Vistaliners 727-100 Dan-Air Paints

[Mark C]

Quite an experience to be looking back on.

IT SURE WAS ....

I didn't laugh at the time .... but .... I look back on it all with a bit of a chuckle now

At any speed water is like concrete so it must have been truly terrifying

IT SURE WAS .... AND IS (the water I mean) .... and "YES" it was a "NASTY FRIGHT" when it happened .... but .... as I related above .... if one really loves aviation and flying that much, and if one's mentally strong (which "I AM" ) .... then one doesn't let something like this scare one off forever

I always believe in confronting the situation .... and moving forward ! :flying:

That's precisely what I did on this occasion .... and I'd well'n'truely triumphed the situation in less than 2 weeks.

Best thing I ever did was start flying again the week following the accident ! ;-)

Mark C :flying:
AKL/NZ

[Chris Trott]

Mark,

Thanks for sharing your experience. When we had the crash at Air Tahoma, one of the things that the pilot who survived told us, even while sitting in the office because the doctors had grounded him, was that he was going to get back in the plane and fly as soon as he was cleared to do so and he did. The accident was horrific by any measure with the largest intact portion of the plane being the vertical stabilizer and everything forward of that being practically shredded due to impacting in trees, but the pilot was adamant that he couldn't let that keep him from flying else he never do it again. Last I heard, he's still flying, although I believe he's with another company now. I think there's something theraputic about being able to prove to yourself that what happened was just what it is called - an accident.

[Techy111]

Nice Viewing........727 with Bruce Dickinson......"Flying heavy metal"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSqiEXF2 ... re=related

Tony

[Garry Russell]

Cheers for that Tony

garry

[DispatchDragon]

I remember when Capt Walsh was just a FO And Dade-Collier tranistional is a bit more than 5000 feet long
but never mind it was good video


Leif

[speedbird591]

GRUMMAN G-44A SUPER WIDGEON ZK-CFA: I did what very nearly became my last ever flight aboard this particular aircraft.

Well, she was perfectly alright when I flew on her a couple of years earlier, Mark!




We went out to one of the Islands with a beach loading area - can't remember which. We flew out on a Goose and back on CFA. The thing I remember most was boarding at Auckland. When we climbed in the Goose, the pilot was on the wing putting some oil in one of the engines. When he got in the back door he was still wiping his hands on an oily rag. I was struggling to find the end of my seat belt. He said "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, mate. We hardly ever crash!"

Ian ;-)

[Nigel H-J]

Sorry to be a pain but can some-one please direct me to a panel for this as one I tried when going onto FS9 just came up with errors.

Many thanks in advance.
Nigel.

[Mark C]

Well, she was perfectly alright when I flew on her a couple of years earlier, Mark!

YEAH .... but we broke it afterwards ! :-(

ZK-CFA went back into service with SEA BEE AIR almost a year after we "DINGED IT".

She was last operated by AQUATIC & VINTAGE AIRWAYS (also operating under the SALT AIR banner too) for a while during the 1990's. It was there I began to learn more about the "TWEAKED" center section (after our incident) that they'd detected.

I believe ZK-CFA was tendered for sale during the very late 1990's .... but .... there's really not much of a market anywhere now for an old beat-up salt water WIDGEON.

I understand she's currently sitting dismantled in someones private hangar here in Auckland.

I'd actually like to see her one day preserved .... possibly in the original cream and white livery of Fred LADD's NZ TOURIST AIR TRAVEL whom imported here to New Zealand during the 1960's and introduced amphibious air services to New Zealand's North Island.

Nice picture there of that "bloody float" too "SPEEDBIRD591" !

You're sitting precisely where I sat when the accident occurred. For a few minutes after our impact (heavy T/O) I thought "that particular view" was going to be one of the last views I ever saw.

BOY OH BOY we did some "REAL DAMAGE" that day ! :roll: :o

I think there's something theraputic about being able to prove to yourself that what happened was just what it is called - an accident.

YEP .... I'd agree with that "ABSOLUTELY" Chris

There's no enjoyment to be had in life if one just gives in to any fear one may have had imposed upon them by whatever "NASTY FRIGHT" they've suffered .... and as you say .... it was indeed "JUST AN ACCIDENT"

Sometimes "POOH" happens ! ;-)

Mark C :flying:
AKL/NZ

[Chris Trott]

A bit back on topic, I'd like to relate a little story about the 727 and its fairly unique option to have nose wheel brakes.

Most people don't realize that 99% of all aircraft ever built don't have brakes on the nose wheel (or tail wheel). They're too used to automobiles and brakes on every wheel. In aviation, the mains are usually the only wheels that have brakes simply for complexity if not for weight and space. The 727 however, due to its design and purpose of operating out of airports which had previously been unthinkable for jet operations, came with the option of nosewheel brakes. The brakes were fairly complex in design and included a "weight on wheel" switch that would prevent the brakes from actuating whenever the wheels were off the ground. They were effective however. They were actually so effective that Eastern Airlines flew an aircraft for a week with only the nose wheel brakes activated and the crews never noticed. The main gear brakes had been serviced due to an issue, but the isolation valve in the main wheel well that locked them out for servicing was left "on" and thus the brakes were not activated. As the aircraft had nosewheel brakes, obviously there was some braking, but it was so good, that for normal operations for Eastern at the time (which was mainly long runways), the difference in braking availability wasn't evident.

I've been told by an ex-Eastern 727 pilot that landing and stopping the plane at Max Landing Weight in less than 2000 feet was not impossible and routine landings were done in 3000 on a fairly regular basis on the aircraft with nose wheel brakes. This allowed the aircraft to be flown into airports with runways as short as 4000 feet long with sufficient payload available to make a profit. It was only the introduction of modern turboprops and regional jets that saw the 727 fully removed from such feeder services completely in the US.

[Garry Russell]

I've always been surprised by that as it is the leading brakes that do the work

That sort of proves it

Garry