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nice to have state patrol slowing the traffic -
lol, "Are you callin about the airplane?"Comment
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I love how the cop goes to grip his sidepiece.Comment
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I ferried a Cherokee back from Tulsa, and I had to set it down in New Mexico because it blew a seal and ran out of oil. It was a scary crosswind landing, but I took my one shot and made the airport. The operator sold me some oil and gave me a ride to a hotel, and back to the airplane in the morning.
Decision time. Trailering a Cherokee is a pain in the ass, once you get the equipment there. It can take a day just to get the wings off. I decided to do a runup, check it out, and decide whether to fly it or not. I took it to the runup area, ran it up and then looked inside the cowling. A cloud of smoke poured out because the seal was shooting oil all over the muffler. All of the exhaust outlets were leaking, and there was a trail of oil and smoke going down the side of the plane into the cockpit vent.
I decided just to fly it low over the freeway. I thought that if it started to burn, I might have time to set it down and jump out as soon as it slowed down enough to get the door open. The one thing that I'm really scared of is burning. I did my runup checks, tried the mag drop and it wouldn't even run on just one mag or the other, so I decided the hell with it. If it wasn't making airspeed halfway down the runway, I would abort.
Needless to say, I made it back. The exhaust coming in the vent was trying to knock me out, and I had to slap myself in the face to stay awake, but I got it there. The real bonus was when I stopped in front of the hangar and it didn't catch fire.
That's not the only really stupid thing I've done in that airplane, but I never get scared when something happens. I get pissed off at the airplane, because I'm a pilot and a mechanic and I expect it to do what I tell it to. I flew through severe turbulence one time, which most people will never see in their lifetime, even if they think they have. "Severe turbulence" means turbulence that is so severe that the aircraft cannot be controlled. My shoulders were literally black and blue from being tossed around the cockpit, and I got very few chances to correct the attitude. I got pissed off at the weather and the airplane and I was telling it to hurry up and get me out of that shit. I got out of it when I broke out of a mountain range and into moderate turbulence; unfortunately, I just passed Kingman, and LAX was shut down for weather. There was no place to land. Every airport I called, I got a recording that said that the airport was closed due to weather....except Victorville. They have X runways, and there was one that was getting the wind straight down it. The controller was really helpful and told me that it was the best chance I was going to get. I was clocked at 15 knots on approach, and dammit it took a long time to get to the runway, but I got there. The guy who was supposed to meet me at Hysperia called and they told him that no aircraft would be landing anywhere in that part of the state, so he was surprised when I called him on the cell phone and asked him to come to Victorville.
The majority of aircraft crash because people do stupid things like I used to do. The world is probably a safer place now that I lost my medical.Comment
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The majority of aircraft crash because people do stupid things like I used to do. The world is probably a safer place now that I lost my medical.
If they had seen some of the stupid shit I have done with a car they would not let me near anything that flys.
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