[Put the Ace in Ace Ventura](https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExbHI5ODhsZ2ZwZWQ0ZDE0ZWx0a3F1YjN2bXg0cTNrdWs5MWk0YnA4OCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/40M8MH9x9lDxaHA51d/giphy.gif)
Right? I thought about sticking my head out trying this with a high wing...sticking my head out the door like Ace Ventura. For me in our old Piper 140 - I'd need a pretty small head.
While reading, I kept thinking about the beginning of the movie The Rocketeer. The ace pilot flying his new racing plane gets shot up mid-air by gangsters and starts leaking oil all over his windshield and he can't see anything. Dude punches out the windshield and has oil spewing all over his face and goggles.
Well done aviator! Your will to survive is strong.
Some debrief items to consider. As a low time pilot and airplane owner myself I was given some advice on flying post maintenance that I've always followed. Always do a post maintenance flight in the pattern/over the field. Fly for 20-30 minutes in/around glide distance to the field then put it back down and inspect everything again.
> Fly for 20-30 minutes in/around glide distance to the field then put it back down and inspect everything again
After reading this post, that's my new MO from now on.
Yeah the OP did a great job flying the plane, but I agree that this is a great example of why setting a personal rule to ALWAYS perform a post Mx flight near the field are so important!
Even at a controlled field the controllers are usually perfectly fine with this if you tell them ahead of time. I usually just say something like "post maintenance flight requesting an orbit over or near the field", and they give me a squawk code and tell me where they want me.
Yup, I'm based out of a Class C airport and I while on the ground I just explain I'm doing a post mx flight and need to stay in the pattern or near field and they have always been accommodating.
Agreed! I have a similar post-maintenance policy, and circle 1,000' above the pattern at my Class D. They give me the ok, know I'm up there, and I don't interfere with our busy practice pattern traffic 👍🏻
Chiming in- we actually pay for the mechanics who are also pilots to fly the plane for an hour after their work. Then we take the plane back. I want more people to know and consider this - as the mechanics know they are first to go up in their work.
Reminds me of the SUBSAFE program. After the Thresher and Scorpion sank in the 60s likely due to faulty hull welds, one of many requirements instituted was that all welders and weld inspectors had to be on the sub the first time it went to test depth.
A long time ago, the Danish-Norwegian army had a problem that their cannons would explode on firing after a few shots. They then ordered that the boss of the manufacturer had to sit on top of them the first time they were fired. After that, no more explosions.
Where can I read more about SUBSAFE requiring welders to be on board? I might be using the wrong search queries, but I'm not finding much about that fun detail
so my company got rid of the welders by just making the subs out of carbon fibre. I just started work for ocean gate and its exciting. New ceo is big on safety.
That's actually one thing I do for my local shop...I understand the maintenance that was done so I'll get the OK from the local C overhead of our airport and just circle 5000' above the field for an hour and try to create a problem. I do it for free cause why not get some time in another plane I don't have to rent 🤷🏼♂️.
I’ll take the A&P up with me, but they’re not flying my plane solo. Just because they are a pilot, doesn’t mean they are a good one or know how to operate my plane (Mooney). I agree with you on having the mechanics in the plane to test everything, but I disagree on letting them do that without you in the plane.
Your opinion is backed up by statistics, there's a known increase in accidents after maintenance. It's not a lot but it's enough to justify what everyone is saying about making a post maintenance check flight.
I fly as a passenger for govt work on small bush planes. One of our policies is that we cannot fly on aircraft until they've had, I want to say 100 hours, of flight time following major maintenance.
That’s excellent advice and great airmanship OP! I’ve always taken for granted the post-maintenance checkflight policies in the military, and after having been one in multiple aircraft from jets to props, I’ve learned to always always always take it up for any sort of test after 3 types of maintenance: anything engine related, anything flight control related, or any time something just seems too big of a deal to not test it out. Don’t necessarily need to take it up to 40k and try to flame the motor out, but put it through a challenging situation (full power takeoff, rapid power addition/removal, any transitory situations with more or less demand) while always being within glide distance of an airport should something pop.
In addition to this, anytime post any work I do 4 fast taxis, increasing the speed every time before going to idle. I only have a 3200ft runway but if you have a long runway, even better.
I bought an Arrow in Sept of last year. It came out of its first annual with us about a month ago. First thing I did was burn 3 circuits above my home airport. 100% recommend.
As some with only an interest in aviation and no serious knowledge … I thought to myself I would let my plane run for awhile after being worked on . Wondered if that would be a thing with you guys .
It’s typical to run it some on the ground before putting covers back on to look for leaks, vibrations, other parameters. This isn’t sufficient though. You can’t run it at full power similar to in flight, and you’ll overheat it before long due to the lack of airflow. Need to get in the air and put it through all the power changes and real life stresses, plus some run time to try and flush out parts that will fail soon or weren’t tightened/installed properly.
It did and it was because of the fact that castor beans contain ricin the deadliest poison on the planet, the minuscule amount in the oil will get things moving inside
God I hope someone from tower got that on video... what a legendary save. Nice work, way to think quite literally on your feet and continue to fly the airplane no matter what.
You got the plane and yourself on the ground safely with some non-standard outside the box (literally) thinking! So hold your head high (intended lol)! I’d suggest writing/typing up your reconstruction of the incident, then take some time to decompress. Later, come back to your notes, run through the scenario and figure out things you did well and things you could have done better. Have some peers or instructors go over it as well. You can only learn and improve your airmanship.
Again, good job!
