CH 4 now...2000-2100 search for Steve Fosset
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Repeated now at 2100 on Sky 135.......well worth watching, never realised he was flying a Super Decathlon when he went missing! 
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It may also become available through the channel 4 i-player
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-mystery-of-the-nevada-triangle/4od#3019337
The Mystery of the Nevada Triangle
"In September 2007 Sir Richard Branson's friend, the record-breaking aviator Steve Fossett, disappeared on a pleasure flight. . . "
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-mystery-of-the-nevada-triangle/4od#3019337
The Mystery of the Nevada Triangle
"In September 2007 Sir Richard Branson's friend, the record-breaking aviator Steve Fossett, disappeared on a pleasure flight. . . "
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It wasn't too bad for a TV programme...
For me the interesting bit was a comment by one of the searchers, near the end, where she said that (paraphrasing, IIRC) while he had loads of hours, most of his well publicised flying was substantially supported by other people and he wasn't experienced as a solo pilot in mountain conditions.
This makes the mountain wave / turbulence explanation much more believable. I think a lot of people would not accept it because all they saw were his 100,000 or whatever hours so "he must have been a brilliant pilot".
I also cannot believe he would have walked (or crawled) out of wreckage of which the biggest piece was about 2ft long.
For me the interesting bit was a comment by one of the searchers, near the end, where she said that (paraphrasing, IIRC) while he had loads of hours, most of his well publicised flying was substantially supported by other people and he wasn't experienced as a solo pilot in mountain conditions.
This makes the mountain wave / turbulence explanation much more believable. I think a lot of people would not accept it because all they saw were his 100,000 or whatever hours so "he must have been a brilliant pilot".
I also cannot believe he would have walked (or crawled) out of wreckage of which the biggest piece was about 2ft long.
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Yes, I wondered about that and whether the comment by the 'bear' man .."Bears are lazy and wouldn't drag the body all that way" might have been in the spirit of maintaining the myth of the man. But then again we could be wrong.
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Really interesting programme. Does the Super Decathlon really only have a max climb rate of 3kts though?
Comments about Mountain Wave were interesting although I suspect it's unlikely that this would cause the pilot to CFIT. Something that wasn't mentioned about such conditions is rotor turbulence...and I'd suspect that's rather more likely. Having soared in the Sierra Nevadas I know what the conditions can be like and I can well believe it'd cause someone major grief if they were low level in a mountainous area.
Comments about Mountain Wave were interesting although I suspect it's unlikely that this would cause the pilot to CFIT. Something that wasn't mentioned about such conditions is rotor turbulence...and I'd suspect that's rather more likely. Having soared in the Sierra Nevadas I know what the conditions can be like and I can well believe it'd cause someone major grief if they were low level in a mountainous area.
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+300fpm at 10k feet is probably average for a relatively low power non turbocharged spamcan type. I think my TB20 would manage maybe +600fpm but it has 250HP to start with. A normal ~250HP turbo tourer would do +1000fpm (my sea level climb rate) all the way to 15k-20k.
The problem is that if your optimal (test pilot determined) climb rate is just +300fpm, the plane will be not far from stall up there, and controllability is not all that great. It's a bit like practicing slow flight in a C150 at 50kt
You don't really want too much turbulence...
The problem is that if your optimal (test pilot determined) climb rate is just +300fpm, the plane will be not far from stall up there, and controllability is not all that great. It's a bit like practicing slow flight in a C150 at 50kt
You don't really want too much turbulence...
