WindOnHisNose
BENEFACTOR
Lino Lakes MN (MY18)
Dead Stick Landing...An Auspicious Start on the Journey to Johnson Creek
It was a trip that I had looked forward to for many years...flying the super cub into Johnson Creek ID. My aircraft was packed, my tanks were full for the first leg of my flight from KANE to Aberdeen SD, only 2.5 hours away. I had arrived at the airport, opened my hangar, did a quick preflight (I had checked things over late the evening before), checked the oil level again, checked the sight gauges and pulled N82667 out of the hangar.
I received clearance to take off on Runway 36 at KANE on Wednesday afternoon, taxied into position at the very end of the runway, slowly eased in full power and off I was on my first trip to the Johnson Creek Flyin. I was stoked, as taking in this event had been on my bucket list for several years, and it was finally a reality!
As I climbed through about 50 feet the engine of my PA18 sputtered and quit running and I found myself quickly preparing to land straight ahead onto 36, letting the tower know that I had a problem. The tower controllers both happened to be friends and they wanted to know if I needed assistance. I was pretty amazed at how quickly the super cub came down, and how different it was to land with absolutely no power, as compared to "power off". She came down right now and as I rolled onto the runway I reached down and switched from the left tank to the right, hit the starter and the engine roared back to life. I turned onto the taxiway and went back to my hangar, a bit dazed as to what had just happened. I tested out the left tank again and the engine died promptly, restarting once again when the right tank was selected.
I shut down the engine, got out of the aircraft and sumped the right and left tank, as well as the gascolator, getting gas out of each. Perplexed, I decided to call Darrell Bolduc (Bolduc Aviation is right across the airport) and told him what had happened. He kindly asked me to taxi over to his shop and he and his team would take a look. I did so, but had decided that unless they found a clear and corrective answer I would scrap this dream trip to Idaho.
I was greeted by Darrell and Tim, one of his most trusted teammates, as they directed me to parking. I exited N82667 and explained what had just happened. It was important for Tim to take a look, because he had just overhauled my carburetor the day before, on a Tuesday. I had flown the aircraft on Monday evening, after leaving the clinic, for a brief 10 minute flight in order to warm up the oil in preparing to change the oil and filter before the long flight. While cleaning bugs off the nose I discovered that the air filter bowl moved when I jiggled it, immediately bringing back memories of how this finding had been associated with separation between the airbox and the carburetor in the past (there was a thread on this here), which had led to significantly reduced power. I had immediately called Larry Cassem, the gentleman A&P/IA, who performs maintenance on the aircraft and he had taken the airbox/carburetor assembly apart on Tuesday, the day before my flight, and the assembly was taken over to Bolduc Aviation for Tim to look over. Tim then worked over the carb, Larry had reassembled and reinstalled the assembly into the aircraft and he called for me to test fly the aircraft that Tuesday evening. I immediately agreed to do so, thanking Larry for his emergency work. The aircraft started right up, I remember switching from the right tank to the left just before runup and takeoff, and I stayed in the pattern for one circuit, then landing and taxiing back to the hangar, where I again thanked Larry and Dan Carroll for all their help in salvaging my bucket list trip. I debated topping off the tanks, but elected not to since I had just topped off the tanks 5 days previously and the aircraft had sat in my locked hangar (with epoxied floor) save for the warm up flight Monday and the test run on Tuesday.
After sumping the gascolator Tim asked if I minded him checking the fuel levels in the tanks and I said "Sure, go ahead, but they are nearly topped off and the sight gauges confirm that". He smiled, climbed up and took off the cap from the left tank.
"This tank is bone dry!" Tim remarked. I couldn't believe it. He checked the right tank and he reported that it was nearly empty. Darrell asked me if I was sure that I topped it off a few days prior to then and I replied that I had. He suggested calling the Key Air, my FBO of choice to see if my memory was incorrect and sure enough they confirmed my recollection of topping it off on the day that I had remembered doing so. Darrell asked if I had noticed fuel stains on my hangar floor and I said that I hadn't...and surely would have noticed 30 plus gallons on that epoxied floor. The three of us looked at each other and all came to the conclusion that the fuel had likely been drained.
I called Key Air to come over to refuel the aircraft, which they did, putting 18 gallons in the left tank and 16 in the right tank. We observed no fuel leaks and Darrell suggested I take the aircraft for several turns around the airport pattern before leaving the area, and I did so. The engine ran perfectly.
I was relieved that I could make my trip to Idaho, but was very troubled by the fact that someone had likely gotten into my locked hangar and stolen 34 gallons of fuel. I noticed, on my next fuel stop, that my ELT antenna was snapped off at it's base...it was located just aft of the battery access panel on the top of the fuselage.
