He has flown privately since high school, but you're right, we aren't talking about someone with thousands of hours of stick time.
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Marine lands his plane on road at Purdue
- Thread starter taxi1
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He has flown privately since high school, but you're right, we aren't talking about someone with thousands of hours of stick time.
I thought so too, but his cowling build seems a bit different (boxier) than the few Sonex builds I have seen. I wonder if he has a different engine? Examples....
The downfall of electronic ignition systems is they don't have redundancy...
Maybe he'll invest in magneto(s) for redundancy, assuming that engine can accommodate them.
Maybe he'll invest in magneto(s) for redundancy, assuming that engine can accommodate them.
Looks like it. That's the beauty of experimental.
Ackshually, it does have redundant ignition:
There's a bunch of tech data on the engine manufacturer's website and the whole system is well thought out, including running for an hour with an alternator failure (granted, that's with a new battery in a test cell, so it's just a number like when the NATOPS claims you have x many minutes). He mentioned the regulator-rectifier in the article (have a look at the engine FAQ on the UL Power website) and I suspect the message didn't lose anything in translation between what he told the reporter and what's written in the article. So maybe there's an unusual failure mode there that quickly killed the electrical system instead of allowing it to limp along on battery power. I suspect he'll figure it out and solve the problem.
The more I look at his cowling the more I’m convinced he is not flying a UL260iS.
I agree the cowling makes it hard to tell (and I honestly couldn't tell you what's under there just by looking at it). I'm just going off the FAA registry.
Aircraft Inquiry
I just meant time in type. As in how well he knew the flying qualities. We know he hadn't even gotten to best glide speed in flight test. He dun good.
Hey all, David Tibbo here. Amazing sleuthing you all do.
First, Dan's a great dude.
Second, I miss you Dan! Call me, seriously.
Third, here's the audio recording Dan is referencing. I couldn't figure out how to link it here, so I threw it up on youtube for now.
www.yout-ube.com
As an NFO, we were always told "In an emergency, you're not the pilot. The pilot is gonna save the day, not you. So the next best thing you can do is sound cool on the radio. Just sound like you're bored to tears, like that engine fire is the most uninteresting thing that's ever happened to you." So... I tried to sound bored and funny enough, it kept me calm. I was more annoyed than anything, because after three months of fiberglass work I was hoping to start flying every day. Despite Dan saying I was cool as a cucumber, I was still stressed enough to forget 7700 for emergency squawk.
It's a Sonex Waiex-B, and the engine is indeed a UL 260iS. The boxiness is simply because I suck at fiberglass. The first time I glassed the cowling, I was told I shouldn't "take that embarrassment near any airport", but the guy professionally restores antique cars. He wasn't wrong; it was ugly.
Anyways, first flight up in July 2020 and the oil over-temped. So, I replaced the relatively small oil cooler with one intended for a 6 cylinder engine. It's 50% larger than needed, and is moved a few inches further forward than minimums required. After that installation, I enlisted the help of three A&P students here at Purdue to assist in finishing the fiberglass. My goal was airworthy, not artful, and so we settled on the boxy shape you see. It's just the oil cooler. Oil temps were great (and super cold on my most recent glide down!)
As for what happened, I have hunches as to why I experienced low voltage (not complete power loss). I'm still looking into it. I'll be happy to update once I have definitive answers, but I'm not going to speculate further. Plenty are already doing fine on that front.
I never intended to land downtown. I truly believed I would make it to the airfield, and would not have attempted the glide otherwise. As for airmanship, thank you for the kind words. I'm just glad nobody was hurt. Prior to 2020, I haven't flow in nearly two years. I then went up twice in a Cessna last Spring 2020 to get my BFR current. I wasn't able to find a Sonex to do transition training (the factory no longer offers it, the nearest Sonex in Chicago was maintenance down). My first flight was on July 11, 2020. It was only 0.5 hours due to oil overtemp. Then with work and grad school and replacing the oil cooler, I was down for three months.
My second and third flights were the day before the off-airport landing, and were 0.8 and 0.5 hours, respectively. During those flights I determined slow flight characteristics and determined the clean stall speed of 37 knots. This fourth flight was intended to test flap operation and dirty stall speed. I didn't get around to lowering the flaps that flight.
So, yes, I've been flying since high school but my total hours are pretty low, only about 260 total. Time in the Sonex was 1.8 hours prior to the sudden drop-in at the movies. After I landed, a detective handed me a phone. It was Tower. They wanted to let me know it was free to land at the airport.
First, Dan's a great dude.
Second, I miss you Dan! Call me, seriously.
Third, here's the audio recording Dan is referencing. I couldn't figure out how to link it here, so I threw it up on youtube for now.
