kortopates Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 (edited) This weekend we saw 3 Mooney Incidents A M20J gear up landing - no injuries A M20K aborted takeoff go off the end - no injuries A M20J yoke come off, solo pilot regained control from right seat, ended in hard landing at VNY on the second attempt. Also no injuries. This is the first I've ever heard of a yoke coming off in flight. That had to be quite a surprise for the pilot! Are you ready for the yoke coming off?! With the wires that control the trim and AP disconnect, I wonder if that could lead to losing the AP as well as PTT button. My first thought was to restore aircraft control with the AP while moving to the co-pilot seat. There is quite a bit to do in flight changing seat positions between repositioning both seats, moving headset jacks and seat belts. Hope the plane suffered very minor damage and that we learn what may have led to the yoke detaching in flight. https://www.asias.faa.gov/apex/f?p=100:96:2498480348352::::P96_ENTRY_DATE,P96_MAKE_NAME,P96_FATAL_FLG:24-MAY-21,MOONEY https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N5717K Edited May 24, 2021 by kortopates 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCarlton Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 22 minutes ago, kortopates said: This weekend we saw 3 Mooney Incidents A M20J gear up landing - no injuries A M20K aborted takeoff go off the end - no injuries A M20J yoke come off, solo pilot regained control from right seat, ended in hard landing at VNY on the second attempt. Also no injuries. This is the first I've ever heard of a yoke coming off in flight. That had to be quite a surprise for the pilot! Are you ready for the yoke coming off?! With the wires that control the trim and AP disconnect, I wonder if that could lead to losing the AP as well as PTT button. My first thought was to restore aircraft control with the AP while moving to the co-pilot seat. There is quite a bit to do in flight changing seat positions between repositioning both seats, moving headset jacks and seat belts. Hope the plane suffered very minor damage and that we learn what may have led to the yoke detaching in flight. https://www.asias.faa.gov/apex/f?p=100:96:2498480348352::::P96_ENTRY_DATE,P96_MAKE_NAME,P96_FATAL_FLG:24-MAY-21,MOONEY https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N5717K Interesting that it's the J yoke that failed. I think I've had nightmares about my smaller diameter F yoke failing. Wondered if I could control it reaching over to the right side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolter Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 @kortopates It is not my place to give out all the details, but I know a few things about the yoke-less J that I consider to be "facts", and OK to share. Facts: The left yoke did not break, but came off the shaft. Immediately engaged the auto-pilot, called MAYDAY, and then moved over to fly from the right side. There was damage to an inner gear door from the rough landing, but otherwise the plane is undamaged. Opinions: I think "surprised" is an understatement. :-) And I think he did a great job of reacting to an unusual situation. -dan 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kortopates Posted May 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 Thanks @Bolter Glad to hear he could still engage the AP as I wondered about that and glad ti was just a gear door. "Surprised" is an understatement for sure!! I am sure I would have run to the bathroom to change my underwear after getting back down. It could have gone much worse with a non-pilot occupying the co-pilot seat to deal with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DXB Posted May 25, 2021 Report Share Posted May 25, 2021 (edited) The thinner pre-J shafts have an AD for dye penetrant inspection every 500 hours I believe. I imagine a yoke might have snapped off one of these in the past? Luckily my C had the upgrade to modern yokes and shafts before i bought it, so I thought I was immune to this event. Perhaps not? Edited May 25, 2021 by DXB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwaters Posted May 25, 2021 Report Share Posted May 25, 2021 WOW! he did a great job getting on the ground with no injury. I have to say this situation has broken into my nightmares once in a while. I'm not sure I would handle it as well and I know if my wife was in the passenger seat she would flip. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A64Pilot Posted May 25, 2021 Report Share Posted May 25, 2021 (edited) Reaching over and landing using the other yoke should not be any big deal, if inflight, try it, think of it as a side stick controller, operating the trim is going to be tough though. Anyone with a Bonanza with a throw over yoke that ever lets anyone else fly should give it a go at altitude just to see, with a safety pilot in the other seat. I may not use flaps due to the big trim change. ‘It’s most likely to break on takeoff or landing, when your pulling on it the hardest, on landing I don’t think it would be a big deal. but on takeoff it could be if you didn’t catch it fast enough. A friend landed a crop duster with a broken elevator push pull tube, he only had elevator trim. he blew the landing a little bit and cleaned the gear out from under it, but he was fine. Another one flew an entire pattern and landed with a full load with the aileron gust lock installed, he ground looped and did slight wing tip damage. ‘In training in a C-152 we trained to land with no aileron and elevator, just rudder,engine power and elevator trim, it’s actually not hard on a nice day, go out and try it. ‘I’m not saying actually land, but a low approach is safe as you do have the yoke, just don’t get too close to the ground. Edited May 25, 2021 by A64Pilot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted May 25, 2021 Report Share Posted May 25, 2021 53 minutes ago, A64Pilot said: ‘In training in a C-152 we trained to land with no aileron and elevator, just rudder,engine power and elevator trim, it’s actually not hard on a nice day, go out and try it. ‘I’m not saying actually land, but a low approach is safe as you do have the yoke, just don’t get too close to the ground. We used to do that a lot in the C-150s; fly the whole pattern with just rudder, throttle, and trim, even add flaps, etc. I always thought it was fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A64Pilot Posted May 25, 2021 Report Share Posted May 25, 2021 I have a C-140 now, you can open the windows and make turns by sticking your arms out, or opening the door a little, it doesn’t take much 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted May 26, 2021 Report Share Posted May 26, 2021 A good exercise to gain a good feeling of where trim may run out with full flaps... May need to settle on using T/O flaps if so limited... Other people can throttle the flap setting as needed... Full flaps has a tendency to be very nose heavy in some circumstances... depending on who you have up front with you... PP thoughts only, not a CFI... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N201MKTurbo Posted May 26, 2021 Report Share Posted May 26, 2021 Well, we don’t have all the redundancy. We don’t have twin engines, or twin alternators, or twin vacuum pumps, but by golly we have redundant yokes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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