded Vfe. My aircraft is designed to self-retract the flaps when the deployed speed is exceeded (I didn't know that at the time!), the resulting noise and immediate pitch-change was VERY scary. Of course, my instructor knew what I'd done and let it happen to make a point (then took over while I composed myself). I've never made that mistake again!
Thanks and yes it definitely was in the back of my mind. In the video I say i wasn't willing to go around again which isn't true - i would have just rather not and took a slightly firmer landing. Thanks for sharing your experience, sounds like a great bit of learning!
Great video Stuart. Looked really low coming across the fields. Done well keeping your cool. Could have ditched at port moak if you were really struggling 😉
Thanks for the messages Oli. Yes that's a great idea - I will add that to my list of upcoming videos. Hope you get started with your training soon. Stuart
Superb video. I think you're airmanship was great, especially not making the passenger aware. I'm on navigation now, is there a few months left to go for QXC ? Many thanks
Well done, something just not 100% there.. it’s almost like the flap was stuck down perhaps, we had that in a warrior and it freed off and went back to 0 deg when in flight.. had a strange one today, on the takeoff roll at Glasgow no airspeed alive until the needle hit 55. I was just about to abort takeoff and it sprung into action.. pilot before me and after me had the same issue!
Great video Stuart. Really interesting to watch you make the various decisions which all seemed spot on to me. Did you consider aborting the takeoff at all? I don't know how much runway you had to play with but it did feel sluggish watching it compared to your other films. There's real value in recording your flights too, as you've shown. Happy Christmas too!
Thanks mate. Yeah it did cross my mind to abort TO but managed to convince myself it was taking a bit longer due to the lack of headwind. Definitely a consideration for any future instances.
Hmmm, could have been somthing in the carburettor, mabey the throttle valve wasnt opening all the way, or could have been a problem with the idle tube thing
It was a very cold day, about 1 or 2 degrees centigrade so i would imagine the air to be very dense. Always found performance excellent in the cold Scottish weather. Yes i flew again about 2 weeks after and flew very well. The only other thing that didn't seem right was the sound of the engine - sounded a bit like a tractor.
Hi stuart. Great video but I just wanted to say that didn't you find out the there was a problem with the engine whilst you were conducting your power checks? As I thought that this is what they were for.
Hey Cem. The power checks showed no issues and i got good drops in both mags and carb heat. Power checks will increase the chance of finding engine issues on the ground before the flight but nothing can guarantee a perfect flight.
Stuart The Pilot. Thank you for the reply I thought it would of been picked up in the power checks but you are right nothing can guarantee a perfect flight.
What's been the closest thing you've ever had to an emergency ? AND What did you LEARN ?
I had a RT failure on my cross country over balado and had to make a emergency landing at fife! G-BNOF was the bandit... Didn't help the skydiving plane was airborne at the time either ha!
Same aircraft but 20+ years before. Complete electrical failure and the battery was low too. This didnt click with me initially as all I saw was the apparent loss of fuel on the gauges. It wasnt til I attempted a radio call that I cottoned on.. live and learn eh? I had passenger that day and I didnt tell her anything was wrong til we were back on the ground.
Qualified for PPLH and my friend wanted me to take him up at Fife. 400ft Cloud but low circuit in chopper would be ok.Got the R44 up around 200ft and instantly got inadvertant IMC. Low hours pilot at this point but kept wings level, maintained 60kts and headed for land south of Kinglassie because I knew it was significantly lower that Fife airfield. Started descending, keeping wings level, at around 80ft came out of cloud. Whilst wings were level, attitude was nose down, pulled up the collective, got more forward speed and climbed away before I was about to hit the deck. Flew under the cloud, low level to the 06 threshold and parked her up in the hangar. Lesson learned, never go flying VFR if the cloud is below minima. Learning to fly fixed wing now out of Fife, enjoying the journey enormously.
Excellent airmanship Stuart! 100% the correct decision!
Thanks Scott - a great learning experience!
A qualified competent pilot and one of Scottish rugbys rising stars. Superb achievement on both counts mate and good luck for 6 nations. Our year. Subscribed
Thank you 👍🏻
Just found this gem, thanks Stuart
In a strong northerly wind at Fife you are likely to lose a lot of aircraft performance. You are flying on the lee side (or downward side) of the Lomand hills to the north of the airfield which will give you extensive downdrafts. Hence the reduced rate of climb on upwind. In the absence of mechanical problems this sounds like the main cause, although the weight of the aircraft will have also negatively contributed. As for carb ice, seems very unlikely as I have never experienced carb ice in the warrior once airborne even on cold and wet days.
