Killiecrankie

[fullboost]

Anyone know what happened at Killiecrankie strip Flinders Is. yesterday? Beacon activated i believe and a bent aircraft in the scrub on the eastern end.

[avconnection]

Wouldn't be a certain Cherokee 6 by any chance?

[fullboost]

Looked a bit smaller than a 6. I was at about 1500'. Starbard wing looked to be ripped off and it all looked a bit sad.

[Toruk Macto]

Think the strip runs up hill in that direction ? But if you takeoff the other way ie down hill you have to turn to miss a hill .

[Jack Ranga]

Archer, one wing & engine liberated from the airframe. Pretty sure that the 4 pob are ok. Well known MB syndicate aircraft.

[AirBumps]

That well known Syndicate had been looking to replace that aircraft for years without being able to find a buyer....problem solved! :ok:

Good nobody was injured.

[VH-XXX]

One of the most well known syndicates at MB would be NBE, it wasnt that was it?

Not the first time someone has come unstuck there, some refer to it as Killercrankie.

[Jack Ranga]

T'was NBE :( A loyal and faithful servant despite being relegated to ugly duckling status by big brother :E

[Jack Ranga]

Bumps, no excess in a write off ;)

[VH-XXX]

They sound rather lucky to lose (literally) an engine and not hurt themselves. That machine does a lot of hours and has had a lot of pilots behind the wheel. More carnage to go with the 210 that ended up in the trees at the end if my memory serves me correctly. Not much in the news about it.

[AirBumps]

Ranga - No injuries, no excess and a nice payout for an aircraft that couldn't be sold....all in all not a bad outcome for the group as a whole.

Will the lucky shareholder be purchased a round of beer for solving the syndicates problems or made to undergo extra training as the groups regime is want to do from time to time??

[Jack Ranga]

Will the lucky shareholder be purchased a round of beer for solving the syndicates problems or made to undergo extra training as the groups regime is want to do from time to time??

I'll buy them a beer, lol :}

The 'lucky' shareholder is lucky in more ways than one ;)

[Ejector]

Pictures Please :ok:

[bentleg]

Pictures Please http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/thumbs.gif


Of NBE here (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Piper-PA-28-181-Archer/0489394/L/&sid=3838ff2c24ec0ef2585ef7f6a808dd43) (but not of the accident)

[VH-XXX]

I have seen pictures but can't post for copyright reaons.

Fuselage mostly intact and very survivable. Engine seemingly attached but about 20 degrees off centre. About 40 degrees of dihedral on one wing and none on the other. Prop in-tact, missing some paint on the end at the rear but may have already been like that.

Undercarriage retracted :-)

[Jabawocky]

An Archer with optional extras :E

[Tonym3]

For a bloke whose headed down there in a couple of weeks, can anyone tell me what makes Killiecrankie a planekiller. Forewarned is forearmed they say. Tnx.

[flywatcher]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Killiecrankie, it is just a normal country strip and should be treated as such, with normal diligence and caution. There have been many thousands of uneventful operations there over the years and with due regard to slight upslope and a slightly cluttered approach you should have no problems. I have been in and out with most GA aircraft, from Supercubs, 172s, 182s, 210, 337 and Pa-31, depending on the smoothness of the surface at the time, and would rate it a long way better than most of the island strips. This advice is worth exactly what you are paying for it.

[evilducky]

Interesting that this hasn't shown up in the news anywhere... perhaps the papers haven't gotten wind of it yet?

[flywatcher]

Tony3m and others, after reading my post a couple of times I feel a bit like I have come across as a smarta**e know all. This was certainly not my intent and I was trying to reassure you that Killiekrankie is not that bad, unless you have a full load and no wind. Have a good look first, try to keep the weight down for your first landing, and all should be well. You should, of course, ring the owner first and he will give you a good rundown, he knows what he is talking about.
Hope you didn't take it the wrong way, when I read it a day later I didn't like how I sounded either. Apologies.

[Aussie Bob]

Flywatcher, I think your post is a gem :ok:

[Tonym3]

Fly

I didn't read your comment in the manner you describe. It was a good response for me. I had expected that the strip wouldnt be particularly unusual but a prang or too tends to make a bloke ask the question.

