Impromptu ‘test’ of the unstick speed


forward visibility due to the extremely nose-high attitude. Fearing he might run off the right side and hit an edge light, he applied full power but was then faced with a dilemma – if he cut the power he would probably overrun into the boundary hedge. Deciding to stay airborne under full


RANS S5 COYOTE Welshpool, 13 March, 2016


The pilot arrived to find he wouldn’t be able to carry out a long flight due to low cloud. The aircraft had been fully refuelled the day before in anticipation of the flight and, as the Coyote was slightly heavier


than normal with full fuel, the pilot decided to investigate the minimum unstick speed. After doing this, his plan was to fly a


circuit to reassess the weather. About halfway along the runway during the take-off roll, using less than full power and balancing the Rans on its mainwheels only, he became unhappy with the restricted


power to clear the hedge, he realised the aircraft was now nearly at right angles to the runway over a ploughed field with the right wing close to stalled. Trying to straighten using left rudder would leave him flying towards power cables, so he accepted the turn and continued under full power. But when he realised this might make matters worse, he throttled back and accepted a very heavy landing in the ploughed field, collapsing the right and nose landing gear.


he ownsie i the ges ont ite a p


CESSNA 172S SKYHAWK Sherlowe Airstrip, Shropshire, 31 March, 2016


The 172 was attempting to take off from Sherlowe airstrip using grass Runway 15 which is approximately 240m long, however the pilot realised that the aircraft was not accelerating quickly enough to reach flying speed because the ground was too soft. He abandoned the take-off and the aircraft ran off the end of the runway and into a soft, cultivated field where


that Runway 15 gave a 40% margin for soft ground based on the performance figures for a short-field take-off quoted in the Pilot’s Operating Handbook. It shows that for a short-field


it flipped inverted. The pilot was uninjured and extricated himself unaided. He regularly operated from Sherlowe and had calculated


take-off the minimum ground roll required to lift off from a flat, level and dry paved surface is 186m at 0ºC ambient temperature and 2,200lb All-Up Weight. The handbook notes that 15% should be added to the ground roll when operating from a dry grass runway, which


When a runway isn’t a runway


IKARUS C42 FB UK Strubby Airfield, 30 May, 2016


Attempting to take off from a mown strip of grass perpendicular to and north of the asphalt runway at Strubby Airfield, the pilot realised he wouldn’t clear the hedge at the end and, turning to avoid it, the aircraft hit the ground. The pilot referred to the strip as


Runway 36, but the airfield owner advised


that it was not a designated runway. Using commercially available aerial imagery, the length of the mowed strip was estimated to be 140m. The take-off weight was reportedly 446kg and the manufacturer’s performance data states that at a Maximum Take-Off Weight of 450kg the take-off distance to clear a 15m obstacle is 205m. The pilot said he had taken off from the mowed strip previously and believed his


ability to climb on the accident flight had been compromised by rotor effect from the hedge, which he estimated to be between three and four metres high.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON INCIDENT REPORTS, VISIT AAIB.GOV.UK Autumn/Winter 2016 CLUED UP 31


means that the minimum calculated ground roll is 214m. There was thus a margin of 12% to offset against the soft, damp runway conditions. CAA Safety Sense leaflet


7c Aircraft Performance has a paragraph urging pilots to establish a decision point at which take-off can be safely abandoned without overrunning if the pilot is not happy with the aircraft or engine performance. You can find it here publicapps.caa.co.uk/ docs/33/20130121SSL07.pdf


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