Thanks for the great feedback - sadly the northerly wind at Fife is a bit too common for my liking. I will be extra aware of the decreased performance in the future
Excellent video, thanks for sharing the experiences - learning from others helps the rest of us! Nice one, keep 'em coming Stuart!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, really appreciate it - lots more coming in 2018. Stuart
Good old INDIA TANGO, not the first time that A/C has had problems. No wonder it’s called the fire bird!
Passed my PPL revalidation test on G-IT and she certainly normally handles really well. You absolutely made the right call, if something doesn't feel right then safety comes first. If nothing else, I would mirror one of the questions raised by someone else below and wonder if perhaps air density that day was your biggest factor.
Yeah I have heaps of hours in BIIT so feel like i know the aircraft really well. Very sad to miss out on a days flying though - was so excited to visit Oban for the first time. The QNH was 1014 and temp was about 2C so i didn't think that I would have any problems density wise. Plane usually performs well in the cold Scottish weather
Stuart The Pilot oban is lovely! I flew from Inverness down to Oban not that long ago and it's a really fun approach. Back to the issue you encountered, assuming that all your control surface areas were full and free of movement, it's definitely going to have to do with the engine. Did you run carb heat for a good 30 secs? No sign of icing at all? Though the air was warmer than 0 degrees, as I'm sure you know if the air is moist, then you are still running the risk of icing. And out of curiosity did your RPM levels read normal? 2300RPM in cruise should have given you IAS of 95kt so would be interesting to see if in level flight you were still not getting the right speed profile / attitude.
Yeah while in the overhead ran it for a good 20-30 seconds with no sign of icing and no improvement to performance. Straight and level flight at 2300rpm gave me about 85kts I think so way off what it should be
Sent you a PM via youtube
I am a rugby player for East Kilbride in the junior teams but THAT LOOKS SCARY!!!
Cool head to climb into the overhead and assess. Tip from the airline world (which you've already grasped)...sit on your hands, ask yourself, "what happening here ? What have I got ?" Obviously one or two scenarios require immediate attention though. A pure northerly at Fife is as testing as you'll get so you had likely ZERO headwind and that does make a difference especially with the all up weight of the aircraft. Landing at Fife, chop the power early, BEFORE the threshold otherwise it's a long float. Great decision to take half flap. These situations are invaluable and make you a better pilot. Good work commander !
Thanks so much for the feedback - yeah i love the sitting on hands approach and taking a minute just to look, assess and make smart choices. Yep there was definitely zero headwind but I have taken off before on a calm day with zero wind and the climb performance was still better. Only other thing was that the engine took a while to get going. A chance over priming could have affected performance?
Stuart The Pilot Overpriming would have just been an issue with starting, possibly a flooded engine. Would be interesting to know the temperature as the DENSITY ALTITUDE typically has a bigger effect than the PRESSURE ALTITUDE. Would be interesting to know the temperature and QNH on the day. Also, have there been any further reports from others flying the aircraft ? Perhaps the only way to know if there's an issue is for the mechanics to do a compression test on the engine. Last thing, it does happen and I know you're modest enough to admit it...was the carb heat cold...?!
Temperature was 1 degrees C and QNH 1014.. thoughts? I visited airfield 10 days later and the aircraft had only been flown twice since and the instructor found it to be running fine. I then did a few circuits and all seemed ok. Just re-watched footage now and as soon as i level off at 2000ft I apply carb heat for about 30 seconds and didn't spot any rise in RPM following. However i am now thinking ice is one of the only things to explain the problems I had?
Stuart The Pilot May well have been ice then.
Great video....good lessons learnt!
Thank you
Some excellent flying, good decision making and well done for keeping your passenger at ease!
That first approach looked a bit iffy :-) Good decision to go-around, but were you wondering in the back of your mind about the 2nd climb-out/performance?