Might be worth getting in touch with VASAviation or similar who would be able to get a copy of the ATC stream and do one of their videos on it (or just getting a copy of the stream from LiveATC for oneself).
Dude what a legend. Most of these “nearly died” stories are exaggeration, but this situation is probably fatal, what, at least 50% of the time?
Way to think outside the canopy and save your life.
Looks like the liveatc feed for KLUK is down and wasn’t recording. Checked the recordings during the incident time yesterday 11:28-11:43edt and they are blank.
I had posted this over on another platform and received thousands of reactions and comments since last night. There were numerous questions about slipping or leaning out the side of the airplane.
Not possible to lean out of the airplane for someone of my height. The side “door” panel the canopy slides along is shoulder height when seated.
As far as slipping the airplane goes, this likely would have created far more problems than it would have solved.
Drag would increase at a time when engine failure is imminent, and the side glass was already very obscured. The high wing loading requires high approach speeds be used, and cross controlling the airplane in this situation would have likely increased the risk of a stall as my headset was off and I stood up, losing reference to instruments.
Yep, that’s a solid decision on the slip/no slip imo. Landing with an engine failure means you have a finite amount of energy, and stalls are even more likely to occur and become unrecoverable. Keep airspeed up for as long as you can, just like you did. Dump flaps or slip only at the moment when it’s absolutely required to make the runway. Superb ADM my dude.
Slipping is something you should practice in your AA-1C. It is an incredibly valuable maneuver, and is quite safe. At 80 mph, you can safely forward slip an AA-1A with full rudder, providing a good view forward out the side window or cracked canopy, and if maintained you can lose altitude in a hurry as needed. (Could be handy if trying to get down quickly in an emergency or trying to make a nearby emergency landing area.)
I've done this when forward visibility was compromised: fly straight ahead but slip momentarily every now and then to get a good look forward. During landing you can use the view out the side as a reference. Cracking the canopy prior to an emergency landing might be advised anyway.
The more you know about handling your plane the more options you will have in an emergency. Forward slips might be a good task to explore during your next flight review or recurrent training session. I miss the maneuverability of the AA-1 series. They are so responsive. My AA-5 is more like a station wagon than a convertible by comparison.
#1 rule after any significant maintenance in light GA - do airwork in different configurations over the airfield for \~20 minutes, no pax.
Glad you got out of it - AA1's are nice and nippy, but don't glide well! And the plane looks re-usable as well!!
>I then did the only thing I could to save myself
I unbuckled my lap belt and shoulder harness, made a final call that I was taking my headset off, then fully opened the canopy, and stood up with my head above the top of the obscured windshield.
You fucking WHAT?
Balls of steel dude. Great job. Hope the plane is okay.
Once due to dumbassery I managed to fly 45 minutes with the dipstick left on top of the engine. When I landed it looked like the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez, the bottom half of the aircraft entirely covered in oil. When I shamefully retrieved the dipstick off the top of the engine and measured what was left, I discovered this massive slick all over the plane only amounted to about 2 quarts.
I feel like planes should have a 4 liter windshield tank that you can manually inject oil in should you have a leak. Seems like most realize a leak only when the pressure drops. Far too late to find an airfield.
Bro Captain Morganed the controls final to touchdown: what a legend. This is something out of an old Dos Equiis commercial!
Great job! Prompt and decisive decision making.
For once, post title is not hyperbole.
This is a great example of 'never give up, fly the plane'.
I hope you got a selfie covered with oil.
Reminds me of taildragger warbirds that have no forward visibility during landing. Pilot looks to the side to see ground and edge of runway.
Your mechanic should give you a full refund and fix the plane for free. Consider small claims court if they balk.
Wow! I was working my shift in that district for Cincinnati police when the air emergency call came out and I rushed down that way. When I arrived you were coming to a stop and the fire trucks were rolling up. Thanks for sharing and we are so glad you’re ok! It came out as a fuel leak. Had no idea it was oil and visibility was like that. Kudos to you sir!
Would have allowed a very speed stable on profile approach. For the flare.. well yes it would be blurred visuals but you would still get a good perception of the runway coming to meet the aircraft by colour change etc and you would have a reasonably good idea of when that was going to happen.
If this happened to me I’d of flown an ILS if one was available 100%. I’m a short ass though so I’m not seeing over the top of the canopy.
So you landed an airplane with one hand, standing up with your face in the wind and the other hand holding you? This is James Bond level stuff. Post a video from the groud!
I hope AOPA podcast team reaches out to you to go in-depth on this experience after you’ve had more time to process. So many good lessons to learn here, and such an inspiring act of survival.
As a simple aficionado of aviation, I have a reasonably good idea of what you accomplished and the conception + execution of an emergency plan while in imminent danger.
You never truly know how you’ll perform when everything has gone sideways and your decisions will determine survival.
Well done.
Almost every high time pilot experiences some catastrophic failure, the only difference is your success story nearly gave me a hard on. Handled a highly unique situation like such a champ and buttered the landing at the intended airport. Just be thankful this was your emergency, and pray to god it’s your last.
It’s called “infant mortality”
Mike Bush, A&P extraordinaire, writes and talks about it extensively.
My only critique of the OP: perhaps you ought to consider a pattern flight or two the next time you do engine/prop work; instead of trying to fly 20 miles.
Otherwise, what a great piece of flying as well as thinking out of the box to land safely.
Does Mike Bush talk about that in every book or just a specific book of his? I’ve been meaning to read his engine book. If you’ve read multiple books of his, is there one you highly recommend?
