Forced Landing in Colorado

[mooneygirl]

I received this email from Mooney:

We track Mooney incidents / accidents on a daily basis looking to see if we might be of assistance to the owners of the planes involved. This last weekend N#231RP was involved in a forced landing in CO. Through our database here we have identified the plane as serial # 25-0379 a 1986 M20K. The plane is registered in Weatherford Texas but we have no other contact information on the owner.
I was wondering through your networking capabilities if you may be able to help me get in touch with the owner or vice versa?
 
I appreciate any help you may be able to give us.

 

 

Does anyone know this owner and/or what happened?

 

Just email me if you do and thank you

[carusoam]

Jolie,

I found some additional information that it seems you may not have....  (see pilot's name and address)

Aircraft: MOONEY AIRCRAFT CORP. M20K (Fixed wing single engine, Category: Land, Seats: 4, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds), Engine: CONT MOTOR TSIO-360 SER (225 HP) (Reciprocating)
N-Number: 231RP , Serial Number: 25-0379, Year manufactured: 1980, Airworthiness Date: 06/04/1980
Registrant (Co-Owned): William W Jr Taylor, 141 Megan Ct, Weatherford, TX 76087, Other Owners: Karen Taylor


Read more: http://www.city-data.com/aircraft/air-Weatherford-Texas.html#ixzz0mEAIsSYJ

 

I bet it will keep you occupied for 11 minutes.

-a-

[mooneygirl]

Thank you very much for the information.

I forwarded it on..

[scottfromiowa]

Thanks for sharing the link (youtube) night off airport landing.  I have landed at PDC and the airport has bluffs to the south (of the runway) and running north/south of the airport.  This would be a TOUGH area to do an off-airport landing at night.  The pilot did a fantastic job of decision making and electing to use the alfalfa field...off airport...vs. continuing with faith to try and make PDC as directed by controller.  The value of the Garmin and other GPS's with Nearest only a click away and having com (lights) info at your fingertips as well as terrain awareness are TRULY potential lifesavers in a scenario like this.  What does everyone think about gear up or down in this scenario?  I am going in gear up with full flaps and tail low.  It appears that this pilot lowered gear and sustained a nose gear collapse?

Yes, even knowing outcome I became emotional and was riveted for the 10:00 minutes...Good stuff!  Remember your best glide and ratio to figure make it or not...

[scottfromiowa]

ps to my previous post...less than a year ago just north of PDC in LaCrosse those same bluffs took down a flight for life helecopter with loss of life to all aboard.  I wondered at that time if a 496 Garmin would have saved their lives...

[DaV8or]

That's why I don't fly at night anymore. This guy got really, really lucky. I shouldn't have listened to this. I just agreed to start the buying process on a Mooney with a really old engine in it! Yikes!

[mjc]

Quote: DaV8or

That's why I don't fly at night anymore. This guy got really, really lucky. I shouldn't have listened to this. I just agreed to start the buying process on a Mooney with a really old engine in it! Yikes!

[DaV8or]

Quote: mjc

Were either of the engine failures mentioned in this thread the result of high engine time?

 

[mooneygirl]

Dave, which plane are you looking at? I lost track, sorry.

Nice to meet you on Saturday.

 

Jolie

[140pilot]

I guess you can look at the engine issue many ways. When I had my M 20 C we were running it at 2300 smoh with oil analysis every 25 hours with no issues.  A friend had a reman O 320 installed on his PA 28 and it did not make 400 hours before the camshaft started making metal. It all what you feel comfortable with.

As for the Garmins make sure you have your unit set to show private fields and smaller strips. Here is an excellent post on Vans airforce site where a guy lost his engine ( fuel line ) in IMC and managed to find a small grass strip to set down safely in.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=57122

[Qwalton]

That story is incredible! He was very lucky.

[DaV8or]

Quote: mooneygirl

Dave, which plane are you looking at? I lost track, sorry.

Nice to meet you on Saturday.

 

Jolie

[mjc]

Quote: DaV8or

I have agreed verbally to buy (nothing in writing yet and money has not changed hands) a 69 M20E. Really good avionics and loads of speed mods. Clean hangered airframe and average appearence.

