I've flown under power lines before, intentionally, they spanned across the river we were operating out of, and were very high. The trick is to not hit them when above or below, ie don't use the through option. Flying under a normal power line on farmland, hmm, good luck sighting the single wire between the poles, your eyes are better than mine, and without sighting you are guessing how much sag is in the line between poles.

I know one account of a C152 hitting powerlines from below (single wire farm line), ripped a few feet out of the leading edge but flung it back into the sky, and they made it back to the airport using full power just above the stall.

This talk about trusting the unit when low among hills without having RAIM protection shows a lack of understanding of the drawbacks of GPS, like any other navaid.
I understand the drawbacks of GPS perfectly well, thank you! Suggest you re-read the last sentence in my post! Here it is, as you seemed to have missed it!

[QUOTE]I am NOT advocating the routine use of handheld GPSs or iPhone/iPad as anything other than backup - but when you have screwed up and your life is on the line, I would not hesitate to take my chances that one could save my skin![/QUOTE]

The main issue I'm pushing here is that while these fancy new screens, instruments and devices have merit they can also lure you into thinking you are somehow safer if such an event happens. This means that the user may be willing to take greater risks and push on in conditions beyond what they would normally bug out on if they were in a basic steam driven aircraft. This is what I pointed out earlier with the many Cirrus pilots that have been caught out in the US and so on.

The truth is unless you have practiced and maintain some currency in this emergency procedure you will inevitably pannick and get stuck in some half arsed maneuver and lose control of your aircraft. It all sounds easy, just have the screens, some devices, just do this if I enter cloud, It will be so straight forward. NO IT WON'T! Unless you have strict discipline to follow a well thought out escape plan it will still be pure luck if you survive. And lets be honest, if you were that great pilot in the first place, you would not put yourself in the situation to start with.

I can't believe the bull**** debates that's going on here about pilots flying into IMC when they must be flying visually, no matter their experience, aircraft type they are flying, type of operation or country they are flying in. The ground will always kill you when you smack into it when you have lost SA rooting around in the ****!! Who the hell tough you people to fly, licence from a wheat bix box?

There are only a few survival rules in aviation, and this is one of them. Have you people ever seen a pilot and passengers splattered in a wreckage after a CFIT accident? I have and it wasn't pleasant, and I knew the pilot!!!

Re flying under power lines; years ago I did a stint of 'bird chasing.' :E No,you lot, It isn't what you think!.:=

It was chasing Crows out of Almond Orchards and to carry out this Operation required a Low Level Endorsement, which from memory consisted of at least 15 hours dual and about the same amount ICUS, all flown about 15 feet above tree top!

One of the things the Checking Instructor made me learn, was how to fly under power lines. I clearly remember doing it twice with the Checkie on board and then being required to go out and do it solo.

Learning this technique has benefited me more than once.:ok:

But returning to the subject ;
, Duck Pilot's original observations could be expressed as "You have no business being IMC below LSALT unless on a published Instrument Approach,'' and that says it all really.

Any further comment is irrelevent.

If only it were that simple!

I don't know what to say if someone with 40+ years of experience decides to fly below clouds in IMC.

Could this be related to difficulties and hurdles when obtaining and maintaining instrument rating in Oz ?

​​​​​​Instead of discouraging pilots to obtain IR, maybe try the opposite.

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This has been out a while - watch from the the 2:30 on ..........

Bloody hell, that's disturbing.

As are some of the comments about how modern avionics can get you out of trouble if you choose to scud run instead of planning properly to avoid being in that situation. To push on into weather that is not VMC is a command decision. The consequences are all your own.

Helicopter ten commandments I've just received. Item 8 applies to our fraternity as it does your FW, and a few others also. I'd have to say scud running is the major cause of helo accidents.

1. Keep always thine RPMs, for without them the gates of heaven shall close to thee, and though shalt pass directly to Brick City.
2. Guard thy tail rotor as thy loins; it is a sacred thing and its loss maketh the earth spin, and rise up and smite thee.
3. Pickest thou up and sittest thou down with great care lest thy machine roll in the mud like the swine and makest thou an impoverished pedestrian.
4. Loadeth not thy machine unevenly or excessively, lest thou wander and stumble like the braying ass.
5. Run not thy fuel or oil dry, for surely it is easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a fool to autorotate into the wilderness.
6. Linger not in the curve of the deadman, for it tempteth fate, and shall bring thee back pain.
7. Swoop not low without good reason, for many are the snares of Edison and Bell; their wires yieldeth not, and maketh thee a yo-yo.
8. Loseth not sight of the earth if thou are not a master of the black art of “hard IFR”, else thy machine shall seek the earth without thy counsel, and thy friends shall mourn the passing of a fool.
9. Loseth not thy Gs for the sake of a pushover or other folly, lest thy blades shall smite thee, and journey on without thee.
10. Descendeth not without airspeed, for the air beneath thee is wrathful, and wouldst conspire with the granite to swallow thee up, far from the seeing eye of SAR.

Some years ago the Jab I regularly fly hit a powerline, on short final (where else?). Apparently a wheel snagged a wire, and pulled the wire off one pole, and bent the other. The jab came to a sudden stop a bit like a carrier landing, with the lucky pilot shaken but largely OK. The jab was patched up and flies fine. As for me, I'm well aware of that power line and keep my distance.

Love those rules, and yes many also apply to FW.

I still can’t get my head around the idea that a guy with 40 plus years of experience doesn’t have the self confidence to just say “sorry, we can’t get through. We’re turning around and landing at ZZZ have a chicken parmi at the pub and try again tomorrow morning”.

Lucille:
”It looks a little dark up ahead but the area forecast is fine.”

‘’’The cloud ceiling is dropping a little but it’s dead flat up ahead once I’m out of this valley”.

”There is plenty of room to deviate around that whisp of cloud in front. I can still maintain VMC”.

”The cloud is on top of the hills but I can still see the ground on track ahead of me. I’m still 100 percent safe, this isn’t scud running”.

”If I manouver around this cloud, I will remain VMC and I should have open skies ahead once again”.

”There is sunlight the other side of this cloud in front, that means I’m almost out of this stuff if I can get around it in VMC.”

Or so I thought. I’m one of the lucky ones. I will never take that seductive, lethal, invitation again.

I wasn’t aware that we had the ATSB report determining what happened ?








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You only have to make one. All those times you made the right decision? They don't count.

We know WHAT happened - its the HOW and WHY that remain to be determined!

?

…The language police have arrived..:=


I’d better not go putting me comma’’s in the wrong place then.





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