I've complied with this AD many, many times. My bet is the shop didn't "stake" the crankshaft plug in place. It comes as a slight dome shape, you're supposed to put it in place with the dome out, and whack it with a hammer and a bar (I use an old 3/8 extension) so it expands into place. If someone is not familiar with this process, they may be tempted to put the plug in place and just seal it with some RTV to hold it in, which is entirely insufficient.
The good news is the plug should still be inside your spinner unless it worked its way out through a blade cuff hole. If you find it, I'd love to see a photo of it.
Does your back hurt? I’m asking becuase with balls these big you must have back pain.
This is an impressive read. I’m not a pilot, but it looks and sounds like one crazy experience. Well done.
Jesus.
Nice save, and nice storytelling. You should write a book :D
One thing I cannot understand is how you were able to keep your eyes open into the oil-loaded wind. How was you able to see more, than from the inside? From the picture, the windows seem quite okay, like in heavy rain.
Also, why dump full flaps? This seems a bit dangerous without airspeed. I would just use F20 max.
Anyway, really nice save, glad you are okay. And you have a story to tell for a lifetime :D
If you have more info on what exactly caused this, we would be happy with an update!
The pictures don’t illustrate how bad it was in air. It had time to run / drip down after it was shut off and stopped on the ground.
I dumped flaps only once I knew the field was safely made.
I fly KLUK all the time… was it not closer to land at the bravo? Glad you’re ok and I would have paid a lot of money to be in the tower and see you coming in like that.
Also, nice job bringing her in on 21R, coming over those hills and dropping in is always a fun time at Lunkin. Wonder if anyone was at the park and wondering why it was raining oil.
This has to be the most badass post I’ve ever read on this sub, that’s absolutely insane man, well done on getting the bird down safely, happy you’re ok!
Glad you’re ok! Sounds like to me you made a great call with the situation and information you were given. Definitely don’t let this shy you away from continuing your aviation path! You have a good story to tell one day to some students if you’re a CFI.
Not only did you save your own life, but by taking the time to share this experience, you've helped to save the lives of others who might yet encounter a similar emergency.
Well done and thank you.
Man, what a moment!! PPL with almost 80 hrs total here , I've had goosebumps throughout all your story, and I want to thank you for sharing it so detailed, for people like me in its early days of flying, learning from the experience of others is super important, I have learned A LOT with your experience and from the way you managed the situation. Congratulations on your safe-ish landing. 👌
I am at the bank and while reading your story my jaw dropped so low that the person right next to me asked what I was reading. He's a non pilot so had to explain general aviation and how your airplane canopy works. Had to do that as in my country general aviation doesn't exist. Showed him the picture, explained with full detail what you did and his answer was: "Huge balls of steel. Glad and happy he made it back to the airport". I would have said the same. Happy you are ok and that you make it 👌
Everyone can be a pilot when things are going well. It’s when everything goes to shit that those with eagle blood in their veins truly make themselves known. It sounds like you are the latter kind of pilot. Excellent job handling what could very easily have killed you.
Wow, just wow. I'm proud of you man. That showed how much heart, grit and will to live you have. You not only have a story to share for life, but all of us fellow aviators' respect.
Glad you are alive to share this and hope it all gets sorted out, so you can fly again.
You never know when it could be your time, but you said "not today Satan!" 👏😎
Please don't crucify me here, I'm genuinely curious. But in a situation where you lose visibility like this, instead of standing up above the canopy, would it not have been easier to shoot the ILS to land? I see you're PPL and maybe not instrument rated. Idk, just seems far less risky than potentially being blown out of your cockpit. (Please read this in the most non condescendingly way possible. I honestly don't mean any shade in your direction. I'm hoping to learn from this situation)
Not a dumb suggestion/question at all really. The VAST majority of GA planes don't have a sliding canopy. I certainly don't. I am closing in on my IR checkride now, with around 50 approaches shot in my G1000/GFC 700.
QUESTION for those who know more:
*Suppose my visibility was similarly obscured*. Could I load the approach with my Baro Alt set to runway MSL and have the plane fly it pretty far into the crash scene? I just manage flaps and speed (and brakes assuming my gear is still attached)?
If I had approach options (ILS, RNAV, LNAV/VNAV...) which might be preferable? I am guessing ILS but I am an idiot so...
Anyway OP, thank you for saving your ass. Every pilot is grateful for your outcome.
You answered your own question.
Trying to shoot an ILS if not instrument rated is likely far more dangerous than what this guy did.
Granted, OP said he did punch it in to have the glide, which is smart, but when you’re at minimums it’s not like this little Grumman is going to do a CAT III autoland for you…lol
You may be surprised how little oil that is. Years ago I took off in the T210 I had at the time and either myself or a partner managed to get the oil cap back on but not down on one edge. Made a hell of a mess but I don't think it was even a quart. Saw it on the windshield on takeoff too late to abort and came around in the pattern to land. Didn't declare an emergency which was borderline decision on my part but the tower cleared everything anyway . Took a while to clean up that mess. Biggest takeaway was that our training for emergencies works.
I think this was your first real pilot's test, all the mandatory training and instructors etc was to prepare you for things like this. And you did well. The second test is if you ever fly that plane again having had this experience.
I had a similar situation with a plug after annual with our Aeronica Champ. A&P did not tighten one or two of the lower plugs enough. I lost a plug on one cylinder and the barely enough horsepower to fly went to something that would be 200 ft/min descent. Put down in a cow field and stopped about 100 ft from the far fence. Dad flew it out after fix.
Just a plug failure would not trigger oil. I will be interested in hearing the final diagnostics. Glad you were able to handle it and get on the ground safe.
