• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Hicks Airfield Pilots Association FLAPPINGS The Greatest Hicks Airfield Related Newsletter On The Planet Almost 300 In Circulation Worldwide! June 2010 Hicks Field being patrolled by a captured and exploited Cold War enemy aircraft. President’s Corner……………………………………………………………………Page 2 Editorial………………………………………………………………………………….Page 3 Flying Safety…………………………………………………………………………..Page 4 Financial Reports ............................................................................ Page 6 Weekend Aviation Planner……………………………………………………….Page 9 Classified Ads ................................................................................. Page 10 VOLUME 25 ISSUE 6 Page 1 president’s Corner By Gene de Bullet Dear Fellow Members, We are back in business with our airport newsletter Flappings and with a new Editor-in-Chief, Mike Bruno. I understand that he will be assisted by several others including the Sinclairs who accom- plished the task of producing the Flappings for many years. Again, their tireless work is appreciated by all of us. We had our May Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, the thirteenth with several issues dis- cussed which included member participation and cooperation as to septic issues, rainwater drainage control, flagrant violations of CCRs as to storage of materials and vehicles on lots. Ted Kelso, Carol Moran, and Bob Avery will combine their efforts to interview Excavation Contrac- tors/Engineers with a start date of July as to drainage improvements. Also slated are repairs to pumps and electrical on Septic field east of Hangar #554 which I’m told serves about six residences. Please note that Oncor plans to close taxiway “Charlie” for approximately three hours on May 19th for cross taxiway electrical; there may be some interruption of power to Hangars 901 to 919. Lastly, we continue to offer the HAPA tractor for sale . It is a late 1940s model (details available from Bob Avery). Sealed bids will be accepted with a cut off date of July 1, 2010 to Carol Moran at 6707 Brentwood Stair Road, Suite 110, Fort Worth, Texas 76112. In closing, let me compliment everybody on using good common sense on our airport. The taxiways have been, for the most part, clear of encroachments which had been our biggest problem. Best regards, Gene deBullet President HAPA VOLUME 25 ISSUE 6 Page 2 June editorial By Mike Bruno Well, after 3 years of excellence in journalism, Ron Sinclair has handed off the job of Flappings editor. Much appreciation is due to Ron, his wife Melana, and the usual folding and mailing party crowd who will still be involved in putting together this newsletter, which is a very useful tool for us here at Hicks. Although I have been at Hicks for four years, there are many of you I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting. For those who don’t know me, I have owned 920 Aviator since April 2006. I fly a 1987 Yakovlev YAK52, the Boeing 757/767 for American Airlines, and flew the A- 10 “Warthog” for the US Air Force. I intend to continue the tradition of soliciting stories, pictures, and anything else of interest from all of our owners and tenants. There is also a new feature, loosely listed under the label of Flying Safety, which will include NTSB and NASA reports, items of interest from our local fly- ing area, and any “there I was” stories you care to submit. I don’t need to point out that Hicks is a treasure we are lucky to have. There are few locations anywhere that allow us the freedom to enjoy our pastimes as we have here. Hopefully, Flap- pings can be helpful in allowing this large and diverse group to stay in touch. In that effort, it will remain a paper product (also available on T67.org), which I hope will allow it to be passed around and be more widely read. Please send your stories and items of interest to [email protected]. Mike Submittal Policy: The deadline for submission of articles, advertisements, min- utes, and reports will be the 15th of the month. This should provide sufficient time to edit the layout of the newsletter so that it can be mailed & posted to www.t67.org by the first of the following month. Please provide input in MS Word format, if possible. Flappings will be available online on or about the first of every month. All ads should be submitted in writing to flappingsedi- [email protected]. Board of Directors June Meeting: Thursday the 10th Hangar 111 6:30 PM To have your concern placed on the agenda please contact your local board member. VOLUME 25 ISSUE 6 Page 3 Flying Safety This month: Two NASA ASRS (Aviation Safety Reporting System) reports. Assessments Contributing Factors / Situations : Human Factors Primary Problem : Human Factors Narrative: 1 Fuel starvation resulting