Cessna 150-152 Pilot · 14/09/2010 · bers will continue to receive excellent customer service. It has been a genuine pleasure to participate in the lead-ership of The Cessna 150-152

Bad Landings Page 13

ISSN 0747- 4712

www.cessna150152.com

Official Newsletter of the Cessna 150-152 Club. (541) 772-8601

Cessna 150-152 Pilot

2 Passing the Baton A New Staff for the New Decade 4 Divine Intervention, A Cautionary Tale The Day the Almighty Watched Over Me 5 Jan and Amy The Final Chapter England to Australia on 100 Horsepower 10 An Oil Fable In the Beginning It Was Crude 11 UK Family Postcard Flying Traditions on an Old English Family Farm 13 An Accidental Education NTSB Reports in Plane English

November / December 2010 Volume 30 Number 6 Electronic Edition

On Aussie Soil Page 9

English Dad’s Joy Page 11

The Cessna 150-152 Club was founded in 1981 by Skip Carden. Skip published about one hundred, six page, copies of the first edition of Cessna 150-152...News on a photocopier, because computer publishing was still pro-hibitively expensive in those days. As the years went by, Mr. Carden was able to switch over to computer publish-ing, the subscriber list grew to over 2,000, and the “News” became a 16 page monthly publication. When Skip Carden retired as editor in December 1999, he had published an astounding 3,840 pages of relevant Cessna 150-152...News over a 20 year span. Much had changed in 20 years. When the News was first published, the Cessna 152 was still being produced, and the internet was still 15 years from being introduced to the general public. Skip passed the editorial baton to yours truly in January of 2000, when we were all breathing a collective sigh of relief that life as we knew it had not come crashing to a halt because of Y2K. My background was quite different than Skip Carden’s. For starters, I was a far less experi-enced pilot, and had only owned my Cessna 150 for a couple of years. Skip was a C150-152 expert with more than 20 years of experience, and I was a newbie, in no position to offer solid advice to pilots and owners with more ownership and flying experience than myself.

I determined early on that I would need to make up for my relative lack of experience by doing a lot of re-search, and I started by reading every single word of all 240 editions of the Cessna 150-

152… News Skip had published. Though my knowledge of the airplanes was limited, I did have internet exper-tise, having developed databases for websites, and own-ing an internet hosting company. The Cessna 150-152 Club did not have a website when I joined in 1998, and so I built one with Skip’s guidance. Our successful launch of the Club website led Skip to conclude that the future of the Club would be largely electronic and inter-net based. He urged me to expand my responsibilities and take over as editor. My initial goal was to make every possible Cessna 150-

152 document available in electronic form accessible on the website. I began by converting all 20 years of the Cessna 150-152...News to digital versions, followed by digitizing all of the airworthiness directives, service bul-letins, and STC documents and making the results searchable in a database I named “Mama.” My initial turn at the helm of this publication was a rocky ride, I had not anticipated how labor intensive it would be to publish a 16 page newsletter, while simulta-neously running a data intensive website, and appearing as club representative at Sun n Fun and Oshkosh. Then on September 11, 2001, a lot changed for all us pilots in the space of a few sad hours. During the forced hiatus from flying after 9/11 I did a lot of thinking about the functional purpose of this newslet-ter. I began to realize that the effective role of the news-letter had changed. During the early years it was primar-ily a source of the most recent FAA Airworthiness Di-rectives and rulings, and Cessna Corporation’s Service Bulletins and maintenance documentation. Thanks to the internet, those time sensitive documents could now be published immediately, and could be indexed by their application to an individual model or serial number air-plane. If the primary purpose of the newsletter was no longer to provide readers with their first news about important technical or legal information, what should it be instead? I concluded that the newsletter should serve three basic purposes. It should provide useful upgrade information, it should inspire, and it should encourage members to meet up in person at fly-ins. With that in mind, I at-tempted to “reinvent” this publication, reformatting the layout, renaming it Cessna 150-152 Pilot, and switching to a bimonthly schedule. I knew that publishing time sensitive technical issues to the website would be the best way to get the word out rapidly, and rationalized that I would be able to take more time to research and develop useful and inspiring content for the newsletter. In the years since taking over, I feel satisfied that many of my goals to inspire have been met, and am particu-larly happy to have fostered and participated in many fly-ins and social gatherings, especially the annual gath-ering at Clinton, Iowa. Though I have enjoyed many of the upgrade research projects over the years, my focus has always been the website. As a result, I have found the bimonthly news-letter publishing schedule to be a challenge, and the deadlines difficult to meet. Readers will undoubtedly note that this is the November/December 2010 newslet-