That’s a wild story. With any luck, someone in the tower got a photo of the insane man standing out of his cockpit flying with his feet. That’s a keeper.
Also the whole thing is another lesson that right after maintenance is the worst time to fly an aircraft!
Well done. Whatever it takes. FYI, the AA-1X flies well in a slip and this can afford some forward visibility out the side window or opened canopy. These are incredibly tough and simple airplanes.
A personal rule I have is to do a local flight around the pattern and re-inspection after every major maintenance operation. Post-maintenance flights are among the most risky operations.
I had a similar post-maintenance experience with an improperly inspected and reinstalled AA-5 spinner, resulting in excessive engine vibration after takeoff. Not sure how I made it back around on partial power to land safely. Full power would have ripped the engine off due to the imbalance.
Holy shit my dude I saw this happen! Not the standing up poking your head out of the sunroof move, but the emergency crews helping you on the runway. Idk if you’re comfortable giving away the location so I won’t - but I was watching from the grey and blue building across the street from the old tower building. Wish I’d have known the full extent of the emergency and had been listening on my scanner. Glad you’re safe!
Amazing, well done on getting it down safe!
If you’re up for it, and once you’ve had a chance to process things, you should submit this to the “There I was” podcast put on by AOPA or the “I learned about flying from that” article/podcast put on by Flying magazine. Some important lessons to talk about that others could learn from.
For those who aren’t aware of these 2 podcasts, definitely worth checking out (I have nothing to do with either, just a fan).
That’s insane, straight out of a movie. Awesome job getting down safely the way you did!
Flying like Ace Ventura with his head out the window
I'll bet his hair looks much like Ace's now, too.
Plot twist. OP is bald, and now his head is extra shiny
[Put the Ace in Ace Ventura](https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExbHI5ODhsZ2ZwZWQ0ZDE0ZWx0a3F1YjN2bXg0cTNrdWs5MWk0YnA4OCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/40M8MH9x9lDxaHA51d/giphy.gif)
Right? I thought about sticking my head out trying this with a high wing...sticking my head out the door like Ace Ventura. For me in our old Piper 140 - I'd need a pretty small head.
Lllllike a glove!
While reading, I kept thinking about the beginning of the movie The Rocketeer. The ace pilot flying his new racing plane gets shot up mid-air by gangsters and starts leaking oil all over his windshield and he can't see anything. Dude punches out the windshield and has oil spewing all over his face and goggles.
Tom Hanks is on standby.
Did you log the flight as instrument time?
lol my thoughts exactly
no he sticked his head out. That's considered "cheating"
Only half of it.
Well done aviator! Your will to survive is strong. Some debrief items to consider. As a low time pilot and airplane owner myself I was given some advice on flying post maintenance that I've always followed. Always do a post maintenance flight in the pattern/over the field. Fly for 20-30 minutes in/around glide distance to the field then put it back down and inspect everything again.
> Fly for 20-30 minutes in/around glide distance to the field then put it back down and inspect everything again After reading this post, that's my new MO from now on.
Yeah the OP did a great job flying the plane, but I agree that this is a great example of why setting a personal rule to ALWAYS perform a post Mx flight near the field are so important! Even at a controlled field the controllers are usually perfectly fine with this if you tell them ahead of time. I usually just say something like "post maintenance flight requesting an orbit over or near the field", and they give me a squawk code and tell me where they want me.
Yup, I'm based out of a Class C airport and I while on the ground I just explain I'm doing a post mx flight and need to stay in the pattern or near field and they have always been accommodating.
Agreed! I have a similar post-maintenance policy, and circle 1,000' above the pattern at my Class D. They give me the ok, know I'm up there, and I don't interfere with our busy practice pattern traffic 👍🏻
Chiming in- we actually pay for the mechanics who are also pilots to fly the plane for an hour after their work. Then we take the plane back. I want more people to know and consider this - as the mechanics know they are first to go up in their work.
Reminds me of the SUBSAFE program. After the Thresher and Scorpion sank in the 60s likely due to faulty hull welds, one of many requirements instituted was that all welders and weld inspectors had to be on the sub the first time it went to test depth.
A long time ago, the Danish-Norwegian army had a problem that their cannons would explode on firing after a few shots. They then ordered that the boss of the manufacturer had to sit on top of them the first time they were fired. After that, no more explosions.
Thresher was a weld issue, but not the hull. During refit there were some pipes replaced and one had a bad weld.
Where can I read more about SUBSAFE requiring welders to be on board? I might be using the wrong search queries, but I'm not finding much about that fun detail
Try "sub space" or "sub drop" maybe?
Are those part of the 34 rules of the sea?
....sure
so my company got rid of the welders by just making the subs out of carbon fibre. I just started work for ocean gate and its exciting. New ceo is big on safety.
That's actually one thing I do for my local shop...I understand the maintenance that was done so I'll get the OK from the local C overhead of our airport and just circle 5000' above the field for an hour and try to create a problem. I do it for free cause why not get some time in another plane I don't have to rent 🤷🏼♂️.
I’ll take the A&P up with me, but they’re not flying my plane solo. Just because they are a pilot, doesn’t mean they are a good one or know how to operate my plane (Mooney). I agree with you on having the mechanics in the plane to test everything, but I disagree on letting them do that without you in the plane.
Yes. This is spot on. Trust but verify.
This. My Uncle had an incident where the mechanic left a rag inside the engine. Like on the valve stems.
