YakRiderEverything I hear about these Gipsy engines just seems to go in one ear and come out the other.
YR
YakRiderYou’ll regret it when pocket money requests go over £100 a week to pay for flying lessons! Glad he didn’t feel sick, that’s what’s happened with all the kids I’ve taken flying.
YR
YakRiderJust missed the ‘donner und blitzen’, came away with a lot more than I brought with me, and once again had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Nice to see the Geoffs again! Couldn’t you have found someone more photogenic to be the model for Ernst’s signing???!!!
YR
YakRiderGlad everyone is OK, in what sounded like difficult circumstances.
YR
YakRiderAfter my experience I’m not sure how much you can believe of what’s written in Southend newspapers!. The aircraft was more likely a Proctor than a Prentice I would think. I’ll ask around at Southend next time I’m down there to see if anyone has any ideas.
YR
YakRiderI wear flying boots. No tread to take stones into the cockpit and jam things, good protection, comfortable and half the price of trainers, which are synthetic and not a good idea if things get hot!
YR
YakRiderExcellent pictures. Thanks for sharing.
YR
YakRider“We also discussed control restriction, coming off a stall turn unable to pull up what would you do?
Push forward? In the heat of the moment probably not, but having thought about and discussed it on the ground, yes you may well do. I know we have a ceconite bulkhead now, but these are not completely fool proof. “
This is a question which has resonance for me as a school friend had a share in the Yak which went down near Towcester with the mystery screwdriver, and the other Southend Yak had the mobile phone jam the controls.
The pilot in the back seat of the Southend Yak was a member of our group, and I asked him why he wasn’t wearing a parachute. “I’d sent it for repacking and didn’t think it would matter for once,” was his reply. Fortunate or what?!!
Two dead and two very lucky and an aircraft flying again. I think with this scenario it all depends on height. The Southend guys had climbed another thousand feet before doing the next batch of stall turns. That’s what saved them. The phone had been sitting in the aircraft for some time, and clouting the underside of the rear fuselage pre-flight hadn’t shifted it.
Our new Yak has got a clear inspection panel under the tail, but it would have been no use in this case.
This is what’s great about the internet – you can learn so much. I’ve just been reading on a thread PPRuNe about RAF Meteor casualties. Yaks are really safe to fly!!!
YR
YakRiderAt the time everyone was convinced that the cause was contaminated fuel. From the report, they did look for it but found nothing except the blown plug. Certainly at the time, the only thing I could think of, from what was happening, was that there was a fuel or carburettor problem. Which is why I was pumping the primer.
What still amazes me is that there is still no systematic information available on plug failures. I have gleaned what information I could over the past two or three years by trawling the internet, but nothing I had read was remotely similar to the actual symptoms I experienced (as opposed to merely saying that the engine lost power) until I saw the article in TP after the event.
When I first heard it was a plug, I was very dubious as nothing seemed to add up. The Americans had done a test where they removed two plugs completely (including one from Number 6 cylinder also at the bottom of the engine) and started and run the engine without major problems. Other anecdotal descriptions I had heard from other people seemed to suggest it was a non event. So, I felt that I must have done something wrong. The TP article explained a lot and took a whole weight off my mind.
Fortunately I’m a little bit older and a whole lot wiser now. And hopefully others can learn from this too. If it gives someone a few more seconds to decide what the best option is if it happens to them, then at least something positive can be gained from it all.
Janie: Not seen the ghastly remains recently, but they were already using bits to patch up other aircraft when I saw it last. So, in a way, it will still be flying!
The replacement – Charlie Tango – was up there last week having its annual, so you might have seen that silver and blue jobby too!
YR
YakRiderI was indeed my five minutes of fame. The helmet certainly saved my life, as I hit my head hard enough on the instrument panel to split the bonedome on both sides at the front. I wasn’t aware of this until I got home from hospital and examined the helmet when I was putting together my statement for the AAIB.
I did spit out a couple of broken teeth and the chinstrap had gashed my chin, but I assumed at the time that I had perhaps struck the stick. Fortunately the helmet was insured, so will be replaced. The aircraft has been replaced too, and was due to be collected yesterday, so hopefully I shall see it for the first time today.
