by beaky » Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:02 pm
That was horrible to watch, but it's always a valuable learning experience...
My immediate impression is that it was probably not overweight, and I don't think he was veering to avoid the people near the strip. The density altitude there at that moment may have been quite high; it's amazing some times how much that can affect performance... might be a factor.
It looks like he was attempting a normal soft-field (in this case, rough-field) takeoff, which involves geting the plane airborne well below Vx, so as to minimize the takeoff roll on a rough or drag-inducing surface.
The next step after rotation is to immediately reduce the back pressure so the nose can come down and airspeed can increase, leading to a good airspeed for positive rate of climb.
I think what happened is that he gets the plane airborne at a very low airspeed, practically in a stall right away, and at this low airspeed and high power setting, the plane naturally wants to yaw left- which it does, with a vengeance. He either does not or cannot apply enough right rudder to counteract this (can't see it in this clip), and now the plane is forward-slipping at a very high A of A and very low airspeed. I'll bet the stall horn was going, if the plane was so equipped. Due to obstacles and people ahead, he was probably reluctant to let the nose drop when he should have.
Meanwhile, there appears to be a bit of a left crosswind (based on the eventual drifting of the dust generated by the plane's passage); this didn't help matters.
What happens next is unclear, because the plane moves far away from the camera, but it would not surprise me to hear he tried to retract the flaps early. He's nearly level, then suddenly the plane just sinks. That's exactly what would happen if you retract the flaps too early, especially at or near gross in a high density-altitude situation.
It should also be noted that it was probably a lot easier to get into that strip by himself than it would be to get out with passengers and medical cargo.... I don't know if he started his roll at the extreme end of the clearing, but every available inch would be absolutely necessary to pull that off...
On the basis of this footage alone, I think his fine intentions (his eagerness to get this kid help quickly, and his willingness to carry the child's very worried mother along when every pound was critical) became a distraction.
Very sad, but a heroic effort, so I'm reluctant to second-guess this pilot... but it just looks ill-planned.
