From: rmiller@i88.isc.com (Richard J. Miller)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation
Subject: Re: Hinckley Crash
Date: 14 Sep 92 22:14:33 GMT
Article-I.D.: i88.1992Sep14.221433.1781
Organization: INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation, Naperville, IL

in several ways, i am amazed and awed at how Bill and my postings of
this crash have started several different lines of posts that have been
REALLY interesting. the power of the net ...

In article <BuE83F.K5q@ddsw1.mcs.com> karl@ddsw1.mcs.com (Karl Denninger) writes:
...
>A few things of note ...
>1)	It appears they had an engine-out condition at or shortly after
>	take-off.
...
>	from an NTSB person who said "it appears that..."  Of course they
>	don't have proof yet,
...

the question of one engine climb has been answered elsewhere, the NTSB
WILL figure out what happened to the engines. the point everyone should
remember here is that the pilot was NOT trying to climb out, he was
trying to LAND, and he apparently lost it on short final.

>
>2)	The gear looked DOWN.  ...
>	Isn't it standard procedure, in the case of an engine out, to do
>	>everything< possible to lessen drag?  I would think that one of the
>	first orders of business is to hit the "gear up" switch -- right
>	after increasing power on the remaining (good) engine!

again, he was LANDING. why increase the workload of handling a very
marginal airplane by trying to raise the gear, which very likely is
NOT a simple electrical switch but much more likely is a rather long
handle (Johnson bar) on the floor in the middle of the cockpit?

>3)	They got about 3 miles from the field before snowballing it.  This 
>	means that they had at least a minute and a half, and probably more,
>	from take-off before buying the farm.  This a quite a good bit of
>	time to assess the situation and attempt corrective action or at
>	least keep everyone in one piece if you can't save the airframe.
>	Further, if the pilot had selected gear up this is plenty of time
>	for it to retract.

have you ever tried to handle an injured twin? he probably had his hands
full. he had time to warn his passengers as they were clustered in
protective positions (incidentally, doesn't the seat belt rule include
the phrase "if equipped"?), but i wouldn't have even considered looking at
the gear. he knew he was not going to make the runway, that he was going
to land directly (more or less) below where he lost the engine.

>4)	They really couldn't have picked a better landing site for an
>	emergency landing.  A soybean field with no obstructions is about
>	as good as you can ask for; however, this >really< drills home 
>	the question about the landing gear -- coming into a tilled farm 
>	field wouldn't it be suicidal to attempt to land on the wheels?
...

i have walked those fields, and landed sailplanes in those fields. at
this time of year, they are pretty hard. and in very high beans. there
is some speculation that the beans caught the wing and caused the
cartwheel. i would much rather land on wheel than on the belly,
especially with as much fuel on board as he had. my feeling is that he
needed the gear to land on that field.

>5)	Finally, it would appear that they never really "landed".  Witnesses
>	on the ground said that the plane was "staggering" and didn't look
>	much in control; then, at less than 30' altitude, one wing dropped
>	and caught the ground, cartwheeling the plane which then exploded.

the one good eye witness i heard said that he was slow. it seems that
he lost it at the very end of a valiant attempt to save his aircraft.
it may have been MUCH lower than 30 feet seeing as his span is only about
that long and no witnesses were close enough to get a good estimate of
altitude.

much of what i have said here is shared by the aviation types around the
western Chicago suburbs. Hinckley is a wonderful little airport with
glider and jumping operations. i know several people who fly gliders
there and several others who were close friends with victims of that crash.
i have also received email from at least one active Hinckley jumper.

when looking for the CAUSE of a crash, you have to be coldly analytical.
when looking at the RESULT of a crash, it is very hard to feel anything
except pain. but life continues, we need to learn the lessons to avoid
repeating them.

Rich Miller
Chicago Glider Club
rmiller@i88.isc.com
Newsgroups: rec.aviation