I was reading a book recently by a Seafire pilot, who said that when naval aircraft missed the arrestor wires and ran into the barrier, the pilot experienced deceleration forces of around 20G. As the Yak stopped in about 40 feet, I must have experienced something of similar magnitude. Several medics have said I was extremely lucky as the chest injuries I suffered are often fatal. The Yak is an immensely strong aircraft, which must have helped my survivability!
The whole affair has been an huge learning exercise for me, trying to analyse and explain what happened and what I could have done differently or better. The irony is that there was an article in Today’s Pilot about a similar incident a couple of months ago, which if I had been able to read before my engine failure, it would have explained exactly what was happening – though of course you still have the problem of getting back on the ground in one piece.
The really confusing thing was that the engine instruments were all in the green, while the engine was cutting, picking up again after an interval then cutting again. We all train to deal with engine failures, but the assumption is that the engine stops. In this case, it kept running intermittently, which certainly complicates one’s though processes in trying to work out what’s going on, fly the aeroplane (and in my case get back over dry land) and tell people you’ve got a problem.
There have been discussions about plug failures on other bulletin boards, and I think it would be useful if information could be collected about the different symptoms of plug failures (which can involve cooking the cylinder head temp sensor and giving a false reading in the red, or setting fire to the ignition harness – neither of which happened to me), and what to do if it happens. I have not seen any mention of plug failure in any emergency checklists for the Yak, yet this is the most likely scenario for engine problems rather than a complete mechanical failure.
The mention by the AAIB that mini haydraulic locks can also damage plugs is worthy of note, as such damage is insidious and could take months to manifest itself. I was talking to someone recently who serviced tank engines during the war. American tanks were powered by radial engines, and he said that if they had a hydraulic lock they would change the plugs as a matter of course.
Of course Yaks in their original environment were maintained on a military basis, and the same probably applied. Now in civilian hands, and with less operational knowledge, it is easier for these potential problems to slip through unremarked.
Hopefully other people can learn from what happened to me. Certainly regarding the helmet, if it gives pause for thought to someone flying similar types of aircraft then other lives might be saved.
The doctors all say I’m now fit to fly, and I’m just waiting for the CAA to agree. As I spent last week working on a project in the Lake District, and spent Thursday walking 8 miles and doing 2500 feet of ascent and descent as well, I certainly feel I’m now fit again.
YR
YakRiderThe G-46 has been at N Weald as the owner is one of the Aerostars, and they have carrying out display practices over the past few days and hope to be signed off tomorrow.
YR
YakRiderThere’s one Extra based at NW – Ten G (G-TENG). The others are in for the formation week.
Although the formation flying is basically for the Yak 52s, other aircraft can take part as separate formations. The spring training is normally the basic formations and the autumn week is more aerobatic. Some people just come for a couple of days, as fuel bills can be quite horrendous!
Last year G-VETA had another Hunter come in for some formation flying, but becuse of the weather and technical problems, they only managed one sortie together, I believe.
YR
YakRiderMOTF
I’m getting there! My AME had a listen to my lung on Monday, and has pronounced me fit to fly. He is now contacting the CAA to that effect and it is up to them to decide what they want to do. Hopefully restore my medical certificate.
I got the AAIB report on Saturday. That will be published in May. No surprises, as I had gleaned the cause from various conversations previously.
The insurance has paid out on the aircraft, so a search is on for a replacement.
I’m hoping to be involved in another Pup/Bulldog formation flypast at Shoreham in mid June, so need the medical back pronto so I can do some more training.
I have been flying from the right hand seat a few times, so life is a bit frustrating at the moment. The more I hear, the more I realise how lucky I was to walk away from it.
YR
YakRiderGlad to see that the formation school guys are getting some sorties in this week!
YR
YakRiderHow about the Moth Club Charity Weekend at Old Warden – June 11-12? All proceeds go to charity and he can get a flight in a Moth or probably a Chippie or other DH type instead/too much cheaper than the commercial outfits do. Also there’s the museum to look around and his Mrs can also do the Swiss Garden!
YR
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