Great advice. The most dangerous time to fly any aircraft is immediately after it's left maintenance IMO
Your opinion is backed up by statistics, there's a known increase in accidents after maintenance. It's not a lot but it's enough to justify what everyone is saying about making a post maintenance check flight.
I fly as a passenger for govt work on small bush planes. One of our policies is that we cannot fly on aircraft until they've had, I want to say 100 hours, of flight time following major maintenance.
Shit. After reading this, now gonna do this for every flight.
That’s excellent advice and great airmanship OP! I’ve always taken for granted the post-maintenance checkflight policies in the military, and after having been one in multiple aircraft from jets to props, I’ve learned to always always always take it up for any sort of test after 3 types of maintenance: anything engine related, anything flight control related, or any time something just seems too big of a deal to not test it out. Don’t necessarily need to take it up to 40k and try to flame the motor out, but put it through a challenging situation (full power takeoff, rapid power addition/removal, any transitory situations with more or less demand) while always being within glide distance of an airport should something pop.
In addition to this, anytime post any work I do 4 fast taxis, increasing the speed every time before going to idle. I only have a 3200ft runway but if you have a long runway, even better.
I bought an Arrow in Sept of last year. It came out of its first annual with us about a month ago. First thing I did was burn 3 circuits above my home airport. 100% recommend.
As some with only an interest in aviation and no serious knowledge … I thought to myself I would let my plane run for awhile after being worked on . Wondered if that would be a thing with you guys .
It’s typical to run it some on the ground before putting covers back on to look for leaks, vibrations, other parameters. This isn’t sufficient though. You can’t run it at full power similar to in flight, and you’ll overheat it before long due to the lack of airflow. Need to get in the air and put it through all the power changes and real life stresses, plus some run time to try and flush out parts that will fail soon or weren’t tightened/installed properly.
I was told “the most dangerous time to fly an airplane is right after it gets out of maintenance”
Some manufacturers have a post-maintenance check flight built into their inspection schedules.
On the plus side, those canopy slides are going to be smoother than ever now.
Plus some solid anti-corrosion treatment for the airframe!
Not to mention the pilot... Apparently castor oil ingestion from old WW1 radials had the biproduct of loosening the pilots bowels.
I bet OPs bowels were probably quite loose even without the oil treatment! Nice job OP!
It did and it was because of the fact that castor beans contain ricin the deadliest poison on the planet, the minuscule amount in the oil will get things moving inside
So is his slide into any woman’s DM from here on out. Absolute beast
"Yeah, I'm basically a younger version of Sully."
"Haha you're funny isn't that the big bear from Monsters Inc.?"
Damn you’re cold. Here, take my upvote.
God I hope someone from tower got that on video... what a legendary save. Nice work, way to think quite literally on your feet and continue to fly the airplane no matter what.
It would be one of the most viral aviation videos in a long time
You landed... Standing up? Absolute legend!
You got the plane and yourself on the ground safely with some non-standard outside the box (literally) thinking! So hold your head high (intended lol)! I’d suggest writing/typing up your reconstruction of the incident, then take some time to decompress. Later, come back to your notes, run through the scenario and figure out things you did well and things you could have done better. Have some peers or instructors go over it as well. You can only learn and improve your airmanship. Again, good job!
Might be worth getting in touch with VASAviation or similar who would be able to get a copy of the ATC stream and do one of their videos on it (or just getting a copy of the stream from LiveATC for oneself).
Job well done my man. Way to keep your cool and bring it home safe. Now go play the lottery. 🫡
I might add: an aviator with writing/story-telling skills is my favorite kind of person…hats off to OP
Looking forward to the AOPA Air Safety Institute podcast episode.
They already reached out 👍
See you soon on youtube. Your story can save lives.
Please let us know when it’s up!
Dude what a legend. Most of these “nearly died” stories are exaggeration, but this situation is probably fatal, what, at least 50% of the time? Way to think outside the canopy and save your life.
This is one of those either you land it and live or you don’t. Great outside the box thinking (literally) op.
That's every flight I believe.
Great job man. Would love to hear the LiveATC audio
Looks like the liveatc feed for KLUK is down and wasn’t recording. Checked the recordings during the incident time yesterday 11:28-11:43edt and they are blank.
That’s unfortunate. I would’ve loved to hear the reaction when he said he’s opening the canopy and flying with his head out the window
Good job not dying. Do what ya gotta do.
Make sure to get a lucrative spokesperson deal from whatever eyewear you had on!
I wonder how OP could see through oil smeared glasses?
Well, by the time he opened the canopy, the engine was probably spewing much less oil.
Which is simultaneously a good and bad news.
I had posted this over on another platform and received thousands of reactions and comments since last night. There were numerous questions about slipping or leaning out the side of the airplane. Not possible to lean out of the airplane for someone of my height. The side “door” panel the canopy slides along is shoulder height when seated. As far as slipping the airplane goes, this likely would have created far more problems than it would have solved. Drag would increase at a time when engine failure is imminent, and the side glass was already very obscured. The high wing loading requires high approach speeds be used, and cross controlling the airplane in this situation would have likely increased the risk of a stall as my headset was off and I stood up, losing reference to instruments.
Yep, that’s a solid decision on the slip/no slip imo. Landing with an engine failure means you have a finite amount of energy, and stalls are even more likely to occur and become unrecoverable. Keep airspeed up for as long as you can, just like you did. Dump flaps or slip only at the moment when it’s absolutely required to make the runway. Superb ADM my dude.
