What happened to Dave's engine?  Ignition Failure?  Fuel Stoppage?

  Best Regards,

  Bill Palmer


  I am still trying to find out.

  Paul Lamar

Ok, sounds like I have some fessing up to do...

I took my mom up for a flight on her birthday and we went to overfly the
area we are going to be doing a memorial pass today.  I was entering a user
waypoint in my hand held GPS and my hand must have accidentally hit the
'cold start' switch.  That switch doubles the injector duration and is used
for starting in extremely cold temperatures.  But it was too much fuel for
the engine to keep me aloft (just an occasional sputter).  I was only at
about 1100 AGL at the time so my emergency procedures only got as far as:
turn toward airport, switch fuel tank, aux fuel pump, verify fuel pressure,
primary switches turned on... shit, time to find a place to land this
thing... call mayday, choose best spot, fly under traffic signal and onto
road.

Mom was cool and collected the whole time.  We were very lucky to find a gap
in traffic, the cars were waiting for the light I flew under. Also really
glad to have a plane as nimble as an RV.  I don't think I could have done it
in a Bonanza. (course a Bonanza doesn't have a 'cold start switch' either)

It was not until after all the commotion on my drive back to OKB that I
finally had a few minutes to think about what could have been the cause...
then I really felt stupid.  If only my emergency procedures went one more
step and I would have tried tweaking the mixture I could have saved myself a
lot of embarrassment..  But when it is time to fly/land the plane, that is
what you have to do.

Sure enough, upon return to the plane I discovered the cold start switch
flipped.  I checked out everything else, ran fine.  Later in the afternoon I
flew it home to OKB from Palomar.  I am so very grateful that extreme
embarrassment is all I suffer.  Thanks for all the support from the GA
community.

--
David Leonard
Turbo Rotary RV-6 N4VY
http://N4VY.RotaryRoster.net <http://n4vy.rotaryroster.net/
http://RotaryRoster.net <http://rotaryroster.net/


I think I saw somebody hugging your wife on TV. Your lucky I don't
put the video on youtube. "Pilot turns off engine by mistake and lands
on street."

Is this where you wound up? How did you get the airplane to Palomar?


Paul Lamar

Thanks, Paul!

Looks like Dave and others with a cold-start switch should have a switch guard on it!

I'm glad it turned out alright for Dave and his mother; if not for general aviation. Dave's postflight interview to the press didn't do us any good.  The interview was, essentially: "I don't know what happened, a good friend of mine just died flying two days ago, and I don't know if I'll fly again."  Of course, Dave's emotions after the landing are understandable; I just wish he hadn't shared them with a television reporter and, thus, the entire nation (the interview was posted online; a Google search found it easily).

Well, anyway, it wasn't the fault of Dave's rotary; it was pilot error, as usual.

I hope to fly or drive up to Santa Paula soon for one of the Sunday open houses and kick a few tires with you and your nearby hangar mates!

Take Care!

Bill Palmer
Chino Hills, CA

I will say he did a masterful job of flying above the cars waiting for
the red light and under said light. There must have been only a few
feet clearance either way.

Also shame on him for being so low in that area.

Paul Lamar