Bembridge Accident

[Whiskey Bravo]

Appears that all of the occupants thankfully escaped unscathed, but there could be some useful learnings from this accident:

Light aircraft crashes at Bembridge Airport - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-35586216)

The aircraft appears to be locally based and the weather this morning was benign along the south coast. In windy conditions the approach on 30 can be 'interesting' but that can't have been a factor today. Very odd.

[Sallyann1234]

A little more information here:
Isle of Wight: Plane crash at Bembridge Airport, (http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/plane-crash-at-bembridge-airport-94048.aspx)

[Maoraigh1]

Could the runway be soft enough for the nose wheel to dig-in?

[Sallyann1234]

It should be a pretty firm runway. This was the former Britten-Norman base so used for much heavier aircraft.

[3wheels]

And it's made of concrete!:rolleyes:

[The Ancient Geek]

It takes a lot to invert a 172 with 4 people on board.
Possibly left the runway and dug into soft grass ?

[ShyTorque]

Two observations: From the photos, the nose wheel looks to be heavily discoloured by mud.

Secondly, according to the report, the pilot was on board :D

[3wheels]

Oh shy torque.....pleaseeee let them carry on, they are doing soooooo well!

[AndoniP]

Can you still land on the grass strip alongside the main concrete runway?

[Corsairoz]

I've used Bembridge a good few times in AA5's and PA-28's in my flying past. The runway is pretty narrow, and if the wind is in the right direction some strong variations from the trees can pull you around.
I almost left the runway on more than one occasion myself to be honest :)

C

[tmmorris]

Two observations: From the photos, the nose wheel looks to be heavily discoloured by mud.

Secondly, according to the report, the pilot was on board :D

To be fair I think they meant the pilot was a local...

[Flying_Anorak]

Irrespective of wind direction I've never made a landing at Bembridge I'm completely happy with! There's a hump in the hard IIRC and the grass (between the hard and the excellent Propller Inn) used to be used by the gliding club.

[GlenQuagmire]

I have only been there in a citation but I don't remember it being any more difficult that any other small airfield. If islanders and citations can get in, a 172 shouldn't struggle, especially on a half decent day

[flybymike]

Last I heard the propeller inn had closed, possibly permanently.

GA facilities seem to be collapsing around us.

[the_flying_cop]

Our defender got in there on many occasions without issue. Getting out was more of a challenge!

[9 lives]

Isn't a Defender a kind of Land Rover?

[the_flying_cop]

Step Turn, in case you were not having a good wheeze, the defender was the 'posh' stretched turbine version of the islander.

Made the same racket as a Land Rover mind ;)

[9 lives]

Ah yes, found it! Very cool! I once saw a Turbine Islander at Farnborough, but they did not seem to have a presence in North America. Shame, probably a great plane, I sure enjoyed flying the piston version.

I suppose Land Rover's marketing has been more effective than Britten Norman's!

[sablatnic]

Land Rover?!?

In the good old days it came out as Trabant when we wrote Land Rover. What is happening to this forum?

Test: Land Rover LandRover land rover l a n d r o v e r

Anyway - that "funny" seems to have gone away. But laser still comes out "funny".

[chevvron]

I went to Bembridge with Peter Cadbury once in his Islander, dropping off a couple of BN people who'd delivered the aircraft (GBESO) to Preston Candover after maintenance. We took off for the return journey on the BN tarmac strip north of the present paved runway which is now a taxiway, the paved runway having not yet been built!

[flybymike]

That looks incredibly short. Maybe 300 metres?

[chevvron]

Probably; piece of p1ss for an Islander. The 'old' Lerwick (Shetlands) strip was a similar length and had a stone barn at the end; Loganair had a special 'mod' approved which gave them (I think) 15 deg extra flap for PT flights.
We lined up on 19, the holding point being conspicuous as it was a huge patch of stinging nettles. Peter (the pilot) lowered full flap, then tripped the circuit breaker which gave him the extra flap, then it was full throttle against the brakes, yoke hard back, release brakes and it rotated after about 50yd, then check forward and climb away retracting the flaps slowly. Mind you we only had 2 passengers on board going to Unst so it was hardly overloaded.

[flybymike]

We lined up on 19, the holding point being conspicuous as it was a huge patch of stinging nettles. Peter (the pilot) lowered full flap, then tripped the circuit breaker which gave him the extra flap, then it was full throttle against the brakes, yoke hard back, release brakes and it rotated after about 50yd, then check forward and climb away retracting the flaps slowly.
Surely the extra flap was for landing not take off?

[the_flying_cop]

the approach over the cliffs certainly focussed the mind too!

[DeRated]

The electric flap settings are 0, take-off (10), Full (30). Selecting flaps down from the take-off setting would run them to 30 but if you pull the CB they will stop and remain at that position. Resetting the CB doesn't re-start the flap motor until the flap selector switch is activated (in either direction).

I've used 20 degrees to haul out of PNG mud, then using the CB eased them up to Take-off setting. Need to know by feel where the CB is....! (2nd row, 6th from the right if a 1981 memory is correct)