I think you could definitely say this was a close call!

[462]

A Kiwi pilot ran out of fuel and managed to land on a narrow sand bar. Friends helicoptered in fuel and he managed to take off in what you could definitely say was a close call with the wheels virtually skimming the water! Well done that man! Hope the video runs in your area:

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/03/nelson-pilot-runs-out-of-fuel-mid-flight-lands-on-sandbar.html

[pulse1]

If his engine "stopped dead", why is the prop still turning at the end of his landing run and as he taxied onto the higher ground?

[462]

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/960x540/sandbar_takeoff_7708de6b6c31927776c321f144f7af08244d4df1.jpg

[462]

pulse 1 you win the prize!

Actually I think it most probable his colleagues that flew in the fuel took the pics after refueling and during the test runs. Newshub would have bored the viewers if they had said that was not actual landing footage! Lets face it I think it unlikely anyone with a suitable camera would have happened to have been there at the time - check that out with the latter footage from a different angle.

[Big Pistons Forever]

WOW 😳

All I can say is don’t be that guy !

I sure hope the airplane got a really really good rinse after the salt water bath.

Totally non standard and non approved but the trick for a soft field with absolutely no obstacles is to pitch up so the nose wheel is off the ground and when you hit 40 kts apply full flap. STAY in ground effect until the aircraft has accelerated to 55 and then flap 20 and start a gentle climb and clean up.

But to be clear this is where you have to use your superior skill to make up for an egregious failure to use superior judgement to avoid getting into the predicament in the first place

[ShyTorque]

Totally non standard and non approved but the trick for a soft field with absolutely no obstacles is to pitch up so the nose wheel is off the ground and when you hit 40 kts apply full flap. STAY in ground effect until the aircraft has accelerated to 55 and then flap 20 and start a gentle climb and clean up.
But to be clear this is where you have to use your superior skill to make up for an egregious failure to use superior judgement to avoid getting into the predicament in the first place

In a 152, OK. But do NOT try full flap in a Cessna 150.

[Pilot DAR]

I'm unconvinced that the story is exactly as reported. Landing a 152 on the beach attracted attention, but landing a helicopter carrying fuel in did not get video'd? As already noted, 'ran out of gas, but had enough to taxi around once down?

[Big Pistons Forever]

In a 152, OK. But do NOT try full flap in a Cessna 150.

The last time I had to do the full flap thing was in a C 150. The field was so muddy the aircraft would not accelerate past 40 kts. Full flap picked it out of the mud and I was just able to keep it in the air until I could get it to a safe speed. The strip ended at a beach which opens to a bay so there were absolutely no obstacles otherwise I would not have tried it.

[Pilot DAR]

In a 152, OK. But do NOT try full flap in a Cessna 150.

As they left the factory, a 150 is a more capable soft field performer than a 152 - any flap setting. The 40 flap of a 150 will get the plane off the surface sooner, though the plane must be accelerated in ground effect before climbing at all. Generally, 150's had "climb" props (so greater thrush at slow speed) so got out well, and would climb with full flaps if required ('cause you blew the flap motor fuse). The 152 flaps were limited to 30, as I suspect Cessna no longer cared to have their trainer be like a bush plane. And, the 152 had a quite different prop, for better cruise. But, the cruise prop gave the plane lackluster soft field performance. My first experience taking 152's into grass runways I had commonly used in 150's was alarming. But, in fairness, Cessna did not design the 152 to so that. full flap takeoffs are not approved by Cessna, and if you got yourself in there to need that technique, you should have known better to begin with - as this pilot should. The adrenaline rush of a beach landing is briefly cool, but the risk of it going wrong is very high. Like snow, there are certain techniques in testing the surface, before you commit to landing there.

[Dan_Brown]

It's not a crime to have an accident but it is a crime to "run out of fuel", in most cases.

[RatherBeFlying]

Have gotten a C-172 with full tanks, 10° flaps and four aboard off dry sand. Yes the field was licensed.

​​​​​The trick was letting the nosewheel down to just above said sand once airspeed alive.

​​​​​​No worry about stopping if I decided to abort.