Well there I was 600 feet and the engine started to run at half
power. I
told Gene, my flight lesson that night, I got it! He said good, you can
have it! We had just done a fly by at Charlie's' field and were
climbing
out. Now I knew the last thing you want to do at a time like this is
try
to do "the impossible turn". I tell my students all the time, Get your
nose down and find a place to land. I found a nice field with just corn
stubble. I kept on what power I had and did a nice landing.
Now at this time I was talking to Angel Blazquez on the radio and had
told him I thought we had carb icing. So after we landed I taxied out
thru the gate
and onto the lane. The engine was running smooth at this time and had
full power again. So with a 10 mile per hour wind across the road
(lane)
and a line of power poles to my right, I hit the throttle and took off.
All was well. Just as I was thinking that the ice had melted away, the
engine started to run at half power again. Gene said "you still got it"
I said yeah, I still got it. I picked out a nice bean field and we did
another emergency landing.
O.K. We got out of the plane and I grabbed my tool bag and we removed
the
air filters to look for ice. Nothing. Humm...the ice must have melted
already. We put everything back together and she started right up.
This
time Gene held the nose and I ran it up to 6000 RPM's O.K. now we got
it.
We taxied out to the road. Hey, I said, this is Star Road it runs right
by the airpark. Gene suggested we just taxi home. Well that was
still 11
miles away so I pushed the throttle forward and off we went. At about
400 feet she dropped back to half power for the third time! By now I
had
these off field landings down pretty good. So we landed this time on
the
highway...I had already looked and there were no cars to be seen. As we
were landing I saw Angel pull in behind my plane, from a side road, he
had landed his Challenger and drove back in his car, and he followed me
into the driveway. This time I had decided it was not carb ice.
Angel and I did more inspection work and found the problem. I had a
fouled plugs! They would run just fine on the ground, but as we put
them
to work during climb out, they couldn't take it and I lost the front
cylinder. As I have demonstrated already, for the 3rd time, a fully
loaded Challenger will not fly on 22 HP. I had 4 new plugs in my tool
bag. Lesson: always keep 4 plugs in your plane all the time, you might
even have them gaped and anti-seize on them. Angel and I installed the
new plugs and I was ready to fly home.
For a country road there were sure a lot of police around. From
behind
the barn where we pushed the plane we must have counted 3 police running
around. One had his lights on and the other two were just driving
around.
They must have been looking for something? By now it was getting
dark
and our "Excellent Adventure" was coming to an end. As the sun was
setting
my wife and friends found us. We tied the plane down for the night and
went to Prophetstown and had steaks and cold drinks.
But Wait! The story isn't over. The next morning I woke Sue up to get
the plane and fly it home before traffic started up. Well Getting Sue
out
of bed at 5:30 am is not an easy task. She was glad all was well and
even at 5:30 am she pulled herself out of bed to help me get the plane
home. I drove the 19 miles back to the plane and she looked ready to
go,
the plane not Sue! Sue was taking some pictures and I did a pre flight.
I got in the plane put on the harness and my helmet and started to turn
on the mags, Left, Right, master on turn the key....wait...no key! It
was then
I remembered I took the key home. I was in my other pants pocket, next
to the bed.
I drove the van back home and Sue slept. She didn't feel like talking
(it must have been too early). I found the key and I drove back to the
plane. She was still quiet, like I said it was early. I got back to
the plane, this time with the key and started the plane.
On the highway I hit the throttle and as I climbed out I remember Angel
saying " keep climbing to 5000 feet and if she quits again you can glide
home from there. Well, as you all know I don't like to fly high but I
did get her up to 3000 feet! It was about then the door flew open! The
adventure continues. In my rush to get outt'a town I had over looked
the
left door latch. I never use the left door!? Anyway the latch was not in
the down position, so the door flew open! Now at this height there
wasn't much to do anyway, the plane was just flying along. So I had a
chance to work on a in flight emergency. I did catch the door and pull
it shut and closed the latch.
At last! I had the runway in site. I did the pattern and was number 2
to land behind Jerry "Hot Lips" Gott.
Wow! What a morning. Behind me I could see Cowboy (Kevin Lee) and
the Chief (Dan Dawson). We all landed and as we went into the club
house Sue showed up with Donuts. What a morning! Hummm? Hope this
counts for an over nighter. Points right?
A big Thank you to Angel for helping me out. I knew he was up there for
me if anything had gone bad during my landings. Thanks! Almost
sounds religious doesn't it?
I have over 800 hours in my log book and never had an engine out. In
the
span of a half hour, I had 3. Remember always FLY THE PLANE.
Jim, at an Eerie place.
Me and the plane.
Pre
flight.
Taxi to the road.
Turn right and home!
Why Some Men Like Airplanes Over Women !!!!!
Airplanes usually kill you quickly, a woman takes her time.
Airplanes can be turned on by a flick of the switch.
Airplanes don't get mad if you do a "touch and go."
Airplanes don't object to a preflight inspection.
Airplanes come with a manual to explain their operation.
Airplanes have strict weight and balance limitations.
Airplanes can be flown at any time of the month.
Airplanes don't come with in-laws.
Airplanes don't care about how many airplanes you've flown before.
Airplanes and pilots both arrive at the same time.
Airplanes don't mind if you look at other airplanes.
Airplanes don't mind if you buy airplane magazines.
Airplanes expect to be tied down.
Airplanes don't comment on your piloting skills.
However, they both have one thing in common.
When either one of them gets quiet, it's definitely not good
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