Sun ‘N’ Fun 2001

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Cessna 150-152 Pilot - November / December 2010

Passing the Baton by Royson Parsons

ter which is being published in early February 2011. In fact, it has been many years since I have delivered a newsletter on time, a disappointment for which I offer my sincere apologies to all concerned. ( For the record, all subscribers are mailed six copies of this publication for each year subscribed, so you will continue to receive all copies owed, even if your subscription has run out. )

This brings us full circle, and time for another pass-ing of the edito-rial baton. After 11 years as editor, this 66th edition of Cessna 150-152 Pilot will be my last, Dan Me-ler of Medford,

Oregon is the new editor, starting with the January/February 2011 edition. For those who do not know Dan, he is more than quali-fied for the job, with many more years of flying experi-ence than myself, and has done extensive modifications to his own Cessna 150. ( It is a 1966 150 HP taildragger conversion.) Most importantly, I am confident that Dan will make on time publishing his #1 priority, in fact you should not be surprised to receive the January/February 2011 newsletter just days after receiving this one. Dan Meler is a long time Club member and a personal friend. This changing of the guard has been in the works for nearly a year. During that time we have discussed the important role that this newsletter plays in Club mem-ber’s flying lives. I have been extremely candid with Dan about my own experiences as editor, my strengths and weaknesses, and visions for the newsletter both real-ized and missed. I am greatly encouraged that Dan takes the responsibility of the job very seriously, and is re-solved to continue it’s legacy, but in a more timely man-ner than I have accomplished. I will continue to provide assistance to the Club in the areas where I have particular expertise such as the main-tenance of the various technical databases on the web-site. On a more personal note, it will be somewhat odd to not have this particular soapbox to stand on. During the last 11 years I have felt a particular kinship with you the readers, and like this farewell column, I have always felt as if I am writing to each of you individually. I will miss the opportunity to do so.

My wife, Lori, is also retiring from her role as the mem-bership coordinator, for her it is a notably bittersweet farewell. Lori’s social nature provided us both with many unexpected lifelong friendships with Club mem-bers. We are both resolved to spend more social time at Club gatherings in the future, we’ll look forward to min-gling in a more relaxed mode, now that we are no longer responsible for the outcome. Dan’s wife, Jo Ann, is the new membership coordinator, Dan no only has the good fortune to have married well, but also to a woman who is extremely organized and mo-tivated to provide excellent customer service. ( Jo Ann actually freelances as an “organize your life” coach! ) Lori recently told me that she had reservations about handing off the membership coordinator role, until she learned that Jo Ann Meler was the leading candidate for the job. Lori’s friendship with Jo Ann and Jo Ann’s awe-some organizational skills have made the passing of that baton a comfortable transition, knowing that club mem-bers will continue to receive excellent customer service. It has been a genuine pleasure to participate in the lead-ership of The Cessna 150-152 Club for 11 years of it’s 31 year history. We look forward to the enjoying the Me-ler’s contributions with you.

Cessna 150-152 Pilot (ISSN 0747-4712) is published bimonthly, by The Cessna 150-152 Club, P.O. Box 5298, Medford, OR 97502. Periodicals Postage paid at Atascadero, CA 93423, USPS 721970.

Annual Postal Subscriptions are $45, also available as an electronic internet based subscription for $35. Copyright ©2010. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited.