in a landing on the interstate. Flight planning indicated arrival in 3.8 hours on 40 gallons (usable)in a Cessna 172. By the endurance profile in the POH, the aircraft properly leaned at the elevation flown should fly 3.8 hours + 45 min. reserve. Experience over 800 hours flying this aircraft show a fuel consumption between 9 and 10 GPH or 4.0 to 4.2 hours endurance. Flight conditions were strong headwinds, moderate turbulence, minimal climb-outs, and lower than typical cruise elevations. Short climb-outs would use less than the average fuel consumption. Lower cruise elevations would use more fuel (richer mixture). I didn't think of it at the time, but turbulence would result in climb-out type conditions through part of what I consid- ered "cruise." Throttle and leaning procedures followed those of previous flights - 1/2 turn rich of max RPM, 2500 RPM cruise. The engine stopped at 3.8 hours elapsed on the Hobbs meter, and would not restart in the air. I was a 10-minute descent short of the planned destination. After an emergency landing on the interstate, all three sump points on the aircraft had no more than drib- bles of fuel. A Mechanic completed a through review of the aircraft. Upon fueling, the aircraft started and ran. No one was hurt, nor was property damaged. The plane and pilot are both fine. There were no passengers at the time of the emergency landing. Misleading Expectations: I have rarely in the past flown for such a long duration at such a low elevation where fuel burn is higher (richer mix, slower travel through denser air). I had flow this length route regularly, but never with such consistent headwinds. I thought the minimal high-fuel-burn climb out during this day of flying would keep me well away from the high end of my historical fuel use rate in this aircraft. The fuel endurance range of the aircraft appears to have been shortened significantly by numer- ous small items, not any single large culprit. Human factors: For about 3.5 hours of this day's flying, I was in moderate turbulence. A portion of this with a passenger that had a history of mo- tion discomfort. I felt pretty bad about bouncing him around. The turbulence was more taxiing on me than I thought it was. The incident was preceded by two long days, working and flying. Al- though, I thought I was near the top of my game at the time, in retrospect, being tired contrib- uted to less than optimum judgment. I looked at stopping short of my intended final destination, but didn't want to leave the company plane parked outside on the ramp for a day or two in what appeared to be approaching bad weather. Aircraft issues: The left fuel gauge in this Cessna 172 has never been dependable below a = tank. I have asked a number of mechanics about it, and basically been told, that is just how the Cessna gauges [don't] work. The aircraft has a powerflow exhaust rather than issuing replacement tables for the POH, powerflow was allowed to simply placard the dash with a statement that fuel usage may be changed by the non-factory exhaust. I have developed a range of gallons per hours used on previous tanks of fuel, and use these as a rule-of-thumb for flight planning. I have flown many trips of this distance and greater, but none at this low elevation for this duration. The facts show that the rate of fuel burn was significantly higher than any of my previous experience would indicate possible. There may have been prob- lems with the Hobbs meter counting slow. Additional checking will be completed, but is not done at this time. The elapsed tach time exceeded the elapsed Hobbs time for this trip by about 5%. Previous to this trip, the elapsed tach hours have always been less than the elapsed Hobbs hours. Synopsis A C172 pilot landed the aircraft on a freeway after the engine quit because of fuel starvation. Higher than normal winds, turbulence and low altitude flying increased the aircraft's fuel con- sumption to higher than expected. VOLUME 25 ISSUE 6 Page 4 Assessments Contributing Factors / Situations : Human Factors Contributing Factors / Situations : Environment - Non Weather Related Primary Problem : Human Factors Narrative: 1 After making contact with PIE Tower, I was advised to enter a left down wind for Runway 35R. About a minute later, Tower advise me that I was clear to land on 35R and shortly after that, I turned on a left base. Runways 4 and 35R intersect near the approach ends of both runways. It was dark and while on base leg of my approach, I mistook the Runway 4 lights and PAPI for Runway 35R. I turned final, lined up and continued my descent to land. I saw no aircraft or other movement on or near the runway. Just as I was about to touch down, I crossed over 35R and landed on Runway 4.

Load more

  12

Copy Link