Sven

Joile,

For those of us that closely witnessed/experienced the events at Reno, this article is truely a gift. A group of us that were there and experienced things we were totally unprepared for have been meeting once a month over some beers and burgers and we've been talking our way through it. Your article makes perfect sense. I'm passing it on to the guys. I think this is good medicine for all Reno survivors, especially those of us that are pilots. 

For the first couple of weeks following Reno, it was tough being out at the airport and not ducking every time a plane flew over. It was totally involuntary. We all plan on returning to the races this September. I'm hoping we don't look like a bunch of fools bobbing up and down each time a Mustang takes a lap. But we're not returning for us, we're returning to honor those who were watching with us that lost their lives. We're returning to support an event we enjoy.

Thanks again for the article. It means a lot.

sp

Quote: 201er

What is the first thing that reminds you to put the gear down? Do you follow a checklist, operating habit, or the plane talking to you (reminding you to put the gear down or it refuses to come down)? Anyone admit to forgeting to put it down some time? What type of normal reminder failed you? What about the guys whose gear stays down, is there a particular reason you chose the M20D?

I posted this on the Mooney Facebook page but I thought you might enjoy this here, too. I know it's an early Mooney because of the amazingly strong wing and cage. Plus, at the end, it had tremendous speed and it refuses to land. Also note the cramped interior and the retractible landing gear.

It is the top of the doghouse. Pictures won't happen for a couple of days. It's raining all week and I won't be at the hangar until the weekend. 

We are pulling all the panels and getting ready for our annual. This year we're popping the lid off the engine baffle. The top of the baffle seems to be treated with zinc chromate and the green is looking nice. The underside seems to, at one time, be polished aluminum. There's some corrossion that needs treating. So my question is this. If the bottom seems to be polished aluminum, does this serve a heat-reflective purpose? Should we polish it back up before replacement? Or does this not matter? Could we paint it with an engine enamel to prevent further corrosion? 

I hope this makes sense as I am typing this well into a generous glass of Maker's 46 (and a couple of Samoa cookies).

-Sven

There's three of us, still unconverted. We are out of Santa Rosa, CA. There's one in Princeton, NJ and another in Edgewood, MD. That's it. All the rest have been converted or salvaged.

In the month I was born they just announced the Mooney M20D, fixed-gear, would be available the following month. That's exactly when mine was "born." I'm as old as my Mooney. It stings just a little when younger passengers say my plane is "really old."

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I'm a big fan of the Ice Pilots series and I've been waiting for season 2 to become available in the U.S. either on DVD, TV or some other means. I might be a little late to the party but I realized that Ebay Canada is a great source for those of you who can't wait, like me. Mine arrived today and it will soon abide on my iDevices.

Scott,

Be sure to check out this thread:

http://www.mooneyspace.com/index.cfm?mainaction=posts&forumid=2&threadid=1773

I celebrated the 30th anniversary of my solo flight tonight. I remember the day so vividly. I still have my shirt tail with the date and instructor's signature. Those three landings are still all in my top 10. I have yet to meet a pilot who's forgotten his/her solo. It was in a Traumahawk. Little did I know the time spent in that little bird would train me float like a Mooney on landing.

-Sven

Looks like they fixed it. But I caught it before they did.

Anyone have a clue why AvWeb has a photo of Janet Reno next to their story on the Reno Air Race crash?

http://www.avweb.com/

Sorry for the late notice but for all you SF Bay Area pilots, this looks like a beautiful day. The Sonoma Jet Center is having an open house today from 10-2. Details can be found on this PDF:

http://www.sonomajetcenter.com/images/OpenHouse2011Schedule.pdf

They are also offering a WINGS class if you're in that program.

Found this shirt at Reno.

I will absolutely be there. I need to be and so do many others.

Trim tabs are getting a lot of attention in the news. I've read a couple of great articles on them. One in particular by Mac McClellen found here is very informative. One of the commenters talks about a trim tab failure on a Cessna 182 with a 6G pullup. Makes me glad I have a Mooney.

I have three pictures of his abrupt climb and one of the descent. You can't see his helmet in any of them. On the one I took during his ground roll he's clearly visible. Also, several people noted that when they saw the elevator trim tab break off the tail wheel also deployed. Every one of my pictures clearly show that.

I'm wondering if the G forces pushed him down into his seat and that's why we can't see him.

The trim tab makes sense. Our friends down by the pits heard a non-engine popping sound just before it lost control. The wobbling we all saw looked like a struggle for control of the elevator. Maybe that's what caused it to pitch up so severely. 