Postmaster, Send change of address to: Cessna 150-152 Club, PO Box 5298, Central Point, OR 97502 The information presented in this publication is from multiple sources from which The Cessna 150-152 Club cannot warranty or accept responsibility as to it's legality, completeness, or technical accuracy. Readers are reminded that United States Federal Air Regulations part 91 place primary responsibility for ensuring the airworthy condition of an aircraft on the owner and or operator. Any person who maintains, modifies, or otherwise changes an aircraft must do so in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations and applicable FAA regulations. Contacts: Telephone: (541) 772-8601 Website: www.cessna150152.com Email: Items for publication: [email protected] Email: General Inquiries, Membership, Requests for Technical Materials, Back Issues, etc: [email protected]

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In the SuperBat 2010

It was all very surreal – the sun was trying to break through at times, illuminating the area with an eerie glow. I was awe-struck the beauty of my surroundings at that moment, but honestly I became quite afraid. The situation was disorienting and I was worried about all these white walls suddenly clos-ing in around me, as I am not instrument rated. Then, as I be-gan to climb to avoid a cloud, I really did not like what I heard. As I began to advance the throttle, the engine began to cough and sputter. Slightly, but noticeably. Here – now – with no sight of the ground or emergency LZ’s! OK, don’t panic… I pulled the throttle back to where I had it before and the en-gine seemed happy there. It ran smoothly and everything seemed normal. Whew! Waterbury airport was coming up close on my Loran – 7 miles now. But I was way off course due to all my zig-zagging around the fluffies. How would I ever be able to see it?! Underneath me was an ocean of white. Then, as I was correcting to get back on course, I saw a very welcome sight ahead in the distance – an opening in the fog. As flew closer, I noticed what looked more and more like a runway on the ground. Sure enough! The hole had opened up just over the airport, exposing about two thirds of its runway. I couldn’t believe it – what a wonderful coincidence! Carb heat out… power back…, and I literally stood that little air-plane up on one of its wing tips, spiraling down toward my home base like a hungry vulture. Once I descended through about 700 feet, I went to add a little power to do a miniature pattern. And nothing happened. The engine, although still running, stayed at idle. I felt the adrena-line surge through my veins, but somehow I wasn’t that afraid anymore. I knew I had the field within gliding distance, and I had been practicing my engine outs like religion within the preceding weeks. Good thing my little 150 had an ace up its sleeve – forty degrees of flaps, guaranteed to make one emu-late the flight path of a meteor! Instinct took over. I turned base early, followed by an immediate final. This put me right over the runway’s threshold, but I was still a couple of hun-dred feet up. Down came the flaps and up at me came the ground! I had a nice, smooth landing about half way down the 5000 foot runway. With the engine still running at idle, I was able to taxi all the way back to my parking space. As I shut down and got out, I noticed that fuel was pouring out of the carburetor like a fau-cet! “Oh boy, this could’ve gotten ugly,” I thought. She could’ve ignited in mid-air. Or, if that engine had quit only a few minutes earlier, I would’ve had to try to make it through that low fog layer without instruments, and then attempt to find a field and set up an approach. Not an easy task. Think-ing about it is still pretty unpleasant. I stood there on the de-serted ramp alongside my airplane for a few moments, reflect-ing back on what had just happened. I was pretty ruffled for the rest of the day, but very grateful. The Almighty must’ve really been watching over me. I am now a much more humble and cautious pilot – the experiences of that day now play a role in almost every decision I make while flying.

