Peter wrote:
What surprised me is that you can basically destroy the Rotax engine by an ECU fault which keeps the turbo wastegate shut, for too long.
There’s no difference to any other turbocharged engine. It’s just an overboost. There is a switch to disengage the wastegate servo motor if it does crazy things. If you disengage it, you have to monitor the boost pressure very carefully.
Peter wrote:
“This could have been because he had encountered worse weather conditions than anticipated and did not wish to get busted by the CAA for flying in controlled airspace while trying to avoid the weather”
In other words, the suspicion he deliberately busted airspace to avoid weather, rather than simply requesting a clearance – which seems to at least imply a whole pile of hazardous attitudes. It still seems like a really bad choice when all you need to do is ask for a clearance, and perhaps tell ATC that you need the clearance for weather avoidance. If ATC won’t give you the clearance, and you can’t (either due to currency, aircraft capability, whatever) fly in IMC then it’s time to at least declare a pan to force the issue, at that point it does have the potential to develop into an emergency.
Looking at the list of CAA prosecutions, I’ve never seen anyone prosecuted for confessing to ATC they need help to get out of weather they shouldn’t have got themselves into. In any case it’s better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
This is getting side-tracked now from the topic but I am not sure it is worth starting a new one with this, unless someone wants to… my view is that (a) most PPLs will be very reluctant to ask for a CAS transit unless they are experienced in doing so, and (b) the time it is going to take you to get a UK CAS ad hoc clearance is going to be way too long for wx avoidance. Especially Class A which can take anywhere from the time it takes to fly Exeter to Bournemouth, to never. In the UK, CAS transits of Class D are generally doable (but with no certainty) while Class A is almost impossible unless it is an isolated airway (forget the LTMA; you are almost 100% going to get busted for even seconds in there, and I heard today they are doing a one-day “class” near Bournemouth, plus £200 “fine”).
On seller liability, I have had some expert input on this.
One simple thing a seller can and should do is to insist that the buyer gets an independent survey of the aircraft prior to purchase. A further key aspect is to very carefully avoid any suggestion that the seller has particular qualifications or building skills.
It is a further key issue in selling anything that you avoid personal warranties. For example a car is sold “as seen”, unless you claim e.g. the engine has had a new camshaft belt fitted 2 months ago (but this is not true).
Peter wrote:
(a) most PPLs will be very reluctant to ask for a CAS transit unless they are experienced in doing so
I was fairly pleased the other day to hear students (they were using “student” callsign) from different places asking transits through Southend.
When I did my PPL (at EGLM) we always stayed well clear of controlled airspace, which is obviously not good for learning and can contribute to people increasing risk to avoid asking for that transit.
I find Southend really good, I’ve never been denied any transit.
Peter wrote:
my view is that (a) most PPLs will be very reluctant to ask for a CAS transit unless they are experienced in doing so, and (b) the time it is going to take you to get a UK CAS ad hoc clearance is going to be way too long for wx avoidance. Especially Class A which can take anywhere from the time it takes to fly Exeter to Bournemouth, to never.
But someone dodging weather is going to be low down, and certainly in the area of the accident flight, all the controlled airspace at the low level he was flying was class D. Transits of class D (at least up north) are usually granted immediately unless you’re trying to do something like fly though the airport’s instrument approach (UK surface airspace is always massively oversized and nearly empty so most of the class D won’t be impinging on the approach) – and even then, at least in my experience they’ll give you some limitation rather than simply deny access. It seems like a poor excuse (and a failure of training) for a pilot’s response to be to shut the transponder off and go into ‘stealth’ mode!
My university scrapped lots of hang gliders due to liability concerns. They kept listing the hang gliding club in the prospectus for several years after they had forced it to close.
I got trapped near Spanish Point, Ireland, and immediately made a Pan call, was given permission, and climbed through cloud into Shannon Airspace. No subsequent actions. I was not qualified to fly IFR in Irish Airspace.
Yikes. Aside from the core message of the video (liability concerns), it shows how weak our planes are, really.
I don’t think it shows how weak the planes are at all. This is very heavy industrial machinery which will mince much more substantial structures.
What’s the story behind the video? Did the builder lose his license and decide it was too risky to resell his plane? Seems a bit odd as there appears to be a thriving market for used homebuilt planes, both in the US and Europe.
