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Mooney Accident in Texas


Hank

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I've never seen one either.

But it's an interesting question. There has to be a minimum airspeed specific to the airplane that keeps the prop windmilling. Is there a number for our Mooneys?

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I think he kept pulling back to avoid the ballpark but the tradeoff was a high sinkrate vertical landing. He did OK but the odds were against him. A passenger  in his own plane. he ghosted over the ballpark and crashed later. Lucky is all.

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I think he kept pulling back to avoid the ballpark but the tradeoff was a high sinkrate vertical landing. He did OK but the odds were against him. A passenger in his own plane. he ghosted over the ballpark and crashed later. Lucky is all.

I think you're right. If you look at the ballpark picture, he did not take out the home run fence. He overflew it but did get stopped by the fence that goes along the drainage ditch.

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That's not true I've pulled back on the mixture in practice at a higher altitude and my plane had no problem continuing. instead of being like the NTSC where the pilot is always in error, there may have been a catastrophic engine failure. After al it is a Continental engine.

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so, no bullshit here, Has anyone seen a Mooney prop stopped? I haven't.  Has anyone?

 

In my M20D I shut the fuel off on final once when I had reason to believe the landing wasn't going to end well.  The prop kept windmilling all the way in.

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I think he kept pulling back to avoid the ballpark but the tradeoff was a high sinkrate vertical landing. He did OK but the odds were against him. A passenger  in his own plane. he ghosted over the ballpark and crashed later. Lucky is all.

 

Looks to me like he was pulling back, as you say, but perhaps stalled out with the embankment. Looks like the hill helped him.

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I've never seen one either.

But it's an interesting question. There has to be a minimum airspeed specific to the airplane that keeps the prop windmilling. Is there a number for our Mooneys?

 

There are probably a lot of variables that would mitigate any specific number.  The compression, the type and condition of the prop/hub, and, of course, the atmospheric conditions.

 

In the situations I know of where an intentional gear-up landing (gear won't extend) is made, it's running about 75%, the pilot can't get the prop to stop windmilling prior to touch-down.

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Stranger! Where the heck have you been hiding?!

Sent using Tapatalk

 

I have been "antiquing"...... bought an E series 35 Bonanza, a 55 F35, 2300 TT, 188 SMOH, same owner for the last 47 years, every mod done, Hartzell prop, recent upgrades. I would never consider a plane this old....Summit Aviation annuals the last 28 years, NDH. I stumbled across it.....an estate sale in Easton. Great 201 coming up for sale soon.

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I want something to haul my sons for hunting in WV and the grass strips in lower DE. Haven't flown the damn thing yet....may not like it...who knows.
I flew with Alan in his V tail Bo on Saturday. You'll like it... Sent using Tapatalk
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Mike Miles, Mooney test pilot talks about a prop coming to a dead stop in our movie Boots on the Ground. Gave him a pucker moment when he, and Tom Bowen [now Mooney International C.O.O.] were on top of an overcast layer. 

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That's not true I've pulled back on the mixture in practice at a higher altitude and my plane had no problem continuing. instead of being like the NTSC where the pilot is always in error, there may have been a catastrophic engine failure. After al it is a Continental engine.

Is kind of hard to have a catastrophic failure at  low power settings close to idle. Even if the prop has not stopped the pilot may have pushed on the throttle after pulling the mixture out thus loss of power.

 

José  

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And how would you know when he had the engine failure and at what altitude?..

Because the pilot said so here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Plane-s-crash-landing-narrowly-misses-Little-5468694.php

 

SAPD Sgt. Trey Roussel said the pilot told authorities he lost power on approach to the airport. At about 700 feet, it became clear he wasn't going to make it to the landing field.

 

KSSF is at 577ft elevation. 

 

José

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Scott u r correct!,, my only ointment was that whenever there is an accident the pilot is at cause...Is there ever a chance he may not have been at fault everyone is ready to scorch the driver..he ran out of fuel, did not have a sterile cockpit, joining the mile high club and got distracted whatever..the point was not the engine for Gods sake.....

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Because the pilot said so here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Plane-s-crash-landing-narrowly-misses-Little-5468694.php

 

SAPD Sgt. Trey Roussel said the pilot told authorities he lost power on approach to the airport. At about 700 feet, it became clear he wasn't going to make it to the landing field.

 

KSSF is at 577ft elevation. 

 

José

 

I took that to mean that he lost power [where? when?], and at about 700 feet he realized that he would not reach the runway. You interpret it to mean that he lost power at 700 feet.

 

The initial report should be out soon. Maybe it will clear up some of these things.

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