April 9th, 2002 was one those days that truly humbled me. It was one of those turning points in life that makes one stop and think about how vulnerable we really are, and how this flying business is not to be taken lightly. Here’s the story. It started on April 8th, 2002, right around the time that the clock had “sprung” forward for spring. Excited over the “extra hour” of daylight, I decided to go up for a little local after-work flight. I had purchased my first airplane, a 1967 Cessna 150G a couple of months earlier, and was eager to fly it every chance I got. I departed Waterbury-Oxford air-port in Connecticut and headed west towards the Hudson River to explore some of the numerous grass strips there. The visibility was pretty poor and only grew worse as daylight began to fade. As I crossed over the border into New York near Brace Mountain, navigating became noticeably tougher. Had I turned back at this point, I would’ve probably made it back to Waterbury just in time. Instead, I decided to press for-ward, which I later realized was my first mistake. I was amazed at how quickly the last few traces of daylight had van-ished and how completely the darkness engulfed me. I was genuinely having trouble seeing. I had never been in a situa-tion like that before, and suddenly I realized how poor JFK Jr. must have felt. Fear was starting to build, but I somehow managed to keep a cool head. Luckily, I was barely able to make out the Hudson, and the lights of the City of Kingston in the distance. Knowing that there was an airport in Kingston, I made a beeline for the lights, and had an uneventful landing. There was absolutely no way that I was going to take off again under these conditions! I called a cab and spent the night at a motel close by. The next morning I had the owner wake me up early, had breakfast, and arrived back at the air-port before dawn. Calling the weather briefer didn't reveal a much better scenario today either. Patchy fog with a 2,000 foot overcast and 5 mile visibilities. However, things didn’t look too awful in my immediate area as the day dawned and I didn’t want to miss another day of work, so I decided to make a run for it. After takeoff it seemed like navigating wouldn’t be much of a problem – at least for the first few minutes. However, the fog turned out to be much more widespread than predicted, at least around my route. Soon I found myself flying VFR on top with very few glimpses of the ground. Once in a while a hole would open up underneath me, and trees and fields would slide past. “Boy, this would really be a bad time to lose that engine,” I thought. “Having to glide through that low layer without instruments and then trying to find a field and set up an approach in the couple of hundred feet underneath it is not something I want to do right now.” The overcast above me was also starting to disturb me. Sev-eral clouds appeared in my path that I had to circumvent, which made navigating tougher. Occasionally, the overcast above with the fog underneath and clouds on the sides would give the illusion of flying through this white, magical tunnel.

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The Day the Almighty Watched Over Me By George Berka


continued to deteriorate, by the time Jan arrived at Moulmein the airport was obscured by clouds. De-scending into the murk, Jan was warned about an obsta-cle in her path, it turned out to be a hilltop near the air-port, which she narrowly avoided. Spotting the runway through a hole in the clouds, Jan deployed full flaps and made a steep “dirty” descent to the airport. Jan was greeted by the local airport manager and his family, and sipped tea while awaiting a clearing of the weather. Fi-nally at 14:50 patches of blue sky became visible, and Jan once again took to the skies, headed for Bangkok.

Jan and Sunbird Amy were in smooth air at 9,000 feet over impenetrable rain forest mountains when suddenly everything took a turn for the worst. The afternoon air became violently turbulent, and Sunbird Amy was caught in a dramatic downdraft. Try as she might, Jan was unable to arrest the descent, even at full power and maximum club attitude, the VSI was stuck against the down limit. As the trees drew ever closer, Jan felt she terrified and certain that death was inevitable. To her

relief, the descent halted above the trees, and she was able to steer out of the moun-tains towards lower ground. The severe tur-bulence continued however. In the fright and chaos, Jan had lost contact with ATC in Bangkok. Having failed to reach her for nearly 90 minutes the authorities began to fear that Sunbird Amy had crashed in the mountain range west of Bangkok. All con-cerned were relieved when her blip showed up still airborne on the radar screen. Jan landed at Bangkok at 18:30, exhausted and shaken, but otherwise unharmed. Con-vinced that the Cessna 150’s engine was not operating to it’s capability, Jan re-solved to have it repaired before continuing on past Bangkok.

Indeed, engineers conducted a full exami-nation and found one cylinder had no com-pression due to a stuck valve. Jan had sur-vived her frightful descent in the mountains in spite of a heavy load of fuel and an en-gine producing only about 60% of it’s rated horsepower. Fortunately, the valve re-sponded to corrective measures, and her engine was pronounced healthy once again.

Unfortunately, the bill for repairs came to £700! (about $2,800 USD, when adjusted for inflation to 2010.) The invoice showed that six employees had spent a combined 192 hours repairing the airplane. Jan real-

(Continued on page 6)

In the last installment of the tale of our two brave avia-tor heroines, Amy Johnson had barely survived her de-parture from Haliloeli, on the island of Timor, having struck trees with her undercarriage on takeoff. Amy had just one more stop, at the town of Atamboea, before heading across the Timor Sea to Australia.

50 years later, Jan Schönburg’s progress had been de-layed once again by weather and bureaucracy. Having arrived safely in Rangoon, Burma 3,287 difficult nauti-cal miles remained between Sunbird Amy and Austra-lian soil.

