Light aircraft down in Dundee

[Munnyspinner]

Vince,

again you have shown courtesy and restraint - where others haven't. I am getting a better picture of the latter stages of you flight, based on you last post. Dundee and Perth are both well known to most pilots in Scotland and many from the south too. However, you did not have the benefit of that local knowledge , which would have perhpas made a big difference.

I think there are lessons to be learned by many current and future PPLs in examining you flight and for that reason I think it is very helpful that you have taken the time , at this time of personal bereavement, to answer all questions very fully. This is an open forum and not a court of law you may be judged by the posters here ( harshly by some) but, as you say, much of that is based on hearsay evidence and supposition.

In considering the details available and ignoring the flight from the point your motor conked out, I think the lessons are.

Plan for more than one contingency - Your focus on Dundee may have seemed logical but, given the plethora of great airfields available, shown on the charts and in Pooleys your decision to go there looks dogmatic when you had no better knowledge of Dundee than anywhere else. Consider your alternatives.

Expect crap weather - long flights cannot be carried out without encountering variable weather conditions. From your own reports I think you were really pushing your luck spotting through the holes - at 7000', over unfamiliar territory , visual navigation isn't that easy when you can't see the whole picture. I suspect this contributed to your difficulties around Edinburgh where VRPs are easy to find - unless you don't know where you are.

Take decisions early - In continuing your flight to the North, past Perth, you eroded further your margin. This is perhaps academic but what if Dundee had been closed down by Haar, a training accident or you had to hold to allow for an inbound commercial movement - this used to be the norm. There was no way you would have made Kinloss without stopping, given that it had already taken 2 hours ( your words) to reach Edinburgh form Barrow ( a little over half way?) as soon as you were over the Forth you should have been making plans to divert. be that to Dundee or Perth. The goto button on my satnav is a preferred way of doublechecking my own maths and is handy but NOT my primary means of VFR navigation equipment.

If in doubt ask. Dundee was not familiar to you using only Pooleys and a 1:500000 chart you will be able to see that the airfiled is next to a River ( technically the biggest ( by volume) in the UK, which makes it pretty unmissiable ( even throuh holes in the cloud) If you were given a long final on 28 ( or is it 27 now?) that is going to put you well t o the east and, as you say you were joining from the North. The VRP at Broughty Castle is visible from well to the North as the land slopes down towards the water and there is nothing in the way. The Tay is only about 1nm wide until you get closer to the city and , from memory, if you aim at the centre of the road bridge you would be set up for a long final on the westerly runway. It sounds as if you hadn't go that far before the motor packed in and so this is academic. My only point is that If you don't know and airfield you should work out where things are well before you decide to land there. I would suggest that 10 mins with pooleys and a chart on the ground is going to make more of a difference to you than trying to look up the details whilst flying, descending, talking on the radio and trying to figure out where you are. ATC at Dundee have always been very helpful and if the tower knew you were unsure of your position they might have given you a few helpful hints. Maybe 10W can suggest whether this is good advice.

Question your own decisions - not as in what Biggles would have done but, just run through the what ifs one more time.

Finally, I don't know why a simple engine failure and survivable crash has attracted such vilification on this site. Even you walked away unscathed! However, if the circumstances of your transit throught the Scottish TMA over Edinburgh have been reported accuratley I suspect that your conduct of the whole flight does leave something to be desired. I would reflect on that and maybe try flying with a few different instructors in your new mount and listen to their feedback.