DakRt0umr_o
As an NFO, we were always told "In an emergency, you're not the pilot. The pilot is gonna save the day, not you. So the next best thing you can do is sound cool on the radio. Just sound like you're bored to tears, like that engine fire is the most uninteresting thing that's ever happened to you." So... I tried to sound bored and funny enough, it kept me calm. I was more annoyed than anything, because after three months of fiberglass work I was hoping to start flying every day. Despite Dan saying I was cool as a cucumber, I was still stressed enough to forget 7700 for emergency squawk.
It's a Sonex Waiex-B, and the engine is indeed a UL 260iS. The boxiness is simply because I suck at fiberglass. The first time I glassed the cowling, I was told I shouldn't "take that embarrassment near any airport", but the guy professionally restores antique cars. He wasn't wrong; it was ugly.
Anyways, first flight up in July 2020 and the oil over-temped. So, I replaced the relatively small oil cooler with one intended for a 6 cylinder engine. It's 50% larger than needed, and is moved a few inches further forward than minimums required. After that installation, I enlisted the help of three A&P students here at Purdue to assist in finishing the fiberglass. My goal was airworthy, not artful, and so we settled on the boxy shape you see. It's just the oil cooler. Oil temps were great (and super cold on my most recent glide down!)
As for what happened, I have hunches as to why I experienced low voltage (not complete power loss). I'm still looking into it. I'll be happy to update once I have definitive answers, but I'm not going to speculate further. Plenty are already doing fine on that front.
I never intended to land downtown. I truly believed I would make it to the airfield, and would not have attempted the glide otherwise. As for airmanship, thank you for the kind words. I'm just glad nobody was hurt. Prior to 2020, I haven't flow in nearly two years. I then went up twice in a Cessna last Spring 2020 to get my BFR current. I wasn't able to find a Sonex to do transition training (the factory no longer offers it, the nearest Sonex in Chicago was maintenance down). My first flight was on July 11, 2020. It was only 0.5 hours due to oil overtemp. Then with work and grad school and replacing the oil cooler, I was down for three months.
My second and third flights were the day before the off-airport landing, and were 0.8 and 0.5 hours, respectively. During those flights I determined slow flight characteristics and determined the clean stall speed of 37 knots. This fourth flight was intended to test flap operation and dirty stall speed. I didn't get around to lowering the flaps that flight.
So, yes, I've been flying since high school but my total hours are pretty low, only about 260 total. Time in the Sonex was 1.8 hours prior to the sudden drop-in at the movies. After I landed, a detective handed me a phone. It was Tower. They wanted to let me know it was free to land at the airport.
With the exception of that cowling...overall excellent work on your part. Not making the field is not as nearly as important as actually managing the emergency all the way through your landing.Hey all, David Tibbo here. Amazing sleuthing you all do.
First, Dan's a great dude.
Second, I miss you Dan! Call me, seriously.
Third, here's the audio recording Dan is referencing. I couldn't figure out how to link it here, so I threw it up on youtube for now.
DakRt0umr_o
As an NFO, we were always told "In an emergency, you're not the pilot. The pilot is gonna save the day, not you. So the next best thing you can do is sound cool on the radio. Just sound like you're bored to tears, like that engine fire is the most uninteresting thing that's ever happened to you." So... I tried to sound bored and funny enough, it kept me calm. I was more annoyed than anything, because after three months of fiberglass work I was hoping to start flying every day. Despite Dan saying I was cool as a cucumber, I was still stressed enough to forget 7700 for emergency squawk.
It's a Sonex Waiex-B, and the engine is indeed a UL 260iS. The boxiness is simply because I suck at fiberglass. The first time I glassed the cowling, I was told I shouldn't "take that embarrassment near any airport", but the guy professionally restores antique cars. He wasn't wrong; it was ugly.
Anyways, first flight up in July 2020 and the oil over-temped. So, I replaced the relatively small oil cooler with one intended for a 6 cylinder engine. It's 50% larger than needed, and is moved a few inches further forward than minimums required. After that installation, I enlisted the help of three A&P students here at Purdue to assist in finishing the fiberglass. My goal was airworthy, not artful, and so we settled on the boxy shape you see. It's just the oil cooler. Oil temps were great (and super cold on my most recent glide down!)
As for what happened, I have hunches as to why I experienced low voltage (not complete power loss). I'm still looking into it. I'll be happy to update once I have definitive answers, but I'm not going to speculate further. Plenty are already doing fine on that front.
