Friend Down
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 6:05 pm
by Scott Todd
Lou Pappas airplane (N535D) went down today. I reached out to him but haven’t heard back. He is a SUPER nice guy. His airplane was about the nicest Sonex I have ever seen. The article says the pilot suffered minor injuries so lets all keep him in out thoughts and wish for a speedy recovery.
https://www.azfamily.com/news/small-pla … _id=997197
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 7:26 pm
by N111YX
It’s a shame to see this news, Lou. I’m glad to hear that you are OK and hope you can get the dust brushed off and be back in the air (with perhaps a new airplane) soon.
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 7:39 pm
by GraemeSmith
Best wishes for speedy recovery.
News team extended video:
https://www.facebook.com/ABC15/videos/603309714041710
https://www.12news.com/article/news/loc … n-village/
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 8:19 pm
by Scott Todd
I heard from Lou! He’s just being released from the hospital. He says he has some sore muscles and a few small cuts. I’m sure he’ll fill us in on what happened. When I got his text while driving, I pulled over to read and answer it. I teared up thinking about the friends I’ve lost that didn’t fly the airplane after an engine issue. Way to go Lou!!!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE practice engine outs everyone. And as Bob Hoover said, fly it all the way into the crash.
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 8:22 pm
by MichaelFarley56
Thank you for sharing the wonderful news Todd! I’m so happy and relieved to hear Lou is okay!
I’m sure everyone is curious to hear what happened so hopefully Lou is willing to share the story once he feels better.
Lou, if you’re reading this, we’re so glad you’re okay!
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 11:55 pm
by GordonTurner
Our hearts go out to you Lou. Just really glad to hear you made it through.
Best of luck in the days ahead. Gordon
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 7:32 pm
by pappas
Thanks, everyone for your thoughts. It turns out that if you actually hit the softest, cheapest, thing, as slow as you can. You have a reasonable chance. Now, the desert is not soft, but it is cheap as can be. And, the Sonex stalls at about 44 mph, IF, you fly it that way with confidence and fly it all the way through the landing.
This landing would have been a gear shearing skid-out if not for that invisible barbed wire fence! The fence flipped me tail-over-nose at, what I estimate to be about, 30 mph. I was hanging upside down in my harness for a few seconds thinking about how I would get out of this thing. After the dust settled, I could see the cracked canopy had left me a way out that I could fit through.
I have to say that the cockpit and turtle-deck structure is very stout. The turtle deck did not collapse at all and as I did not stall-spin the aircraft, there was no crushing of the nose. The prop is now 1,000 toothpicks, but the nose looks to be pretty much intact. We all knew that John built a sturdy airframe. I didn’t know it was this sturdy. I have a few scratches and bruises, and some sore muscles. It could have been far worse than that.
There were 5-7 gallons of fuel in the tank at the time of my forced landing. Not a drop found its way out of the tank. I’m impressed. I will spend the rest of the week supplying info to Insurance, NTSB, and the FAA. All of my ducks are, always, in a row with medical, inspections, maintenance, logs, insurance, licensing, etc. So, I am not expecting any trauma from the experience and have to say that so far the Insurance, FAA, and the NTSB reps are all very quick, professional, and efficient. N535D was removed from the site in only a few hours, arranged by my insurance company, and the NTSB rep has already seen it for an initial inspection. I think the FAA rep will be there by Thursday.
Is that high-wing kit ready for sale yet??
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 7:43 pm
by GraemeSmith
Lou - thanks for the PIREP. Glad you are OK.
Somewhere I saw “power loss” - any comment on that?
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:34 pm
by pappas
I have my suspicions about the loss of power but have not been able to inspect the engine. Not sure if I will ever be allowed to. If the FAA and NTSB let me, I will join them on Thursday. Fingers crossed.
I will comment if I have any real evidence. Otherwise, I am just speculating.
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 6:27 am
by pfhoeycfi
pappas wrote:I have my suspicions about the loss of power but have not been able to inspect the engine. Not sure if I will ever be allowed to. If the FAA and NTSB let me, I will join them on Thursday. Fingers crossed.
I will comment if I have any real evidence. Otherwise, I am just speculating.
It’s good to read your report and that you got the job done in that difficult situation. Great job. I’m curious if you had the hard tube or flex tube tank to fwl connection and if you had installed a tank vent check valve. It would seem based on your comments that the piping held but for me it’s something I consider as a weak link. I’m in the process of re working mine.
Peter
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:28 am
by WesRagle
HI Lou,
pappas wrote:Is that high-wing kit ready for sale yet??
It’s good to see you in such high spirits.
pappas wrote:I have my suspicions about the loss of power but have not been able to inspect the engine. Not sure if I will ever be allowed to. If the FAA and NTSB let me, I will join them on Thursday. Fingers crossed.
Since you built the plane, and since the FAA has deemed that you are allowed to perform annual inspections, it would seem like a bureaucratic disconnect if the NTSB didn’t want you to be involved in the investigation.
So Happy You’re OK,
Wes
Friend Down
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 10:01 am
by Gmoney
Lou, glad you are okay!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 10:23 am
by gammaxy
Lou,
Really glad you’re okay. I’d be interested in hearing more about the nose-over. I’ve casually considered wearing a helmet. Sounds like the seat belt and airframe structure kept you from hitting your head?
