2:30 run-time. Bird-strike at 1:11/1:12 mark. Underpants soiled. Propeller imbalanced.
I am curious as to why he picked THAT field. It looked like there were plenty of other candidates. Was he landing into the wind to reduce forward velocity? He landed in a puddle...is that good?
Orville and Wilber Wright would have loved that powered parachute.
ReplyDeleteI think he did a pretty good job as far as a 'crash landing".
He did fine.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't dive for the ground (get down now) nor attempt to extend the glide.
Why that field? Maybe knowing about the slicing features of corn stalks he chose soybeans.
I couldn't see what the winds were, if any.
Often you don't know the condition of the field until closer in. By then its too late to change tactics. He stuck with the plan.
BTW this is when an inexperienced or panicked pilot would attempt to extend the glide. That would be a bad decision.
A controlled crash is preferable.
Good choice I think.
ReplyDeleteSoy bean are short, cars on road, if you flip over on impact there will be witnesses and rescue crews.
The field is big. Lots of room if the rate of descent changes.
ReplyDeleteIt looked like he picked the largest open "field" to land in and it was actually a pasture or unplanted field, a drainage area and a soybean field. Where I'm from there would have been a twelve foot deep drainage ditch between the areas. I'd say he was both lucky and good because he probably knew there wasn't a ditch.
ReplyDeleteProximity to road in case rescue was needed. May have been considering road landing from up higher, then moved to field when traffic and perhaps some wires came into view. Also seemed to land in shorter plants near wet area, initially, Good choice, I had a very experienced ATP friend killed landing a cub in beans because they are so 'tangly' that the wheels caught and the plane flipped after touch down. And remember that every pilot is trained to glide to a landing before they are licensed. Should not usually a big deal - even mountainous areas - stay high enough to get somewhere flat if needed.
ReplyDeleteAs an old retired duck hunter I can say that ducks almost always land into the wind. It looks like Mr. Pilot here was across ways to it.
ReplyDeletePretty sure landing into the wind allows the best control and highest deceleration. I thought Mr. Pilot stuck the landing.
Milton
Any landing you can walk away from.....
ReplyDeleteActually and excellent job. Good energy management, close to and parallel to a road, not too many obstacles nearby. His speed-over-ground was pretty slow, so likely into the wind.
ReplyDeleteBeing parallel to the road meant he didn't have wires to worry about.
I'll give him an A- .
Good thing his passenger didn't take the bird strike in the face with no eye protection! Unbelievable. Also, bumblebees can fly; shorts and t-shirt are less than optimal. Show of hands: who else here has taken a bumblebee strike in the chest at 60mph? I looked down to see it slowly climbing up my jacket's storm placket. Aiee!
ReplyDeleteDoes getting the bee inside the helmet count?
ReplyDeleteSteve O