• Welcome aboard HomebuiltAirplanes.com, your destination for connecting with a thriving community of more than 10,000 active members, all passionate about home-built aviation. Dive into our comprehensive repository of knowledge, exchange technical insights, arrange get-togethers, and trade aircrafts/parts with like-minded enthusiasts. Unearth a wide-ranging collection of general and kit plane aviation subjects, enriched with engaging imagery, in-depth technical manuals, and rare archives.

    For a nominal fee of $99.99/year or $12.99/month, you can immerse yourself in this dynamic community and unparalleled treasure-trove of aviation knowledge.

    Embark on your journey now!

    Click Here to Become a Premium Member and Experience Homebuilt Airplanes to the Fullest!

First Flight Planning

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
T

Tinbuzzard

One of the more dangerous areas of aviation is first flight testing of homebuilts. Most accidents or problems occur during the first few hours of a homebuilt airplanes life. There are many good guides for how to go about this in as safe a manner as possible, but I wanted to relate a few procedures that served me well as I began testing my BD-5.

Before my first flight, I practiced it several times in another aircraft. This meant flying the whole profile, including note taking, stability checks and planned emergency procedures. This was to fix in my mind my planned activities and alternatives so that I wouldn't waste time in the air trying to remember all of them. Also, having the plan in my memory, rather than on paper, would keep my concentration on the plane. In the case of my BD, I used a Grumman AA1-B, as it has somewhat similar flying characteristics.

I had also decided before the flight to stay in the pattern, and not to try a restart if the engine quit. (the plane has a two-stroke) I felt that flying the plane was far more important than burying my head in the cockpit diagnosing an engine problem. I chose several landing sites based on possible failures at various points in the flight. (if it quits here, land there; and so on)

At times, I admit that I felt a bit anal about all of these preparations. But this is what actually happened on my first flight in June of 97.

I made a normal takeoff after having waited a good fifteen minutes for traffic. (busy weekend) This meant that I had lots of time to think about the folly of flying a BD-5, and was good and nervous when I finally went.
I was way behind the plane on climbout, and took a good ten seconds to realize that I was airborne and had to DO something! (my first airborne thought: "I'm high enough to hurt myself"!!) I started a pitch stability test, checked engine temps, and generally caught up with what I was supposed to be doing. I turned crosswind and thought "This flies great! It's fun." I started turning downwind in high spirits, and had the engine quit just as I rolled wings level (vaporlock as it turned out) My practice took over and I turned toward the previously chosen cross runway landing site for that point in the flight. I said the magic word "****", then I keyed the mic and said the second magic word "mayday" , and was on the ground some ninety seconds after takeoff.

I strongly feel that my preflight planning allowed me to automatically make the right decision without wasting time, and possibly getting into a position where I might not have been able to effect a safe landing.
Bottom line, I was safely back on the ground with all afternoon to diagnose the engine stoppage. If I had fiddled with it in flight, I might have flown past a good landing spot and gotten too low to find another, or even stalled the plane with my head buried in the cockpit. (BDs pitch UP with engine failure)

I'm not trying to show how lucky or daring I was, but that careful preflight planning could turn a panic situation into a near non-event like I had, or even save your life!


Jeff
 
Back
Top