The closest I've had to an emergency was, with instructor, when I forgot to retract the flaps on a go-around and exceeded Vfe. My aircraft is designed to self-retract the flaps when the deployed speed is exceeded (I didn't know that at the time!), the resulting noise and immediate pitch-change was VERY scary. Of course, my instructor knew what I'd done and let it happen to make a point (then took over while I composed myself). I've never made that mistake again!
Thanks and yes it definitely was in the back of my mind. In the video I say i wasn't willing to go around again which isn't true - i would have just rather not and took a slightly firmer landing. Thanks for sharing your experience, sounds like a great bit of learning!
Great Video - 100% on the decision. Without at doubt the correct one to make.
Thanks - a great learning experience
Great video Stuart. Looked really low coming across the fields. Done well keeping your cool. Could have ditched at port moak if you were really struggling 😉
Thanks mate, it was a very low climb out. It's all learning!
Nice choice Stuart! Maybe it was cheap gas?
Hi Stuart,could you do a video explaining squak and basic service? Cheers
Thanks for the messages Oli. Yes that's a great idea - I will add that to my list of upcoming videos. Hope you get started with your training soon. Stuart
Superb video. I think you're airmanship was great, especially not making the passenger aware. I'm on navigation now, is there a few months left to go for QXC ? Many thanks
Well done, something just not 100% there.. it’s almost like the flap was stuck down perhaps, we had that in a warrior and it freed off and went back to 0 deg when in flight.. had a strange one today, on the takeoff roll at Glasgow no airspeed alive until the needle hit 55. I was just about to abort takeoff and it sprung into action.. pilot before me and after me had the same issue!
Thanks for sharing your experience! Good spot with the airspeed - pitot heat on??
Stuart The Pilot yeah certainly was, it’s playing up stuck with other pilots too..
Stuart, could have been carb heat stuck on. Once unstuck engineers would find plane normal.
A great idea, however I do remember checking this during the flight and it was off.
Nice...I hope they find the issue.
Thanks - they never did 🤷🏽♂️
Could be fuel contamination, or mixture. Love the vids. Going mad on the ground ☹️
Great video Stuart. Really interesting to watch you make the various decisions which all seemed spot on to me. Did you consider aborting the takeoff at all? I don't know how much runway you had to play with but it did feel sluggish watching it compared to your other films. There's real value in recording your flights too, as you've shown. Happy Christmas too!
Thanks mate. Yeah it did cross my mind to abort TO but managed to convince myself it was taking a bit longer due to the lack of headwind. Definitely a consideration for any future instances.
Stuart The Pilot yes, by no means a criticism I was just curious about your thought process. Excellent job of the flying and the video. 👍
Hmmm, could have been somthing in the carburettor, mabey the throttle valve wasnt opening all the way, or could have been a problem with the idle tube thing
Thanks for commenting ! I have flown since and seems to be flying well again
Could be that some one before you were flying filled in Mogas and you are used to flying with avgas?
Very sensible decision and thanks for sharing. How did the weight balance look compared with usual?
Thanks Bo. Weight and balance was within limits and no different to normal.
Fantastic video really useful !
Thanks!
i think you should have lean the mixture ;)
Great video, subscribed :)
Thanks and welcome!
Hi, Stuart new subscriber here I see you enjoying your journey; are you considering on becoming commercial pilot?
Hello - thanks for joining our community! Yes i am hoping to become a commercial pilot and flight instructor in the future.
How was the air density that day?
Have you flown the same plane since?
It was a very cold day, about 1 or 2 degrees centigrade so i would imagine the air to be very dense. Always found performance excellent in the cold Scottish weather. Yes i flew again about 2 weeks after and flew very well. The only other thing that didn't seem right was the sound of the engine - sounded a bit like a tractor.
Hi stuart. Great video but I just wanted to say that didn't you find out the there was a problem with the engine whilst you were conducting your power checks? As I thought that this is what they were for.
Hey Cem. The power checks showed no issues and i got good drops in both mags and carb heat. Power checks will increase the chance of finding engine issues on the ground before the flight but nothing can guarantee a perfect flight.
Stuart The Pilot. Thank you for the reply I thought it would of been picked up in the power checks but you are right nothing can guarantee a perfect flight.
How do you record your audio in the aircraft?
Hi Scott, I record directly to the Go Pro using this cable amzn.to/2xNq9Mn
Stuart The Pilot Is the part that goes into the GoPro a micro usb???
not 100% sure but the cable works great