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 10:39 am
by pappas
No, I have a good lump on the right top of my head. I have a few rivet marks from what I think was the plate that joins the top of the fuselage. The 4-point harness did its job and I had to manage not to fall on my head when I released it.
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 11:04 am
by Matt541
Wow, glad to hear you’re ok Lou!
gammaxy wrote:Lou,
Really glad you’re okay. I’d be interested in hearing more about the nose-over. I’ve casually considered wearing a helmet. Sounds like the seat belt and airframe structure kept you from hitting your head?
I personally decided to wear a helmet every time in my Sonex after a lot of consideration and researching various engine out/ emergency landing incidents. (My wife may have helped make that decision…)
More importantly, flying it all the way down saved the day here. Well done sir!
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2021 12:18 pm
by pappas
Peter, I just re-read these and noticed your question. I have a shut-off valve at the tank drain, then a red cube fuel flow sender, then an aluminum tube to the firewall fitting. From the firewall to the aeroinjector is a flex-fuel line insulated with fire sleeve and 2000 degree sealant. I do not have the check valve in the tank vent. My tank vent runs across the top rear of the firewall and down to the left gear leg. In this incident, being upside-down, the fuel could only have leaked from the cap, (didn’t happen), or from a cracked tank, (didn’t happen). The tank vent was about the highest point in the system and couldn’t leak there. So all in all, I am happy with the fuel tank design and construction.
I just can’t express enough that almost anything is better than a stall spin. Learn to fly at the minimum controllable airspeed and practice it. It is cheap cuz you only burn about 2 gallons per hour to fly that slow with the Sonex.
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2021 10:53 pm
by GordonTurner
Matt. I’ve been thinking about helmuts too. What’d you get…and how is wearing it?
Gordon
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 9:01 am
by GraemeSmith
Here you go Lou - you made the AIN
ate: 15-NOV-21
Time: 18:10:00Z
Regis#: N535D
Aircraft Make: SONEX
Aircraft Model: WAIEX B
Event Type: INCIDENT
Highest Injury: NONE
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: UNKNOWN
LOCATION
City: PHOENIX
State: ARIZONA
Country: UNITED STATES
DESCRIPTION
Description: AIRCRAFT MADE AN EMERGENCY LANDING ON A ROAD, STRUCK A FENCE AND METAL POLE AND CAME TO REST INVERTED, PHOENIX, AZ.
INJURY DATA
Total Fatal: 0
Fatal Serious Minor None Unk
Flight Crew 0 0 0 1 0
Cabin Crew 0 0 0 0 0
Pax 0 0 0 0 0
Ground 0 0 0 0 0
OTHER
Activity: PERSONAL
Flight Phase: EN ROUTE (ENR)
Operation: 91
Aircraft Operator:
Flight Number:
FAA FSDO: SCOTTSDALE FSDO
Entry Date: 16-NOV-21
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:01 am
by pappas
Hmmm, Recognition that no one strives for, I guess.
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:48 pm
by GordonTurner
No cabin crew?
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:06 pm
by pappas
I made sure that the second officer, flight engineer, and the cargo crew bailed out with sufficient altitude.
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 7:17 pm
by N111YX
If my engine ever goes silent, my thought process will probably go like this…
- “I’m going to be in the Kathryn’s Report”
- establish best glide
- turn towards a suitable field
- run the checklist
Hopefully, Dan Gryder will not factor in.
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 8:20 pm
by GraemeSmith
N111YX wrote:Hopefully, Dan Gryder will not factor in.
lmfao.gif (1.02 MiB) Viewed 2186 times
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 11:49 pm
by Sonex1517
N111YX wrote:If my engine ever goes silent, my thought process will probably go like this…
- “I’m going to be in the Kathryn’s Report”
- establish best glide
- turn towards a suitable field
- run the checklist
Hopefully, Dan Gryder will not factor in.
Kip,
That made me snort!
Re: Friend Down
Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2021 5:58 pm
by WaiexN143NM
hi all,
kip, graeme, robbie
great chuckles too!
i felt bad after posting the link to dan after the moni crash in tulsa. anyone that swings his DC-3 to the taxiway
behind him at osh and revs up the motors does NOT need to opine on ANYTHING. you can read about all of dans shenninagans on pilots of america website. i worked for the FAA for 25 yrs.
it has a great cadre of workers in all divisions, who do the best they can within budget and staffing constraints. a few bad apples, but thats in any profession. i dont like dans advisarial tone to the faa and ntsb.
a better person to follow on aviation accidents is juan browne , a B-777 copilot, who does a great job on the blancolirio
channel on you tube.
be safe out there. so sorry to see lou pappas nice waiex b upside down. what im hearning about aircraft insurance, is its going to be tough to get new policies, current policies grandfathered in.
Way too many sad accidents on kathrynsreport. i recognize some of the n numbers sometimes. ones i worked alot i know the voice that goes along with it, never met the pilot.
waiting for lou’s update on his engine failure.
best of health to all,
WaiexN143NM
Michael