|
|
|
|
Your powered parachute is equipped with a Rotax 2-cycle Ultralight engine. This engine is a derivative of the Rotax-bombardier snowmobile type engine. Snowmobiles have been known to foul plugs creating a rough running, low power producing effect. They sometimes quit unexpectedly. If you were riding a snowmobile and the engine quit you would simply pull over and walk to help or have your buddy take you to help. Well, having the same engine on an aircraft still has the same problems as it does on snowmobiles, only now you have one more step before walking to get help. You have to land safely. The following procedures should be used in the event of an engine or drive train failure.
Having engine failure on takeoff in the powered parachute is generally incident free. If you lose power as you takeoff, simply continue on straight ahead (assuming you are using ample runway length) and push steadily on both foot steering bars at approximately five feet, and land. Never attempt to make abrupt turns below 100’! Make smooth graceful turns if necessary. Turns increase sink rate which in turn increase broken bone rate. Never use flare to shorten take off distance. If the engine quits on take off, you will not have enough flare capability to land safely.
If your engine quits, immediately start looking for a place to land. Land into the wind if at all possible. If you know you can make the landing area you chose and plenty of altitude remains (above 300’), you may want to give the rope a yank or two to see if you can restart. Part of successful flying is constantly surveying the territory below you to determine a safe landing place in case of engine failure. But don’t waste valuable time with restarting the engine unless you are 100% sure you can land in a safe place and have an altitude of more than 300’. Chances are, whatever made your engine stoop cannot be fixed by pulling the rope. Fly the aircraft first. Worry about a restart later. Now you have your field in sight. You are turned into the wind. There are no fences, ravines, boulders, power poles or wires in your glide path. You are ready to land. Start pushing your foot steering bars at approximately 15’. Time it so you have them all the way out just prior to touch down. Keep your back straight and your feet on the pedals. If done properly you are now smiling and climbing out of your undamaged powered parachute. By flaring too much, too soon, you can cause severe damage to the airframe and yourself.
By flaring too little, too late you will probably damage the airframe slightly, but you should be okay. Never flare too high.
We highly recommend you practice these emergency flares before you need them. If you practice emergency landings on a frequent basis a real one will be a non-event. Your ability to land safely when the engine quits requires some advance planning. Always survey the land below you for a landing site. Every minute that you are flying you must have an alternate landing spot picked out. Altitude is your friend. The higher you are, the longer you have to make a decision and the further you can glide to a landing spot. Practice emergency landings. Fly to some point and imagine how far you would be able to glide with the engine out. Now bring the engine back to an idle and try to glide to that spot. An actual landing is not required. Just get an idea how far you can actually go with the engine at an idle. The difference between engine out and idle is very small.
The above procedures are for landing in an ideal emergency field. What if you neglected to leave yourself adequate safety margin and all you have are trees and power lines below? First of all, power lines are not even considered to be an option so eliminate them immediately. Otherwise they will eliminate you. As scary as the trees may look, they are an alternative. The only problems are they tear up your powered parachute and you could get stranded in the top of a big pine for a while. If you can see any low points in the tree line that are within your glide range go for it. Otherwise visualize the tree tops as being the ground. Face into the wind and do a normal emergency flare. As the airframe falls through the tops, cross your arms across your legs and bury your face in your lap. Do not attempt to grab branches as you fall through the tree limbs. The parachute and lines will probably snag in the branches. When everything quits moving and bouncing, slowly look where you are – avoid sudden movements if the airframe is still in a tree. Survey the situation and decide if you can safely climb out and down. Otherwise, stay put until help arrives. When help arrives, disconnect the parachute from the airframe and remove them from the tree separately, rope will be required to do this. Power equipment may be required.
All right, now you’ve landing in an ideal emergency field, missed the power lines, and made a tree landing. What’s next? How about a water landing? Lakes and rivers are very tempting to fly over because they look so open from the air and there are usually lots of people around to show off. However, if you lose an engine over the water, out of glide range of shore, you are not going to sink like a rock, you are going to sink quicker than a rock. Would you consider being dropped into the water strapped to a 179 pound rock? Of course not. That is what it will be like. Avoid flying over large bodies of water and rivers. In the unfortunate event that you do have to set down in a lake deeper than four feet, this is what you should do. You must face into the wind. Parachute lines in the water are worse than being trapped in a weighted fish net. Facing into the wind now, look at your seat belt buckle, see which way you pull it? Do your normal flare. Just as the wheels hit the water, release your seat belt and dive over the front to one side of the wheel and swim away from the parachute and lines. Remove your helmet and goggles if possible. The powered parachute will pitch nose up vertical and sink immediately. If the water is deeper than the length of the lines the powered parachute will disappear completely. Make a mental note of its position by using two shore reference points.
If the water you are flying over is a river and you have an engine failure, events can get pretty hairy fast. If the wind is blowing the same direction of the river flow, face into the wind and do a normal lake landing. If the wind is blowing perpendicular to the river flow, face into the wind and exit the cockpit on the upwind side just as contact is made with the water. If the wind is blowing opposite to the river flow you must decide if the wind is blowing strong enough to carry the parachute from you or if the river current is. A crosswind landing may be your safest choice depending on the wind and river velocity. The object is to avoid the parachute and lines.
The rule of thumb is not to fly over anything that you don’t want to land on. If you must fly over an obstacle, you must have enough altitude to abort short of the obstacle or glide with the engine out completely over with an enough altitude to safely land on the other side. Fly over a lake? Only if you have enough altitude to glide to the other side. Fly over trees? Only if you have a safe landing site close enough. |
|
Email Us at Joe@QuakerStatePoweredParachutes.com with any questions. Email webmaster@QuakerStatePoweredParachutes.com with any problems with the website. Copyright © 2010
Quaker State Powered Parachutes
|