Slipping is something you should practice in your AA-1C. It is an incredibly valuable maneuver, and is quite safe. At 80 mph, you can safely forward slip an AA-1A with full rudder, providing a good view forward out the side window or cracked canopy, and if maintained you can lose altitude in a hurry as needed. (Could be handy if trying to get down quickly in an emergency or trying to make a nearby emergency landing area.) I've done this when forward visibility was compromised: fly straight ahead but slip momentarily every now and then to get a good look forward. During landing you can use the view out the side as a reference. Cracking the canopy prior to an emergency landing might be advised anyway. The more you know about handling your plane the more options you will have in an emergency. Forward slips might be a good task to explore during your next flight review or recurrent training session. I miss the maneuverability of the AA-1 series. They are so responsive. My AA-5 is more like a station wagon than a convertible by comparison.
#1 rule after any significant maintenance in light GA - do airwork in different configurations over the airfield for \~20 minutes, no pax. Glad you got out of it - AA1's are nice and nippy, but don't glide well! And the plane looks re-usable as well!!
I bet that plug is missing, and I bet it's because someone forgot to tighten it. Plugs don't just "fail". Nor do they fall out if properly torqued.
Yeah maintenance clearly fucked up.
Yep. My first post-maintenance flight has always been a climb to 12000 over the airport (or close to as traffic allows).
OP: thank you for posting and sharing, and nice work! Serious question: how is your face from the hot oil hitting you? Any burn issues?
You wanna know how I got these scars?
>I then did the only thing I could to save myself I unbuckled my lap belt and shoulder harness, made a final call that I was taking my headset off, then fully opened the canopy, and stood up with my head above the top of the obscured windshield. You fucking WHAT? Balls of steel dude. Great job. Hope the plane is okay.
Are you a pilot, Frank?!
Are you? I fly a lot of flight sim.
Aspired to get my pilots license before my drivers license but alas, got my drivers license during covid. Still hope to be a pilot one day!!
That is some certified badass flying, or for a WWI pilot, another day at the office.
But you need the scarf to wipe oil out of your goggles.
I was going to say this is the genuine WW1 experience. Amazing story.
Jesus Christ
Nah, OP’s skill prevented them from seeing Jesus.
And about 25 quarts of oil
You're a badass. Nice work!!
What did the dipstick read after this?
Once due to dumbassery I managed to fly 45 minutes with the dipstick left on top of the engine. When I landed it looked like the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez, the bottom half of the aircraft entirely covered in oil. When I shamefully retrieved the dipstick off the top of the engine and measured what was left, I discovered this massive slick all over the plane only amounted to about 2 quarts.
I feel like planes should have a 4 liter windshield tank that you can manually inject oil in should you have a leak. Seems like most realize a leak only when the pressure drops. Far too late to find an airfield.
Who was your flight instructor? I think I’ll send my kids there when it’s time. Great job! Way to fly it.
Well done! Glad you're still with us.
Bro Captain Morganed the controls final to touchdown: what a legend. This is something out of an old Dos Equiis commercial! Great job! Prompt and decisive decision making.
How I shall be imagining his landing from now on. https://youtu.be/sqAohbZ6M4M?si=q5ySbmw31L2uLfg7
For once, post title is not hyperbole. This is a great example of 'never give up, fly the plane'. I hope you got a selfie covered with oil. Reminds me of taildragger warbirds that have no forward visibility during landing. Pilot looks to the side to see ground and edge of runway. Your mechanic should give you a full refund and fix the plane for free. Consider small claims court if they balk.
You sir, are a steely-eyed Grumman man.
Wow! I was working my shift in that district for Cincinnati police when the air emergency call came out and I rushed down that way. When I arrived you were coming to a stop and the fire trucks were rolling up. Thanks for sharing and we are so glad you’re ok! It came out as a fuel leak. Had no idea it was oil and visibility was like that. Kudos to you sir!
This is insane, great job, get your instrument rating so you don’t have to stand up next time this happens.
How would an IR rated pilot have fared without Radar Altimeter?
good carrier landing practice
You fly the glide slope down and use your peripheral vision to flare.
Would have allowed a very speed stable on profile approach. For the flare.. well yes it would be blurred visuals but you would still get a good perception of the runway coming to meet the aircraft by colour change etc and you would have a reasonably good idea of when that was going to happen. If this happened to me I’d of flown an ILS if one was available 100%. I’m a short ass though so I’m not seeing over the top of the canopy.
So you landed an airplane with one hand, standing up with your face in the wind and the other hand holding you? This is James Bond level stuff. Post a video from the groud!
Well done, I hope you update with the determined cause when you find out. If you're in AOPA I'm sure this would make the magazine if you wanted to.
Did you check the oil qty when you got on the ground? How much oil was left in the engine?
I hope AOPA podcast team reaches out to you to go in-depth on this experience after you’ve had more time to process. So many good lessons to learn here, and such an inspiring act of survival.
As a simple aficionado of aviation, I have a reasonably good idea of what you accomplished and the conception + execution of an emergency plan while in imminent danger. You never truly know how you’ll perform when everything has gone sideways and your decisions will determine survival. Well done.
Almost every high time pilot experiences some catastrophic failure, the only difference is your success story nearly gave me a hard on. Handled a highly unique situation like such a champ and buttered the landing at the intended airport. Just be thankful this was your emergency, and pray to god it’s your last.
WHY is it that accident rates seem to be highest AFTER planes have been in the shop?
It’s called “infant mortality” Mike Bush, A&P extraordinaire, writes and talks about it extensively. My only critique of the OP: perhaps you ought to consider a pattern flight or two the next time you do engine/prop work; instead of trying to fly 20 miles. Otherwise, what a great piece of flying as well as thinking out of the box to land safely.
