He crashed his airplane today.
One thing that I am hugely paranoid about around grass strips is power lines. If they are not marked, they are invisible under most circumstances to pilots.
I sure hope he recovers fully.
The ones your girlfriends warned you about.
48 minutes ago
4 comments:
Same here. It's what I'm most worried about in field selection for rare off field landings in my glider.
Here's a video showing how quickly it can happen, from a kid getting a ride in a Kitfox. ( Everyone was OK - just scrapes and bruises. )
What a terrible place to run a powerline. This one cut through a field between the road and runway threshold at an angle. Totally invisible, except for the POST.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gWGrUXrDws
Interesting looking little experimental pusher semi-ultralight semi-amphibious plane that he was flying. Big wing, not a lot of power, and turbulence off the wing hits the prop and can make power output fluctuate. Going in on a runway with a crosswind I imagine you'd be crabbing almost sideways, and pretty much floating downwards at a ridiculously slow rate if the wind is up since the wing is so large compared to the aircraft that it probably has a stall speed around 35-40mph. None of which would have been an issue if that friggin' powerline hadn't been in such a lousy place that it'd get hit by someone crabbing towards a runway lower than normal.
I'm not fond of Richard Bach the writer, while he captured the feeling of flying well the rest of his stuff built around the flying part is just sentimental treacle. But it's a shame that he had to have this happen while doing something he clearly loved, and I hope he survives and, that if he survives, he's able to fly again.
Was he approaching the runway from the end with the "X"?
Almost certainly, John. Hit wires and you'll stop very quickly - you can see the poles.
I hope he recovers fully but it sounds bad.
I'm not sure about that "x" - If I saw that I'm not sure I'd think it was a random pattern or deliberate closing mark. Usually closed runways are marked with yellow or white paint, powder, fabric... not dirt ruts.
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