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This is what I was getting at. He may have turned off the auto pilot when he ran a tank out of fuel by mistake. With the motor off and the auto pilot on trying to hold the plane level, you get all srewed up sometimes. This is why the plane went from 5000' to 3000' on radar. I think he turned off the auto pilot and looked down to change the fuel to a full tank and get the motor back started. At night this is not real easy to do in the haze, dark, no motor running, cast on leg and SCARED!!!. You may go from 5000' to 3000'. Now he gets the motor running, the plane climbs alittle, like the radar shows, he is so scared and trying to manage the plane, he forgets to just turn the auto pilot back on, because he has lost control of the plane while doing all this and is trying to fly the plane. I think he would have keep the auto pilot on till final if something else didn't go wrong. He would have had no reason not to. He could have made his turns and decent on final with the auto pilot on. He had about 400 hours flying time, not the 100 everyone thinks. I think he had a 100 hours solo. When they find whats left of the plane, the motor was running at full power, there was fuel on board, and the auto pilot was off. Do any of you Ercoupers know if he had four fuel tanks on the plane he was flying and how much they each hold? Gene Martin Paul Tanzar wrote: ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- I confess to not taking the time to go back and look up the reports, but my recollection is that after examining the wreckage, they noted that the autopilot configuration was consistent with it being off and not in use for that flight. Paul --- "V. Childs" <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- How would the investigators know if he used the auto pilot on the way up or he ran a tank dry? They woundn't. I think he had the auto pilot ON the way up because he was in haze alot of the way at night and would have no reason not to. I think he was almost to the airport and he ran out of fuel, on the fuel tank he took off with. The time of fuel in the tank is close to the hour and a half of the flight. The motor STOPS at 5000' in the DARK! The autopilot go's nuts trying to maintain altitude and level. Alot is happening in the dark! He either turns off auto pilot then turns on the fuel, or he turns on the fuel and then turns off the auto pilot. The plane go's from 5000' to 3000' in this amount o f time. This is what the radar shows. When the motor starts the plane climbs alittle, this is what the radar shows. He lost control of the plane in the dark & haze at this time. I think this is what happened, because he had like a $18,000 auto pilot He had no reason to turn it off, then go to land. He could turn, and go up and down with the auto pilot, he could have left it on almost till he touch down and landed. Wouldn't you? When they find the plane, the motor was running, the plane had fuel, and the auto pilot was off. Noone will really know, it was just a thought. Gene Paul Tanzar wrote: I believe investigators determined that he did not use the autopilot. Some have speculated that was a shame, because the autopilot might have kept him out of trouble. Paul Tanzar N94821 --- "V. Childs" <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- and may have had the auto pilot on, __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com . ================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs http://www.hotjobs.com ================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm . ================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
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