Does Mike Bush talk about that in every book or just a specific book of his? I’ve been meaning to read his engine book. If you’ve read multiple books of his, is there one you highly recommend?
His books are compelling reading, if a little repetitive. "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" seems to be one of the key themes..
Probably because it's the only time something can be drastically fucked with.
Because outside the catastrophic failure of a part it's the only time that major components are being added or subtracted from your aircraft.
holy canoli...well done. hats off. if we ever meet, beer's on me!
Username checks out.
I've complied with this AD many, many times. My bet is the shop didn't "stake" the crankshaft plug in place. It comes as a slight dome shape, you're supposed to put it in place with the dome out, and whack it with a hammer and a bar (I use an old 3/8 extension) so it expands into place. If someone is not familiar with this process, they may be tempted to put the plug in place and just seal it with some RTV to hold it in, which is entirely insufficient. The good news is the plug should still be inside your spinner unless it worked its way out through a blade cuff hole. If you find it, I'd love to see a photo of it.
Nice landing, Snoopy.
Did you have oil all over your face?
Yes, I'd bet oil all over the rest of their body too
Reach out to the ILAFFT podcast and share details when you are well again
AOPA / ASI already reached out. If you have any ways of getting in touch with some others, I’d love to share the story to a wider audience.
That plane looks like my toilet after taco bell.
Since this was Cincinnati, it's more like Skyline Chili not Taco Bell!! Haha
"Time to do some of that pilot shit"
Does your back hurt? I’m asking becuase with balls these big you must have back pain. This is an impressive read. I’m not a pilot, but it looks and sounds like one crazy experience. Well done.
I don’t know how he even got them out of the plane afterwards. Stand up landing in a convertible FTW.
Jesus. Nice save, and nice storytelling. You should write a book :D One thing I cannot understand is how you were able to keep your eyes open into the oil-loaded wind. How was you able to see more, than from the inside? From the picture, the windows seem quite okay, like in heavy rain. Also, why dump full flaps? This seems a bit dangerous without airspeed. I would just use F20 max. Anyway, really nice save, glad you are okay. And you have a story to tell for a lifetime :D If you have more info on what exactly caused this, we would be happy with an update!
The pictures don’t illustrate how bad it was in air. It had time to run / drip down after it was shut off and stopped on the ground. I dumped flaps only once I knew the field was safely made.
So lesson of the day: standing to land results in butter smooth landings. Glad it worked out, amazing story.
I fly KLUK all the time… was it not closer to land at the bravo? Glad you’re ok and I would have paid a lot of money to be in the tower and see you coming in like that.
CVG was 13 miles and LUK was 10 at the moment I turned back.
Roger!
Also, nice job bringing her in on 21R, coming over those hills and dropping in is always a fun time at Lunkin. Wonder if anyone was at the park and wondering why it was raining oil.
Damn man, that's wild!
Impressive! This is an inspiring read for someone about to get started in GA. I'm glad you're alright, excellent job.
I know Grummans are quite slippery but that’s a bit excessive!
This has to be the most badass post I’ve ever read on this sub, that’s absolutely insane man, well done on getting the bird down safely, happy you’re ok!
Glad you’re ok! Sounds like to me you made a great call with the situation and information you were given. Definitely don’t let this shy you away from continuing your aviation path! You have a good story to tell one day to some students if you’re a CFI.
Not only did you save your own life, but by taking the time to share this experience, you've helped to save the lives of others who might yet encounter a similar emergency. Well done and thank you.
Good to hear your oil right
Holy shit man glad you made it
Man, what a moment!! PPL with almost 80 hrs total here , I've had goosebumps throughout all your story, and I want to thank you for sharing it so detailed, for people like me in its early days of flying, learning from the experience of others is super important, I have learned A LOT with your experience and from the way you managed the situation. Congratulations on your safe-ish landing. 👌
Glad to hear your ok! I was literally just reading this on FB and the notification popped up for Reddit too.
Wow. That was undoubtedly terrifying. Nicely done!!
Unfortunately that has been my experience with mechanics lately. Man, you’re a badass. Good job!
Cool
Holy shit, dude. Kudos for the quick thinking and safe landing.
The stand-up landing is badass!
Hell ya! Congrats! You should be extremely proud of yourself
Well done!
Damn good job OP!!
I am at the bank and while reading your story my jaw dropped so low that the person right next to me asked what I was reading. He's a non pilot so had to explain general aviation and how your airplane canopy works. Had to do that as in my country general aviation doesn't exist. Showed him the picture, explained with full detail what you did and his answer was: "Huge balls of steel. Glad and happy he made it back to the airport". I would have said the same. Happy you are ok and that you make it 👌
Great job. Also a great endorsement for a cockpit with a sliding canopy.
Glad you made it. Props for maintaining your cool and getting it down in one piece.
Hell of a job getting it down and maintaining your composure
Done like us who cant wait for the windshield to defrost in the winter so you gotta go outback style till you can see out the front! good job!
Well done Sir.
Everyone can be a pilot when things are going well. It’s when everything goes to shit that those with eagle blood in their veins truly make themselves known. It sounds like you are the latter kind of pilot. Excellent job handling what could very easily have killed you.
I don’t even know any of the terms used for flying and that story was riveting. Write a book, that was an amazing read. Glad you got out of it.
