A plane landed in my Yard !!!

Fred W

Pictures and a story:

I had a knock on my door the other day. When I answered, I was told by the visitor that he is a pilot and he had to emergency land his plane in my field. After he assured me that he was OK, we proceeded to the site to check out the situation.





The pilot told me that he was flying along with a second glider. They had both taken off from a local airport about 20 miles away. After about 4 hours, the weather "flipped" resulting in a loss of thermal updraft. Since he couldn't maintain this altitude, he identified my field as an emergency landing strip. We later found out that the other glider did not experience this pilot's downfall since he was able to make radio contact and the other guy was still in the air.




For just a plane with no engine, the cockpit was still outfitted with the latest radio and navigation equipment. (No photography equipment noted.)





I helped him get back to the airport where his truck and trailer were located. When he came back I helped him disassemble this wings and load up the plane on his trailer. All in all, it was an exciting day for me and a VERY lucky day for the pilot.:D

Andy

Great story, post, and outcome. Well done!

Fred W

Andy wrote:

Great story, post, and outcome. Well done!

Thanks Andy,
It's nice when photo opportunities come knocking at the door.:D

mbz

Great.

boogie

WOW! What a story. And a happy ending too.

System

Very cool story. We need more PJ type posts.

ian408

Glad to hear about the happy ending!

firedancing4life

the second picture looks like you can pick it up and throw it.

hahaha

BeachBill

deja vu
Wow, when I saw the title of this post, I had a flashback to 1999. The plane in the attached (1mp 2nd generation digital camera) picture had engine trouble, flew low over our house, clipped a tree, then came down on our small residential street before hitting the curb and flipping to a rest against a light pole. The pilot walked away from this one too. My first inclination that anything had happened was the buzz of several television helicopters hovering above our house. The plane was totalled and they cut the wings off to haul it away on a flatbed truck.

Anyway, you've got some cool pictures there, especially the one showing how the plane comes apart and stores neatly in that trailer.

Fred W

Thanks everyone for your comments. It only took about 30 minutes to disassemble the plane. We were able to it load up just before a rainstorm hit.

ivar

Fred W wrote:

Thanks everyone for your comments. It only took about 30 minutes to disassemble the plane. We were able to it load up just before a rainstorm hit.

This is so cool, to see actually. I've landed in someone's backyard before with something like that (actually about a dozen times or so ) But I have no pictures from it.

Nowadays, there is usually no photographic equipment anymore. For competitions, sealed GPS loggers are used for determining where you have been etc. Not to long ago, we had to make photos of required turning points to prove we past the points (competitions). They were usually mounted, in the direction of the wing. So make sure the tip of the wing hits the point, click the button, and voila!

Great shots! nice to see it all worked out, and noone got hurt.

Skippy

Fred W wrote:

Pictures and a story:

I had a knock on my door the other day. When I answered, I was told by the visitor that he is a pilot and he had to emergency land his plane in my field. After he assured me that he was OK, we proceeded to the site to check out the situation.

The pilot told me that he was flying along with a second glider. They had both taken off from a local airport about 20 miles away. After about 4 hours, the weather "flipped" resulting in a loss of thermal updraft. Since he couldn't maintain this altitude, he identified my field as an emergency landing strip. We later found out that the other glider did not experience this pilot's downfall since he was able to make radio contact and the other guy was still in the air.

For just a plane with no engine, the cockpit was still outfitted with the latest radio and navigation equipment. (No photography equipment noted.)

I helped him get back to the airport where his truck and trailer were located. When he came back I helped him disassemble this wings and load up the plane on his trailer. All in all, it was an exciting day for me and a VERY lucky day for the pilot.:D

I'm so glad no one was injured Fred, what a great story, captured with images, and a nice one to hand down to your grand kids some day
Very kind of you to help the guy out too.
Great series of images too....thanks for sharing.... Skippy (Australia)

Awais Yaqub

Great series

DJKennedy

My turn! (ME ME ME, oh oh oh pick ME!)
Working at the local airport, I occasionally get to see a 'mishap'.



He landed on the crosswind grass strip. While taxiing back he didn't notice a sand filled ditch (for buried lighting cables) and because it was so soft, his gear dug in flipping the plane onto its nose.

Derek

Dee

What a photo opp!
I'm glad everyone was OK and there was no property damage. I was really amazed to see how the plane fit on a trailer!

Fred W

ivar wrote:

This is so cool, to see actually. I've landed in someone's backyard before with something like that (actually about a dozen times or so ) But I have no pictures from it.

Nowadays, there is usually no photographic equipment anymore. For competitions, sealed GPS loggers are used for determining where you have been etc. Not to long ago, we had to make photos of required turning points to prove we past the points (competitions). They were usually mounted, in the direction of the wing. So make sure the tip of the wing hits the point, click the button, and voila!

Great shots! nice to see it all worked out, and noone got hurt.

Thanks Ivar for your description of how these guys navigate and operate. I just thought it would be cool to have camera equipment on board. I didn't realize that they actually use to take credit for their navigation using photos. The pilot actualy used the touch pad shown in the cockpit for radio contact as well as navigation.......that's technology !!!

Also thanks to everyone else for your interest and comments.

ivar

Fred W wrote:

Thanks Ivar for your description of how these guys navigate and operate. I just thought it would be cool to have camera equipment on board. I didn't realize that they actually use to take credit for their navigation using photos. The pilot actualy used the touch pad shown in the cockpit for radio contact as well as navigation.......that's technology !!!

Also thanks to everyone else for your interest and comments.

Yeah, the touch screen you see, is actually a standard PDA, for which you can get the most crazy and cool software for flying. From moving maps, navigation and communication radios.... all doable, very cool.

Other than that, there are actually very few instruments in most gliders, since they usually add a lot of weight. In this case, lighter is better. On the photo you can actually see a radio, altimeter, speed indicator, compass, vertical speed and slip indicator.... that's about it usually. Most navigating is done by use of eyes and a chart.

Some people take cameras when gliding, but especially low altitude you are mainly busy with trying to climb In some countries (like the Netherlands) it is actually illegal to take photos from planes (except for scheduled air transport)

Forehead

I've flown in sailplanes a couple of times, but this one's no cheapie!

Fred W

Forehead wrote:

I've flown in sailplanes a couple of times, but this one's no cheapie!

Hi Steve. You're right about cost. I PS'd the registration #'s off the plane before posting pictures but did an on-line search for information about it. It is a very new model "Schempp-Hirth" glider. The pilot said he had his license for about 5 years and purchased everything new. I couldn't find any information on new plane prices but found a similar (older) plane listed for sale on-line including trailer and accessories with a $75K asking price. I would not be surprised if this guy spent $100K on his equipment. Now I don't feel so bad about spending a few $'s on new camera equipment.

JamieC

Cool story! Oh, and your "back yard" is bigger than my entire neighbourhood!

Jamie

BeachBill

Fred W wrote:

...found a similar (older) plane listed for sale on-line including trailer and accessories with a $75K asking price. I would not be surprised if this guy spent $100K on his equipment. Now I don't feel so bad about spending a few $'s on new camera equipment.

I felt the same way when I saw the price on several woodies that were for sale at the woodie meet I attended a few weeks ago... $175k. And they will sale for that price. In fact, in talking with a person that restores woodies, the cost of the wood only is usually around $50k.