----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----
Cyrus, I would forget about trying to land on a mountain road. I fly around the mountains of Colorado a lot, and a mountain road is one of the last places I am watching for an emergency landing. Most mountain roads, secondary roads, around here are too narrow to get even a Coupe into. They are either tree lined or are shelf roads with a mountain on one side and a drop on the other. I don't think I would ever consider it on a mountain road that I hadn't driven. Take US Highway 50 for example as it crosses Monarch Pass, most of it wouldn't make a useable landing zone. You have a parking lot on the top, the Monarch Ski Area parking lot, and not much else. I not sure I want to try to land on a road with a 6 to 9% grade. The road is dropping almost as fast as you are descending (assuming you are landing in a down hill direction). You might be better off landing up hill and stalling it into the road (hill) and let the landing gears take most of the load. There are a few passing lanes you could do land on, but what about the traffic? If I lose an engine, my plan has been to turn down the valley away from the mountain, and even with a high sink rate the mountain slope is steeper. I may only be 2,000 AGL at the top, but the mountain will drop a good bit in two miles. I may even be able to get down the valley to a straight portion of road or a good field. Next time you drive in your mountain area think about what you would have to do to land your Coupe on the road. Richard N99904 ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/
<<attachment: winmail.dat>>
