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- Jan 1, 2008
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Guys and Gals,
I don't want to have to write this twice, so here is what I sent to Kevin. Such a simple mistake.
Kevin,
Thanks for writing. Steve Wolf called me yesterday, and I explained it all to him. The short of it is that it was a fueling error on my part. I had flown an ACE evaluation in Longmont, CO, then fueled up to come home. For some reason, unknown to even me, I fueled the auxiliary tank first, which I have always done last. Having done that, I put the caps back on both tanks like I always have done after fueling the aux tank, and flew away with 10 gallons less fuel than I thought I had on board. I was descending to land at Evanston, WY, to top off the main tank for the last 57 miles home, when the engine quit. This time, however, it didn't stutter or hesitate like it does when I run the aux tank dry. Thinking that I still had 10 gallons in the main, I thought the throttle linkage had broken because it just idled down like it would if you pulled the throttle off over about three seconds.
With a 6:1 glide ratio, my best, and only, option, was I-80 westbound, even though there was heavy traffic. There were four semis to my left, and as I turned over the freeway I thought I was ahead of the lead truck. I even said to myself, "I have this made". I lowered the left wing slightly and gave a touch of right rudder to see the road ahead, and at about fifteen feet up I struck something beneath me. I couldn't see what it was because this airplane is so blind. I couldn't imagine what I had landed on, because I was certain that I was ahead of the trucks. The right wings struck something, a pole I think, and I was thrown off to the right side, and hit the ground nose down, then tumbled, landing upside down at an angle, like it has stopped at point 3 of an 8-point roll to the right. I was completely uninjured. I extricated myself, and a few minutes later a truck driver came over and said I had landed on top of his sleeper cab. Had I pulled that one off I would have called Kent Pietsch and asked to have "cartop landing" added to my SAC card.
I examined the airplane on Wednesday, and removed the main tank cap, and nothing came out. I was expecting at least 8, and probably 10, gallons of fuel. I removed the cowling and found the throttle linkage intact. I have a fuel receipt that shows 27 gallons purchased, and that is exactly what I would have put in both tanks, 17 in the aux and 10 in the main, after the evaluation, so I was totally confused over where the other 10 gallons had gone. I checked my credit card history (this was after 6 days of pondering where the 10 gallons went), and that's when I found another fuel purchase for filling the aux tank. WHAP! The sound of my hand hitting my forehead! It was then I realized that after fueling the aux tank, I never fueled the main tank because I always close up both tanks after fueling the aux tank. Having done things out of order, I hadn't realized that I failed to fuel the main tank, and off I flew to oblivion.
I will be bringing the airplane back to my hangar on Monday. The wings and landing gear legs are not salvagable, but most, if not all, of the wing hardware, flying wires, etc, can be used again, and I have all the jigs necessary to rebuild the wings. The fuselage is intact, although there is some minor damage to the tip of the fin and rudder. The insurance company will cover the costs of the rebuild.
I never push weather, and I never push fuel, but I did get things out of order when I fueled, and was carrying less fuel than I thought, so that is on me. I just hope this tale keeps others from making the same type of mistake. The corrective action is obvious: ALWAYS fuel the main tank first!
Danny
PS: The g-meter showed +6/-6
I don't want to have to write this twice, so here is what I sent to Kevin. Such a simple mistake.
Kevin,
Thanks for writing. Steve Wolf called me yesterday, and I explained it all to him. The short of it is that it was a fueling error on my part. I had flown an ACE evaluation in Longmont, CO, then fueled up to come home. For some reason, unknown to even me, I fueled the auxiliary tank first, which I have always done last. Having done that, I put the caps back on both tanks like I always have done after fueling the aux tank, and flew away with 10 gallons less fuel than I thought I had on board. I was descending to land at Evanston, WY, to top off the main tank for the last 57 miles home, when the engine quit. This time, however, it didn't stutter or hesitate like it does when I run the aux tank dry. Thinking that I still had 10 gallons in the main, I thought the throttle linkage had broken because it just idled down like it would if you pulled the throttle off over about three seconds.
With a 6:1 glide ratio, my best, and only, option, was I-80 westbound, even though there was heavy traffic. There were four semis to my left, and as I turned over the freeway I thought I was ahead of the lead truck. I even said to myself, "I have this made". I lowered the left wing slightly and gave a touch of right rudder to see the road ahead, and at about fifteen feet up I struck something beneath me. I couldn't see what it was because this airplane is so blind. I couldn't imagine what I had landed on, because I was certain that I was ahead of the trucks. The right wings struck something, a pole I think, and I was thrown off to the right side, and hit the ground nose down, then tumbled, landing upside down at an angle, like it has stopped at point 3 of an 8-point roll to the right. I was completely uninjured. I extricated myself, and a few minutes later a truck driver came over and said I had landed on top of his sleeper cab. Had I pulled that one off I would have called Kent Pietsch and asked to have "cartop landing" added to my SAC card.
I examined the airplane on Wednesday, and removed the main tank cap, and nothing came out. I was expecting at least 8, and probably 10, gallons of fuel. I removed the cowling and found the throttle linkage intact. I have a fuel receipt that shows 27 gallons purchased, and that is exactly what I would have put in both tanks, 17 in the aux and 10 in the main, after the evaluation, so I was totally confused over where the other 10 gallons had gone. I checked my credit card history (this was after 6 days of pondering where the 10 gallons went), and that's when I found another fuel purchase for filling the aux tank. WHAP! The sound of my hand hitting my forehead! It was then I realized that after fueling the aux tank, I never fueled the main tank because I always close up both tanks after fueling the aux tank. Having done things out of order, I hadn't realized that I failed to fuel the main tank, and off I flew to oblivion.
I will be bringing the airplane back to my hangar on Monday. The wings and landing gear legs are not salvagable, but most, if not all, of the wing hardware, flying wires, etc, can be used again, and I have all the jigs necessary to rebuild the wings. The fuselage is intact, although there is some minor damage to the tip of the fin and rudder. The insurance company will cover the costs of the rebuild.
I never push weather, and I never push fuel, but I did get things out of order when I fueled, and was carrying less fuel than I thought, so that is on me. I just hope this tale keeps others from making the same type of mistake. The corrective action is obvious: ALWAYS fuel the main tank first!
Danny
PS: The g-meter showed +6/-6
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