The engine is old. An overhauled unit back in 1991. It has about 1370 hours. Even compressions about 72/80 no recent oil analysis, but frequent enough changes. The last three years hasn't flown a lot, hence why the owner is selling it combined with a new family. Seemed to run stong and well when we went flying in it though. Hopefully prepurchase will find anything horribly wrong if it's there. Otherwise, I'm crossing my fingers.

[RJBrown]

http://www.velozia.com/?p=3521

No details but good outcome for N231RP a 1980 M20K.

[GeorgePerry]

Quote: DaV8or

That's why I don't fly at night anymore. This guy got really, really lucky. I shouldn't have listened to this. I just agreed to start the buying process on a Mooney with a really old engine in it! Yikes!

[The-sky-captain]

Quote: GeorgePerry

Agreed...I've got over 4000 hours and I fly Hornets on the deck of aircraft carriers, but I don't fly my Mooney at night if I can aviod it.  And I NEVER fly at night with the entire family aboard.  GA airplanes are incredibly reliable but the risk just isn't worth it...

[DaV8or]

Quote: JimR

I'm glad to hear you guys say that.  With very, very rare exception, I don't fly at night anymore either.  I thought that it was just me.  I used to fly at night and really enjoyed the serenity of it all, but I just can't get that old saying about turning the landing light on and then off again at 100 ft AGL if you don't like what you see in the event of a forced landing. 

Jim

[skyking]

When i lived in Southern ontario i flew at night all the time, but now that i live in rural Alberta i dont as much anymore.

In Ontario you never get away from a safe place to land as everything is lit up at night and there are highways everywhere. Out here the minute i head north it is like flying in an inkwell. It is pitch black and there is nothing but bush and forests for hundreds of miles with nowhere to land.

[Ned Gravel]

Quote: DaV8or

I keep hoping for some sort of FLIR or night vision system to come to GA. Or more likely, a synthetic vision system that has the detail of MS simulators with buildings and things. These things might help me feel better about night flight.

[Earl]

Very reassuring to know I am not alone about flying at night.  For me it is a matter of risk management and evaluation of the probability and magnitude of a problem.  The probability of something happening while flying at night is the same as daylight flying.  However, the magnitude of the potential risk is much higher for obvious reasons.  What I decided in establishing my own risk management program is that I would eliminate the risk by not flying at night.  These are the exact words typed into my kneeboard.  "That's what hotels are for".  Applies to weather as well.

What is kind of sad is some of the nicest VFR flights I have ever done were at night.  But so was the experience of flying VFR into IMC at night with a friend flying an Archer over Indiana before I had my ticket.  He had the autopilot on and we descended to below the layer into VFR.  Still an uncomfortable few minutes.

[Buster1]

In the Air Force, you are not allowed to fly VFR at Night.  You must be IFR all the time.  There are some small exceptions to this, but basically the AF is saying "if you're gonna fly at night, at least be IFR."  Make sense to me from an organization that flies quite a bit!

[DaV8or]

Quote: ehscott

What is kind of sad is some of the nicest VFR flights I have ever done were at night.

[DaV8or]

Quote: Buster1

In the Air Force, you are not allowed to fly VFR at Night.  You must be IFR all the time.  There are some small exceptions to this, but basically the AF is saying "if you're gonna fly at night, at least be IFR."  Make sense to me from an organization that flies quite a bit!

[Jeff_S]

I would second the notion of going IFR at night, but add something to that. Wherever possible, I would also ask for the full approach at night and not accept the "expect visual" that will often come in good weather. I don't have a ton of night flying experience, but trying to find and line up on a runway when you're coming in from an odd angle seems to be one of the more challenging things there is. At least if you're on an approach you have gotten to a straight in point at a safe altitude.

[231Pilot]

I still enjoy night flight, and do not mind launching at night, but that may be because I don't consider night flight any more dangerous than any other IFR flight in IMC.  Losing an engine at night is no scarier to me than doing so in IMC and having to descend in clouds with no certainty as to how close to the ground visibility will be restored (if it is restored at all).  At least in night flight, I can fly VFR/IFR (visual flight rule/I follow roads) as traffic on major highways can light the way to a possible landing zone if necessary.