Jan Schönburg’s next scheduled stop was Bangkok, Thailand by way of Moulmein, Burma. After submit-ting an astounding 14 general declaration forms, Jan was finally allowed to depart for Moulmein after a brief delay for weather. Enroute to Moulmein the weather

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Jan & Amy the Final Chapter England to Australia on 100 HP


Jan and Amy (Continued from page 5)

ized that either she was being seriously overcharged, or some mistake in calculation had occurred. After lengthy negotiations, the bill was adjusted to a more reasonable total. Between the billing snafu and poor weather, Jan ended up stuck in Bangkok for two full weeks. Austra-lia seemed further away than ever. 50 years earlier, Amy Johnson had arrived at Atamboea, on the island of Timor, her final landfall before a 400 nautical mile flight over water to Australia. The airstrip at Atamboea was most primitive, there were no hangars or other facilities, just a dusty unmarked runway. Amy set about to preparing her airplane for the long sea crossing with a basic engine “overhaul”. A couple of Portuguese soldiers were on hand to assist, but there was little in the way of proper workspace. There were two large iron casks of fuel, but they were literally rust-ing away, and there was no oil on hand. Amy and her helpers had to strain the fuel through chamois multiple times to catch all the rust particles, and she had to make due with the single spare gallon of oil she had brought along. It was miserable work without shade, and it con-tinued until long after dark. Saturday, May 24, 1930 dawned bright, and Amy re-ceived an encouraging telegraph from the Shell Oil company. The oil-tanker Phorus had been instructed to stand by on her course, midway between Atamboea and Darwin. Amy taxied to the far end of the runway to get the maximum take off run. Her taxiing created such a dust cloud that she had to wait for several minutes for it to settle so she could see her way clear to take off. Amy was frightened by the short length of the runway, and boundary trees at the end. With her full load of fuel she realized that this departure would be one of the most critical of her adventure. Amy said a small prayer, and pushed the throttle forward. Thursday July 10, 1980 6:45 am. After two full weeks of delay Jan and Sunbird Amy were able to depart Bangkok at last, bound for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was a flight of 715 nautical miles along the Malay pen-insula. The skies along her route were clear, a refresh-ing change. Jan landed in Kuala Lumpur after nearly 11 hours of drama free flying. It was encouraging progress, but once again Jan had run out of money thanks to her unexpected and lengthy delay in Thailand. Jan was able to make arrangements for the transfer of funds from England, with only one additional day’s delay. Jan departed Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, bound for Ja-karta, Indonesia, 661 nautical miles away. As usual,

weather and bureaucracy conspired to delay her depar-ture, by the time Sunbird Amy was airborne, it was ob-vious they would not make it to Jakarta until hours after nightfall. Reluctantly, Jan stopped at Singapore for the day, only 173 nautical miles closer to her goal. The following day Jan found herself nearly boiling over with frustration as she faced yet another bureaucratic delay. It had been a trying seven weeks since she set out from England on her adventure, it was becoming diffi-cult to remain patient. In her journal she noted that she had become like a dog who’s tail had lost it’s wag, find-ing even small humors difficult to laugh at. The flight from Singapore to Jakarta was another trying one, 488 nautical miles dodging pockets of thunderstorms. Near the end of the flight Jan found herself using the flame from an oil rig as an impromptu navigational beacon through murky skies. After landing in Jakarta, Jan found her spirits lifted. Out of her 9,500 mile goal, less than 1,600 miles stood between Jakarta and Australia. The next morning to her relief, Jan cleared customs in less than half an hour, thanks to the assistance of an representative from the British Embassy. Headwinds were strong and progress slow on the flight to Bali. The terrain below was mostly barren, little changed from when Amy Johnson had passed this way 50 years prior. As Jan flew over Surabaya, she saw the airfield Amy had used was now abandoned. The strong headwind reduced forward momentum to just 59 miles per hour. After eight and a half hours in the air, darkness set in, and with it, a crisis. Something was wrong with the cockpit illumination, Jan could not see her instruments in the dark, and changing fuses did not solve the prob-lem. Though she was able to check her instruments with a flashlight, she knew that if it failed she would not likely survive. It was pitch black outside, no moon, no stars, no reference to the flat sea below. Jan suppressed her urge to panic for the next forty minutes, hoping against hope that her flashlight batteries held up. As she approached the airport at Bali, Jan hears another aircraft in trouble on the frequency. It seems bad for-tune is in the air. She managed to remain calm on the radio, and felt an immense relief as she touched down on Runway 09 at Bali. At the hotel later, Jan treated herself to a rare stiff drink, still shaken by her ordeal in the black sky. Though she was anxious to leave in the morning, she realized that it would be another full day of flying to Kupang, Timor, and she would need to have her panel lighting repaired before setting out. Mechanics found a wiring fault in the overhead fixture, easily repaired, but