Thanks for the response.
Tony

[VH-XXX]

unless you have a full load and no wind

Sounds interesting!!! That would imply that it isn't very long or has quite a slope. I wonder if the insurance companies have surveyed it as most have a clause that they won't pay out on unlicensed strips unless they are surveyed. You are right though it can't be that bad as Chieftans fly in there.

[Fantome]

Used it many times on flights up from Slowbart for the BOM on trips to check the AWIS at Whitemark and rain reporters all over the Furneaux Group. Great days. Go for a dip at Palana near Killiecrankie in mid- winter semi tropical! The odd run across to Deal Island was always a bonus . .. now there was a strip guaranteed to keep you on your toes.

In the Wilderness Air flight office in Strahan in the mid 80s there was a big poster size colour blowup pic on the wall of one of the partners that founded the company (Outback Air to be precise) On an earlier occasion he had flown over to Killiecrankie from Moorabbin in something like an Archer or a Warrior. His 'portrait' with the pranged plane in the shrubbery behind him had him with a big cheesy grin on his dial with both arms outstretched in the style of those wartime shots of RAF types standing in front of their disasters, as much as to say -

ALONE. . . I DID IT!

[VH-XXX]

Anyone for a down-wind landing?

http://members.iinet.net.au/~bc_j400/yfli1.jpg

[VH-XXX]

and another one...

http://members.iinet.net.au/~bc_j400/yfli2.jpg

[Old Akro]

Sad. It was a good aeroplane.

[Ramjet555]

Killiecrankie is beautiful place, and wonderful people.
It's a long time since I flew there as I've been overseas for over 20 years.


Killiecrankie is notorious for extremely strong cross winds, the ridge to
the side of the strip while creating a shield, creates a lot of turbulence and the winds can change viciously or be blowing a gale as
Bass Straight is famous for.

Expect cross winds, phone before hand, and get the weather conditions
first hand.

I don't know if they monitor a radio but the should work. If
you are going there, odds are they will be picking you up.

It's a magic place and I can't wait to go stay there again for a few days.

[fullboost]

Not much speculation on what actually happened yet. A down wind landing was mentioned but on that morning there seemed to be a good brisk easterly around Flinders. Aborted take off maybe ?

[Tonym3]

Takeoff with full flaps? Looks like a landing incident to me.

[VH-XXX]

How can I rephrase it...? A tail-wind landing !

[fullboost]

Well if it was a tail wind landing he must have landed extremely short as he was on the eastern end. Still only assuming that the wind was the same direction as it was not that long after the event.

[43Inches]

I've seen results similar to this in a number of cases where the pilot has arrived too fast or with tail wind. They try to force the aircraft on the ground with significant forward control, it rides up on the nose-wheel which has two effects, one, braking becomes ineffective and two, directional control is lost. Eventually if you continue this way the nose-wheel simply gives up and breaks off and the aircraft ends up where-ever it wants to go.

The simple way to avoid it is to set a landing aim point and fly an accurate approach speed. The whole approach ensure the aim point and airspeed are maintained with an appropriate flight path, if anything gets out of tolerance go-round and think about what went wrong.

Never push forward on the control to force the aircraft to land. In a lot of light aircraft this just results in all the weight on the nose-wheel and the mains carrying very little or worse still airborne resulting in no brakes and no steering. With soft dirt or sand fields this is even more important. If the aircraft is experiencing significant balloon or float then it has way too much airspeed and a go-round should be safe.

There is always the possibility of strong windshear around Flinders I due to the terrain.

The field in question is over 1000m (book says 1400m) so should easily be able to accommodate a max weight Archer.

[VH-XXX]

43inches - your entire post is based on common sense.... There's not much of it left these days!

[Tonym3]

For what it's worth and to round out the thread, I took the pretty fully loaded Saratoga into and out of Killiecrankie last week and can report that the strip is in excellent condition, having been recently gravelled, and it is certainly all of the 1400 metres. The big winds seem to be westerly and, although we found some turbulence on final, I didn't find it particularly challenging (and I am no master).

The word from the locals about the incident was pretty much as described by 43inches.

I can highly recommend it as a destination for those interested in simple camping next to a beautiful beach with very few tourists, super friendly locals, and plenty of nice walking to be done. Campsite is about a 2.5 km walk from the strip but I reckon you'd be unluckly not to get a ride - we did.

The only other camper when we were there between Christmas and New Year was a bloke who had paddled his sea-kayak in from Wilsons Prom.

And they called me mad for flying overwater in a single!