SonexBuilders.net

I would like to add a few thoughts about the doing "The Impossible Turn" in a Sonex after an unexpected loss of power at low altitude.

I was at an indoor go kart track this weekend with my kids riding in go karts that go 35 mph. People were smashing into the barriers almost head on in these go karts at 35 mph. They pushed off and kept racing. Last year I dumped my motorcycle on wet pavement at about 40 mph and slid into the curb and then shook my injuries off and got back on the bike. A Sonex stall speed is around 39 to 41 mph, not much higher than a Weedhopper or Quicksilver Ultralight or a Cirrus under a BRS parachute. My point here is that IF YOU MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT AND LAND JUST ABOVE STALL SPEED YOU WILL SURVIVE PRETTY MUCH NO MATTER WHAT YOU RUN INTO!

If you have a power loss, your panic response should be to drop the nose to maintain best glide speed. Train yourself to do this! You need to train yourself to not have the panic reaction of immediately turning back to the runway. At low altitude TURNING BACK TO THE RUNWAY WILL KILL YOU ALMOST ALL OF THE TIME. After you establish best glide speed, pick out your point of landing.

When gliding with the Sonex do not allow your airspeed to get too low. Stay on best glide speed until you are on short final and then make as normal of landing as you can. Getting too slow will get you too close to the stall and will going anything much slower than best glide will result in a high sink rate which will further add to your panic.

How do you train yourself to have the correct "panic response"? Each person is different. For me I have to think it through, see it done, and then practice doing it myself over and over again. A simulator can never recreate the panic sensation, but it can help to train your reflexive actions.

I am also a definite believer in the angle of attack or lift reserve indicator. I am also excited about my friend Ihab's Airball he is working on.

Fly safe my friends!

Thanks,

Jake

I highly recommend spin/unusual attitude training with a CFI in an aerobatic plane, then go out and practice in your Sonex. Nothing brings home the fact a sonex will fall out of the sky than putting her into a spin. And she will let know just about when it happens but unless you go out and do it, you may not recognize she's talking to you. You'll also get a feel for how slow the plane will fly and how quickly you get that slow.

SonexN76ET wrote:How do you train yourself to have the correct "panic response"? Each person is different. For me I have to think it through, see it done, and then practice doing it myself over and over again. A simulator can never recreate the panic sensation, but it can help to train your reflexive actions.
Jake

Find a gliding club that does winch launching. Simulated cable breaks will help that become an instinct, real quick. ;)

No pilot wants to be remembered as the unnamed subject of an ntsb safety video as in this one. http://www.ntsb.gov/air (video 8, intersection takeoffs)

I sincerely hope we all apply the message in our own flying. So very sad to be reminded in this way.

Art,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Sonex taildragger #95...........Jab 3300 #261

One of the best safety tools I have added to my Onex is the Angle of Attack indicator. My Onex will turn on a dime as will yours. And during that turn, if you practice the emergency turn back to the airport, you are flirting with a stall/spin. I also use the AOA exclusively during a landing approach. The cost to make one is less than $100 and there are plans for several different types of material available on the internet. Solid aluminum, aluminum tubing, and also 3D printing can be used. The stall/spin accident at the turn to final could be eliminated by paying attention to this instrument.