I never intended to land downtown. I truly believed I would make it to the airfield, and would not have attempted the glide otherwise. As for airmanship, thank you for the kind words. I'm just glad nobody was hurt. Prior to 2020, I haven't flow in nearly two years. I then went up twice in a Cessna last Spring 2020 to get my BFR current. I wasn't able to find a Sonex to do transition training (the factory no longer offers it, the nearest Sonex in Chicago was maintenance down). My first flight was on July 11, 2020. It was only 0.5 hours due to oil overtemp. Then with work and grad school and replacing the oil cooler, I was down for three months.
My second and third flights were the day before the off-airport landing, and were 0.8 and 0.5 hours, respectively. During those flights I determined slow flight characteristics and determined the clean stall speed of 37 knots. This fourth flight was intended to test flap operation and dirty stall speed. I didn't get around to lowering the flaps that flight.
So, yes, I've been flying since high school but my total hours are pretty low, only about 260 total. Time in the Sonex was 1.8 hours prior to the sudden drop-in at the movies. After I landed, a detective handed me a phone. It was Tower. They wanted to let me know it was free to land at the airport.
By the way, if you're already talking to ATC and tagged up on radar when you have an emergency, it's counterproductive to squawk 7700. It sets of alarms on every air traffic controller's console for miles around and it makes it harder for them to communicate with you. The other thing that happens is your original track does something called going into coast (your old squawk isn't getting tracked anymore) and then disappears several sweeps later, along with the accompanying information (you callsign, aircraft type).
If you're trying to get attention out of the blue, then 7700 is of course a very useful tool and you should use it. But that other stuff for when you've been talking to them, pilots never seem to realize what really happens at the other end of the radio.
If you're trying to get attention out of the blue, then 7700 is of course a very useful tool and you should use it. But that other stuff for when you've been talking to them, pilots never seem to realize what really happens at the other end of the radio.
Nicely done. At 1.8 hours in a new type I can't make an on speed spot landing with power to play with.Hey all, David Tibbo here. Amazing sleuthing you all do.
First, Dan's a great dude.
Second, I miss you Dan! Call me, seriously.
Third, here's the audio recording Dan is referencing. I couldn't figure out how to link it here, so I threw it up on youtube for now.
DakRt0umr_o
As an NFO, we were always told "In an emergency, you're not the pilot. The pilot is gonna save the day, not you. So the next best thing you can do is sound cool on the radio. Just sound like you're bored to tears, like that engine fire is the most uninteresting thing that's ever happened to you." So... I tried to sound bored and funny enough, it kept me calm. I was more annoyed than anything, because after three months of fiberglass work I was hoping to start flying every day. Despite Dan saying I was cool as a cucumber, I was still stressed enough to forget 7700 for emergency squawk.
It's a Sonex Waiex-B, and the engine is indeed a UL 260iS. The boxiness is simply because I suck at fiberglass. The first time I glassed the cowling, I was told I shouldn't "take that embarrassment near any airport", but the guy professionally restores antique cars. He wasn't wrong; it was ugly.
Anyways, first flight up in July 2020 and the oil over-temped. So, I replaced the relatively small oil cooler with one intended for a 6 cylinder engine. It's 50% larger than needed, and is moved a few inches further forward than minimums required. After that installation, I enlisted the help of three A&P students here at Purdue to assist in finishing the fiberglass. My goal was airworthy, not artful, and so we settled on the boxy shape you see. It's just the oil cooler. Oil temps were great (and super cold on my most recent glide down!)
As for what happened, I have hunches as to why I experienced low voltage (not complete power loss). I'm still looking into it. I'll be happy to update once I have definitive answers, but I'm not going to speculate further. Plenty are already doing fine on that front.
I never intended to land downtown. I truly believed I would make it to the airfield, and would not have attempted the glide otherwise. As for airmanship, thank you for the kind words. I'm just glad nobody was hurt. Prior to 2020, I haven't flow in nearly two years. I then went up twice in a Cessna last Spring 2020 to get my BFR current. I wasn't able to find a Sonex to do transition training (the factory no longer offers it, the nearest Sonex in Chicago was maintenance down). My first flight was on July 11, 2020. It was only 0.5 hours due to oil overtemp. Then with work and grad school and replacing the oil cooler, I was down for three months.
My second and third flights were the day before the off-airport landing, and were 0.8 and 0.5 hours, respectively. During those flights I determined slow flight characteristics and determined the clean stall speed of 37 knots. This fourth flight was intended to test flap operation and dirty stall speed. I didn't get around to lowering the flaps that flight.
So, yes, I've been flying since high school but my total hours are pretty low, only about 260 total. Time in the Sonex was 1.8 hours prior to the sudden drop-in at the movies. After I landed, a detective handed me a phone. It was Tower. They wanted to let me know it was free to land at the airport.
Sure did!
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