This history was bounced around by Dan Carroll, Darrell Bolduc, Darrel Starr and the conclusion is as follows:
Someone likely entered my hangar at some time after I had topped off the tanks. The back of my hangar has an electric garage door opener to lift the door, and either they had been able to activate this, or had accessed a key (only a very trusted few people have a key) in order to gain access. Once inside they had the place to themselves and with the right pump they could easily drain the tanks, leave the hangar and drive away.
I failed here at a number of levels, and thought sharing this with you might keep you out of harms way, so let's take a minute to think this through.
First, I had an incomplete preflight. Had I crawled up onto the wing and simply stuck my finger into the tank, or visually looked in, I would have discovered the empty tanks.
The sight gauges are a great way to see the fuel level once the level had lowered to a certain point, but it is really difficult to know where you are if the tanks are full, or nearly empty. The blue coloring of avgas is so slight that one cannot reliably discriminate between fuel and air.
Second, and kind of a corollary of the first, is that it is unwise to assume that having my aircraft sitting in a locked hangar will keep it safe from tampering. It is much less likely than one might experience in an open hangar, or tie down site, but it is still possible.
Third, I should have noticed the missing ELT antenna during my preflight. Again, I took it for granted that the aircraft was safe sitting inside my hangar.
I have contacted the Metropolitan Airport Commission and the local police department, not in an attempt to find the thieves, but to heighten awareness around the airport. We have had a few breakins on our airport in the last few years. While there is a big fence enclosing the airport, with gates, it is a well known fact that for the main gate all one has to do to get in is simply drive up close to the gate...and presto, the gate magically opens. I have suggested that this might need to change, but again everyone on the airport knows the combination to open the locked gates is nothing more than our Ground Control frequency.
I am thinking of ways of making my hangar more secure, including thoughts of installing a monitored alarm system, etc. This saddens me, but it isn't a safe world out there and even though it is a federal offense to tamper with an aircraft, that certainly didn't stop those who stole from my hangar.
Had the thieves left a gallon or two on each side this story could have ended in a much less positive way. I made the flight to Johnson Creek and had a terrific time, and I am really thankful to have made the trip. I have shared this with you to make you, my friends and fellow aviators, to make you more aware of how important a complete preflight is and to be savvy in being aware of our airport environment and problems that can occur that could impact flight safety.
Randy
It was a trip that I had looked forward to for many years...flying the super cub into Johnson Creek ID. My aircraft was packed, my tanks were full for the first leg of my flight from KANE to Aberdeen SD, only 2.5 hours away. I had arrived at the airport, opened my hangar, did a quick preflight (I had checked things over late the evening before), checked the oil level again, checked the sight gauges and pulled N82667 out of the hangar.
I received clearance to take off on Runway 36 at KANE on Wednesday afternoon, taxied into position at the very end of the runway, slowly eased in full power and off I was on my first trip to the Johnson Creek Flyin. I was stoked, as taking in this event had been on my bucket list for several years, and it was finally a reality!
As I climbed through about 50 feet the engine of my PA18 sputtered and quit running and I found myself quickly preparing to land straight ahead onto 36, letting the tower know that I had a problem. The tower controllers both happened to be friends and they wanted to know if I needed assistance. I was pretty amazed at how quickly the super cub came down, and how different it was to land with absolutely no power, as compared to "power off". She came down right now and as I rolled onto the runway I reached down and switched from the left tank to the right, hit the starter and the engine roared back to life. I turned onto the taxiway and went back to my hangar, a bit dazed as to what had just happened. I tested out the left tank again and the engine died promptly, restarting once again when the right tank was selected.
I shut down the engine, got out of the aircraft and sumped the right and left tank, as well as the gascolator, getting gas out of each. Perplexed, I decided to call Darrell Bolduc (Bolduc Aviation is right across the airport) and told him what had happened. He kindly asked me to taxi over to his shop and he and his team would take a look. I did so, but had decided that unless they found a clear and corrective answer I would scrap this dream trip to Idaho.
