BEN S
Super Member
My vacation this year to Scappoose was cancelled at the last minuet due to unforeseen circumstances. As I was despondent about not having a vacation this year I called up my buddy Dave B and offered to buy the gas and drive if we went up to El Mirage to get me proficient on his Bensen with a 90hp mac.
So far so good, didn't sleep well due to the heat and too much pizza with sausage, onions and jalepenos, but felt ready to fly the next morning.
We went out to the lakebed and Dave flew first for about 30 min. After landing and switching out (I had all of about 3 minuets in this rig a few months back) and Daves briefing I proceeded to taxi. I had taken a reading earlier and the DA was 4200 and climbing. We decided I would keep to a 20 minuet flight to get both of us in the air before it got too hot.
Take off was smooth and as expected, climbed to approx. 500 ft and throttled back just getting a feel for the stick and controls and making LOTS of mental comparisons between this rig and mine. I checked my watch and noticed I was at the 15 minuet mark and decided to try an approach for landing, I looked at the flag and nosed her into the wind. As I was descending from about 300ft to about 100ft I was truing the nose up with the rudder peddles. At the 100 ft range (well within the HV curve!) the engine suddenly went from a smooth running sound to a loss of rpm sound and then quiet in less than a second!
A lot went through my mind REAL quick, but at 100 feet with high altitude and 22 ft rotordynes there wasn't any time to fiddle with it. I instinctively pushed the stick forward and prepared for the flare. The ground was rushing up A LOT FASTER than I was prepared for (I practice this all the time at sea level with 24ft rotors and cushy suspension!) and as I hit the deck I remember thinking "FLARE FLARE FLARE" but I was still looking at the deck not out in front like I should have been.
I hit the deck harder than I would have liked, but was able to save the rig and most important no damage to me! (It was a LONG walk back to the rally point)
I have played it over and over in my mind, I talked with my CFI about it this morning and I feel that there isn't much I could have done different to improve on what I did. (of course I hadn't consulted the peanut gallery yet
I bent some small pieces of aluminium which I was happy to replace, but the rig will fly again shortly. Me and Dave have now BOTH had engine outs at low altitude and survived to tell of it, so he says "welcome to the club".
I'm just glad to know that after all my flying and training that my natural reaction was the right one.
So for those keeping count...Sportcopter 191 hours....no engine problems
Bensen with 90 mac...18 minuets...problems.
I don't think I will be flying a Bensen again. (Certainly not Daves!)
Now I have to find a way to convince my wife that something bad doesn't ALWAYS happen at El Mirage to me. She says I can't go back there.....I'll work on her before Sept...
Ben S
(fire away guys...I'm expecting it)
So far so good, didn't sleep well due to the heat and too much pizza with sausage, onions and jalepenos, but felt ready to fly the next morning.
We went out to the lakebed and Dave flew first for about 30 min. After landing and switching out (I had all of about 3 minuets in this rig a few months back) and Daves briefing I proceeded to taxi. I had taken a reading earlier and the DA was 4200 and climbing. We decided I would keep to a 20 minuet flight to get both of us in the air before it got too hot.
Take off was smooth and as expected, climbed to approx. 500 ft and throttled back just getting a feel for the stick and controls and making LOTS of mental comparisons between this rig and mine. I checked my watch and noticed I was at the 15 minuet mark and decided to try an approach for landing, I looked at the flag and nosed her into the wind. As I was descending from about 300ft to about 100ft I was truing the nose up with the rudder peddles. At the 100 ft range (well within the HV curve!) the engine suddenly went from a smooth running sound to a loss of rpm sound and then quiet in less than a second!
A lot went through my mind REAL quick, but at 100 feet with high altitude and 22 ft rotordynes there wasn't any time to fiddle with it. I instinctively pushed the stick forward and prepared for the flare. The ground was rushing up A LOT FASTER than I was prepared for (I practice this all the time at sea level with 24ft rotors and cushy suspension!) and as I hit the deck I remember thinking "FLARE FLARE FLARE" but I was still looking at the deck not out in front like I should have been.
I hit the deck harder than I would have liked, but was able to save the rig and most important no damage to me! (It was a LONG walk back to the rally point)
I have played it over and over in my mind, I talked with my CFI about it this morning and I feel that there isn't much I could have done different to improve on what I did. (of course I hadn't consulted the peanut gallery yet
I bent some small pieces of aluminium which I was happy to replace, but the rig will fly again shortly. Me and Dave have now BOTH had engine outs at low altitude and survived to tell of it, so he says "welcome to the club".
I'm just glad to know that after all my flying and training that my natural reaction was the right one.
So for those keeping count...Sportcopter 191 hours....no engine problems
Bensen with 90 mac...18 minuets...problems.
I don't think I will be flying a Bensen again. (Certainly not Daves!)
Now I have to find a way to convince my wife that something bad doesn't ALWAYS happen at El Mirage to me. She says I can't go back there.....I'll work on her before Sept...
Ben S
(fire away guys...I'm expecting it)