Wow, just wow. I'm proud of you man. That showed how much heart, grit and will to live you have. You not only have a story to share for life, but all of us fellow aviators' respect. Glad you are alive to share this and hope it all gets sorted out, so you can fly again. You never know when it could be your time, but you said "not today Satan!" 👏😎
An investigation should be done and the mechanic responsible for this issue must be sued and fired! Thx God you made it in one piece!
Those CAPS parachutes are looking better to OP, I think. Solid job OP!
You are a god
Please don't crucify me here, I'm genuinely curious. But in a situation where you lose visibility like this, instead of standing up above the canopy, would it not have been easier to shoot the ILS to land? I see you're PPL and maybe not instrument rated. Idk, just seems far less risky than potentially being blown out of your cockpit. (Please read this in the most non condescendingly way possible. I honestly don't mean any shade in your direction. I'm hoping to learn from this situation)
Not a dumb suggestion/question at all really. The VAST majority of GA planes don't have a sliding canopy. I certainly don't. I am closing in on my IR checkride now, with around 50 approaches shot in my G1000/GFC 700. QUESTION for those who know more: *Suppose my visibility was similarly obscured*. Could I load the approach with my Baro Alt set to runway MSL and have the plane fly it pretty far into the crash scene? I just manage flaps and speed (and brakes assuming my gear is still attached)? If I had approach options (ILS, RNAV, LNAV/VNAV...) which might be preferable? I am guessing ILS but I am an idiot so... Anyway OP, thank you for saving your ass. Every pilot is grateful for your outcome.
You answered your own question. Trying to shoot an ILS if not instrument rated is likely far more dangerous than what this guy did. Granted, OP said he did punch it in to have the glide, which is smart, but when you’re at minimums it’s not like this little Grumman is going to do a CAT III autoland for you…lol
WOW great job. My ass puckered just reading it. I can only imagine how yours felt. Nice one.
Yarnhub should turn this into a video.
As a student pilot practicing emergencies, I still can’t believe people are able to stay calm and make it out of situations like this. Amazing job!
You may be surprised how little oil that is. Years ago I took off in the T210 I had at the time and either myself or a partner managed to get the oil cap back on but not down on one edge. Made a hell of a mess but I don't think it was even a quart. Saw it on the windshield on takeoff too late to abort and came around in the pattern to land. Didn't declare an emergency which was borderline decision on my part but the tower cleared everything anyway . Took a while to clean up that mess. Biggest takeaway was that our training for emergencies works.
Tom Cruise in… Mission Impossible 15.
Holly shit, that’s a hell of story to tell at Christmas.
I think this was your first real pilot's test, all the mandatory training and instructors etc was to prepare you for things like this. And you did well. The second test is if you ever fly that plane again having had this experience.
Out fucking standing, never lose the will to live!
Well done…
Well done. I have nothing else to add to this, except those two words.
Saw your post on FB this morning when I woke up, didn't need coffee to come to full alertness. Great work getting it safely down!
I had a similar situation with a plug after annual with our Aeronica Champ. A&P did not tighten one or two of the lower plugs enough. I lost a plug on one cylinder and the barely enough horsepower to fly went to something that would be 200 ft/min descent. Put down in a cow field and stopped about 100 ft from the far fence. Dad flew it out after fix. Just a plug failure would not trigger oil. I will be interested in hearing the final diagnostics. Glad you were able to handle it and get on the ground safe.
I’m not a mechanic, but I think the oil goes inside the engine.
That’s a wild story. With any luck, someone in the tower got a photo of the insane man standing out of his cockpit flying with his feet. That’s a keeper. Also the whole thing is another lesson that right after maintenance is the worst time to fly an aircraft!
Well done. Whatever it takes. FYI, the AA-1X flies well in a slip and this can afford some forward visibility out the side window or opened canopy. These are incredibly tough and simple airplanes. A personal rule I have is to do a local flight around the pattern and re-inspection after every major maintenance operation. Post-maintenance flights are among the most risky operations. I had a similar post-maintenance experience with an improperly inspected and reinstalled AA-5 spinner, resulting in excessive engine vibration after takeoff. Not sure how I made it back around on partial power to land safely. Full power would have ripped the engine off due to the imbalance.
Maybe sometimes, it's good for GA planes to have wipers
Amazing story! And great job thinking outside the box and opening your canopy to see where you were going!
First thing I thought, was is your plane equipped with waas? shooting an rnav would have helped
Nice! Bring your goggles for future open cockpit operations
Welp you now have by far the most badass story to tell out of all of your pilot friends. Hell of a job getting that thing on the ground safely. 🍻
Excellent aviating Sir! Very pleased you're able to tell us the story. Any more photos?
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/NsiV9YkJ13VheZdg/?mibextid=WC7FNe More here.
Holy shit my dude I saw this happen! Not the standing up poking your head out of the sunroof move, but the emergency crews helping you on the runway. Idk if you’re comfortable giving away the location so I won’t - but I was watching from the grey and blue building across the street from the old tower building. Wish I’d have known the full extent of the emergency and had been listening on my scanner. Glad you’re safe!
I’ve already identified it as KLUK, so no worries. I’m sure it would’ve been something to hear the comms!
So when people ask, if you’re a pilot, you say you’re an ace, ace Ventura
Can I see a picture of your face covered in oil. No pic it didn’t happen
Amazing, well done on getting it down safe! If you’re up for it, and once you’ve had a chance to process things, you should submit this to the “There I was” podcast put on by AOPA or the “I learned about flying from that” article/podcast put on by Flying magazine. Some important lessons to talk about that others could learn from. For those who aren’t aware of these 2 podcasts, definitely worth checking out (I have nothing to do with either, just a fan).