[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > And other member of the Ercoupe Glider Club. Please fill in Your facts > and > return. > > Starting a list: N-number, Who, When, Where & Why >
N3802H, S/N 4503 Pilot: Ed Burkhead Passenger: none Date: Early February, 1979, mid-morning Temperature: -5 degrees Fahrenheit Wind: 30 mph at 90 degrees Fuel line ice. Aircraft had been in and out of shop multiple times for service just before purchase the week before. Airplane tied out, not hangared in previous months. Partial fuel in the tanks. Extended period of VERY cold temperatures. Deduction: water in tanks had frozen in bottom of tanks and did not show up in sump test. Situation, second flight in newly purchased plane. No aircraft type instruction available. This was also second flight since getting private license. Two hour flight with full cabin heat. Ice thawed in tanks, refroze in gascolator (iceberg disk about .8 inches thick that did not block fuel flow) and in metal fitting where header tank fuel line goes through firewall which gradually stopped fuel flow completely. Symptom: Loss of power followed by resumption of power. Periods of lost power got longer, periods of full power got shorter over about 4-8 minute period. Plane became glider. Result: Landed in farm field, no damage. No evening news. Aftermath: Excited farmer, flight instructor, and mechanic (and pilot). Used gas line antifreeze to remove water. Towed plane to highway (200 yards). Checked by mechanic. Did crosswind takeoff (30 mph 90 degree) from highway and flew plane to home airport. Pilot scared more by crosswind takeoff than by forced landing. Lessons: Consider powering engine with primer. Airplanes that encounter the ground in landing attitude and speed take good care of you -- fly the plane first. -- Ed Burkhead Peoria, Ill. Ercoupe N3802H, 415-D --------------------------------- to unsubscribe send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________________________ Want to find the best email lists? Check out the Topica 20! http://www.topica.com/topica20
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