As a group of friends, several of us were scattered throughout the air race. Some were in the pit area, some were in box seats, and some were on the front line on the ramp. I was the latter. For those of you not familiar with Reno, the races take place over a large desert void of trees and filled with sage brush. The view is sweeping and most anywhere you stand you can see the entire course. 

Throughout the day there were several “mayday” calls. In these cases pilots, who are traveling about 200 agl or less, gently but quickly pull their planes up and inside the circle exchanging speed for altitude. Then, one of two runways are chosen to land on. I witnessed three or four maydays Friday. Most were minor and one was a dead stick. All followed the same safe and practiced protocol.

The last race of the day was the unlimited class. These are the “bad boys” of air racing. All the planes were attaining speeds close to 500 mph. It was the third lap and planes were rounding the last pylon and speeding in front of the crowds. Slower classes of planes make the corner and quickly straighten their trajectories as they pass in front of the spectators. But, because of their speed, the unlimited class planes have a wider turn  and seem to be just finishing that turn as they reach the pit area.

As the Galloping Ghost passed the pit area my friends in that area all heard a “pop” and witnessed the sharp ascent. From my perspective we heard the announcer declare that yet another mayday was called. Seeing it happen four times already that day we expected to see practiced routine. I was taking pictures the whole time so I followed The Ghost. Immediately, everyone could tell this was not a “routine” mayday. The plane pulled up quickly, almost violently and vertical. It also came toward the crowd instead of pulling inside the racing circle. But it didn’t yet look like it was out of control.

At the top of the arc it wobbled from nose to tail three to four times and rolled onto its back. When we saw the wobble we knew this was going to be bad. As the plane made its nosedive it was difficult to determine where it was going to hit but it was quickly apparent that it was going to hit the grandstands. Most everyone, me included, at least for a moment, thought it was going to hit them. As it was headed down he seemed to pull up ever so slightly giving everyone the sense he was trying to save as many people as possible below him.

The impact was horrific and earth shattering. There was silence followed immediately by screaming.The debris was flying mostly away from the crowd although those in the immediate vicinity were hit by debris, avgas and coolant. We braced for an explosive fireball that never happened. I’m still baffled why there was no fire.

In the immediate aftermath people responded very quickly. The announcer told everyone who was injured to lay down and that help would come to you. That help came within seconds. Those of us left uninjured surveyed a surreal scene filled with wandering and dazed injured. One woman wandered around, her hand was missing. We were horrified at the gore of the scene as we stared at the debris field immediately in front of us. Aircraft parts mixed with “life” seemed like a scene out of a horror movie or a nightmare.

As the emergency crews did their thing, groups of us gathered and tried to immediately make sense of what we saw. The pull up from the mayday call was very abrupt and nearly vertical. The G forces must have been tremendous. The speed at which he was traveling was over 400 mph so I do not see how he could have stalled. However, this Mustang was a chopped-wing version. But, it did not seem to slow even at the top of the arc.

The plane did a very perceptible wobble from the nose to the tail. That happened three to four times and seemed to look like a series of overcorrections at first. However, those of us who were pilots wondered about the G forces on the pull up and pondered if he may have momentarily blacked out. The other scenario is that there’s a report of people in the pits seeing the trim tab fall off the rudder. If he felt like he was out of control and heading toward the crowd that abrupt ascent may have been his attempt to stay out of the stands. At the speed and altitude he was traveling if he had not done that he would have wiped out the stands.

As he was headed straight down he seemed to pull up slightly. It looked to us like an heroic effort to save as many people as possible. My friend sitting in the box seat was only 40 feet away from the impact, three boxes away. He was blasted by debris and avgas. He said it hit between the A row and the B row. “A” boxes are at the front right along the flight line, “B” boxes are the next row back. Each box was about 10 feet wide and fit 15 people. Because it was the race everyone was waiting to see, the boxes were filled. However, had this been Saturday or Sunday the casualties would have been much higher.

I was about 300 feet from the impact and was surprised by how much heavy debris made it to me. One prop blade and large sections of the engine came close. There was a tremendous amount of blue foam flying around. This had to have come from the plane but I’m not sure where. Was it a composite wing? I don’t know.

My photos of the ascent and descent indicate that there were no gross anomalies visible. Everything seemed to be in its place. The questions I have are as follows. What caused the pilot to turn toward the crowd instead of inside the circle as the well-practiced protocol required? What caused the pilot to make an abrupt, almost violent ascent? Did G forces have an affect on the pilot? Was the wobbling at the top of the high speed arc due to a mechanical failure or a result of the pilot regaining consciousness? Was the plane traveling too fast to have stalled? What role might the chopped wing have played? Why did the plane abruptly nosedive? Was the pilot pulling the plane out of the dive trying to hit as few people as possible? Why was there no fireball? Did the pilot describe his problem before the impact?