I was greeted by Darrell and Tim, one of his most trusted teammates, as they directed me to parking. I exited N82667 and explained what had just happened. It was important for Tim to take a look, because he had just overhauled my carburetor the day before, on a Tuesday. I had flown the aircraft on Monday evening, after leaving the clinic, for a brief 10 minute flight in order to warm up the oil in preparing to change the oil and filter before the long flight. While cleaning bugs off the nose I discovered that the air filter bowl moved when I jiggled it, immediately bringing back memories of how this finding had been associated with separation between the airbox and the carburetor in the past (there was a thread on this here), which had led to significantly reduced power. I had immediately called Larry Cassem, the gentleman A&P/IA, who performs maintenance on the aircraft and he had taken the airbox/carburetor assembly apart on Tuesday, the day before my flight, and the assembly was taken over to Bolduc Aviation for Tim to look over. Tim then worked over the carb, Larry had reassembled and reinstalled the assembly into the aircraft and he called for me to test fly the aircraft that Tuesday evening. I immediately agreed to do so, thanking Larry for his emergency work. The aircraft started right up, I remember switching from the right tank to the left just before runup and takeoff, and I stayed in the pattern for one circuit, then landing and taxiing back to the hangar, where I again thanked Larry and Dan Carroll for all their help in salvaging my bucket list trip. I debated topping off the tanks, but elected not to since I had just topped off the tanks 5 days previously and the aircraft had sat in my locked hangar (with epoxied floor) save for the warm up flight Monday and the test run on Tuesday.
After sumping the gascolator Tim asked if I minded him checking the fuel levels in the tanks and I said "Sure, go ahead, but they are nearly topped off and the sight gauges confirm that". He smiled, climbed up and took off the cap from the left tank.
"This tank is bone dry!" Tim remarked. I couldn't believe it. He checked the right tank and he reported that it was nearly empty. Darrell asked me if I was sure that I topped it off a few days prior to then and I replied that I had. He suggested calling the Key Air, my FBO of choice to see if my memory was incorrect and sure enough they confirmed my recollection of topping it off on the day that I had remembered doing so. Darrell asked if I had noticed fuel stains on my hangar floor and I said that I hadn't...and surely would have noticed 30 plus gallons on that epoxied floor. The three of us looked at each other and all came to the conclusion that the fuel had likely been drained.
I called Key Air to come over to refuel the aircraft, which they did, putting 18 gallons in the left tank and 16 in the right tank. We observed no fuel leaks and Darrell suggested I take the aircraft for several turns around the airport pattern before leaving the area, and I did so. The engine ran perfectly.
I was relieved that I could make my trip to Idaho, but was very troubled by the fact that someone had likely gotten into my locked hangar and stolen 34 gallons of fuel. I noticed, on my next fuel stop, that my ELT antenna was snapped off at it's base...it was located just aft of the battery access panel on the top of the fuselage.
This history was bounced around by Dan Carroll, Darrell Bolduc, Darrel Starr and the conclusion is as follows:
Someone likely entered my hangar at some time after I had topped off the tanks. The back of my hangar has an electric garage door opener to lift the door, and either they had been able to activate this, or had accessed a key (only a very trusted few people have a key) in order to gain access. Once inside they had the place to themselves and with the right pump they could easily drain the tanks, leave the hangar and drive away.
I failed here at a number of levels, and thought sharing this with you might keep you out of harms way, so let's take a minute to think this through.
First, I had an incomplete preflight. Had I crawled up onto the wing and simply stuck my finger into the tank, or visually looked in, I would have discovered the empty tanks.
The sight gauges are a great way to see the fuel level once the level had lowered to a certain point, but it is really difficult to know where you are if the tanks are full, or nearly empty. The blue coloring of avgas is so slight that one cannot reliably discriminate between fuel and air.
Second, and kind of a corollary of the first, is that it is unwise to assume that having my aircraft sitting in a locked hangar will keep it safe from tampering. It is much less likely than one might experience in an open hangar, or tie down site, but it is still possible.
Third, I should have noticed the missing ELT antenna during my preflight. Again, I took it for granted that the aircraft was safe sitting inside my hangar.
I have contacted the Metropolitan Airport Commission and the local police department, not in an attempt to find the thieves, but to heighten awareness around the airport. We have had a few breakins on our airport in the last few years. While there is a big fence enclosing the airport, with gates, it is a well known fact that for the main gate all one has to do to get in is simply drive up close to the gate...and presto, the gate magically opens. I have suggested that this might need to change, but again everyone on the airport knows the combination to open the locked gates is nothing more than our Ground Control frequency.
I am thinking of ways of making my hangar more secure, including thoughts of installing a monitored alarm system, etc. This saddens me, but it isn't a safe world out there and even though it is a federal offense to tamper with an aircraft, that certainly didn't stop those who stole from my hangar.
Had the thieves left a gallon or two on each side this story could have ended in a much less positive way. I made the flight to Johnson Creek and had a terrific time, and I am really thankful to have made the trip. I have shared this with you to make you, my friends and fellow aviators, to make you more aware of how important a complete preflight is and to be savvy in being aware of our airport environment and problems that can occur that could impact flight safety.
Randy