If you look at my photos you’ll see the plane disintegrated on impact. The largest pieces I observed were about 1/4 of the engine, the oil pan, the prop blades. One of the most visible pieces was the partially deployed parachute and the mangled pack. It was a grim reminder of the human toll. I cannot imagine how a reconstruction will reveal much, if anything. Unless a part is found that fell off before the impact, or unless a meticulous reconstruction reveals missing parts, I am unsure how this investigation is going to reveal anything.

I used to think that being an accident investigator would be an interesting and compelling job. After seeing what was in the debris field I have gained an heroic appreciation for first responders and accident investigators. 

Peace to the memory of those who lost their lives and peace to the collective memories of those who witnessed this tragic event.

You can see some of my photos here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/yahyoubetcha.net/RenoAirRaceCrash

Just returned home. The scene was unbelievable and horrific. Debris was flying everywhere. Thankfully the big stuff stopped before it reached us. I was following him the entire time with my camera. We were too shocked to run. My friend was so close he got sprayed with avgas. The scene looked a war zone. I'll give a PIREP later on what the plane did. 

For those of you interested in flying to Europe in your Mooney, there's an amazing narrative written by Yury Avrutin called "The Viking Route." One day , almost on a whim, he decides to fly his M20C to Germany from New Jersey. I stumbled across it years ago on the interwebs. It's the Mooney version of "Flight of Passage." 

Today was our local Wings Over Wine Country Air Show at KSTS. I've never been able to make it to a VMG or a Mooney Ambassador event but it hasn't been from a lack of trying. I belong to the Pacific Coast Air Museum who are the folks who run the air show. I signed up to show my fixed-gear M20D at the show and brought it over last night. Being inexperienced we ended up toward the back of the show. This morning when I arrived I was boxed in (surrounded) by 4 Stearman. I thought, "Great, who's going to stop to see a Mooney in the middle of all these amazing radials?" As it turned out, it was probably the best place to be.

Before the show started I had several people wanting to know "what the deal was" with my plane and why it was so rare. At several points my little Mooney M20D story drew small crowds. Folks were actually interested in this stuff. I even let several kids hop in the plane, put headsets on them, and I let them turn the yoke. They loved it. Then I started asking any adult who looked at my signs if they wanted to cross the yellow tape and hop in the plane. 

One older gent was associated with a Stearman parked next to me. The Stearman was flown by George Bush Sr. and the ace Bud Anderson. This guy asked if he, too, could sit in my plane. I bet he was in there for 20 minutes. It turns out he used to own a C model. He seemed to "pretend" to fly it again, reaching for the Johnson bar that wasn't there. That really confused him until I told him it was a fixed gear. I spent the next half hour talking to him about the plane. Then he offered me a seat in the Stearman. I returned the favor and sat in it for almost 30 minutes. Once again I was convinced that pilots are the nicest people you could ever meet. Bud Anderson was his fishing buddy and was at the air show. Amazing.

By the end of the day I must have let 75+ people sit in the plane. I took two quick breaks and ate one really good $5 corn dog. My 75 SPF sunscreen saved me from total disaster. I had no idea this bird would be so popular especially given the dozens of open cockpit warbirds on the field. I think it was because this was a real airplane that real people could fly.

One couple I talked with was thinking about talking flying lessons locally and purchasing their first plane. A Mooney was never in the cards until they sat in mine. Even with a very tired interior, steam gauges and old paint, they were enamored. They loved the old red and white "retro" paint job. I told them it wasn't retro and it was original. They were smitten.

I didn't see much of the airshow or the other amazing planes on the field. But I had a fantastic time sharing my passion. Although I don't go as fast as the rest of you and my plane is not at it's best and a Garmin 196 is the fanciest thing I have, no one seemed to care. A man with a very fancy twin Beech was two planes over and not one person sat in his plane or even talked with him more than 2 minutes. It wasn't what I had expected. 

My schedule always seems to conflict with VMG and/or Mooney Ambassador events and I know some of you might even wonder if this plane really exists. I'd love to make it something someday and will try my best. If you're in the same boat, do something on your own locally no matter how small you think it is. You won't regret it and you may be reponsible for some kid getting the aviation bug and being a Mooney pilot someday.

Welcome to the Cult of Mooney, Jim. You'll find a lot of passion about our particular flying machines here. I hope you enjoy your "new" Mooney for many years to come.

-Sven