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rence, Amy assumed that the problem was fuel con-tamination. She worked the throttle furiously, hoping to dislodge whatever might be plugging her carburetor jets, and to her relief, the technique succeeded. Three hours into the flight, she spotted a column of smoke ris-ing from the sea, it turned out to be the Shell oil tanker Phorus, marking the halfway point of her flight. Wildly excited, Amy buzzed the ship, waving enthusiastically to sailors on the deck. The direction of smoke from the ship also provide a welcome clue to wind direction and speed, and she made a small course correction as a re-sult. Three more hours of flying passed with no sign of land, so Amy began to climb, hoping to improve her chances of spotting the coastline ahead. Finally she spotted what looked like a low cloud, but proved to be the Melville Isle, proof that Amy Johnson was now only an hour from Australia, 8,500 nautical miles and 20 days since leaving London. Jan Schönburg arouse at 6:00 am on the morning of July 17, 1980, her 73rd day since leaving London. Jan sensed the gravity of this critical day, she would fly along the southern coast of Timor Island to it’s eastern most point, thereby minimizing distance over treacher-ous shark infested waters. It would not be a short flight, 237 nautical miles along the Timor coast, then a further 326 nautical miles to Darwin. She estimated an average ground speed of 55 knots, so she would be in the air for more than 10 hours, out of gliding distance from any safe landing spot. The flight would stretch both her fuel and personal endurances to their limits.

Three hours into the flight, Jan made contact with an airline crew far above, and relayed her progress to ATC at Darwin. The controllers seemed surprised that she was near East Timor and yet still seven hours from Darwin. Jan attempted to climb over a building cloud formation, and found herself in IMC buck-ing turbulence and in heavy rain. It was a relief to break out into clear air on the other side of the buildup. Jan first began to pick up Dar-win transmissions when she was four hours out. Overcome by emotion she headed South East with tears streaming down her cheeks. Jan passed the time


all the same, Jan obtained an additional heavy duty flashlight for insurance. Jan departed Bali for Kupang, having been cautioned that the sea below was full of sharks. A cloud layer at 2,000 feet for most of the six hour flight gave her ample opportunity to spot numerous sharks in the waters be-low. As she approached Kupang she mentally prepared herself for Kupang’s infamous random strong cross-winds. True to form, the airplane reacted violently to turbulent air all the way to touch down. Kupang was the most isolated outpost of the entire trip, with no tele-phone by which to call ahead to Australia. Unbe-knownst to Jan, a newspaper in Darwin now speculated that she may be lost, having been out of contact for more than 24 hours. It was an eerie echo of Amy John-son’s experience from 50 years prior, newspapers speculating that Amy had been lost because she was out of contact for a day in the nearby town of Halilulik. 7:45 am Saturday, May 24, 1930. Amy Johnson cleared the trees at the end of the runway at Atamboea, Timor, and headed directly for Darwin. Within 15 minutes she was out of sight of land, she calculated she should reach Darwin in about 7 hours, but knew headwinds might seriously delay her progress. The sea below was calm, and she spotted isolated pockets of thunderstorms ahead, making a wide berth around them. Two hours into the flight her engine began to “sputter” ominously. Though frightening over shark infested seas, a rough running engine was not an especially unusual occur-

Amy Johnson’s final flight leg from Atamboea (present day Indonesia) direct to Darwin, about 405 nautical miles over the shark infested Timor Sea. The thinner line traces Jan Schönburg’s route to Darwin.

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Thousands of fan letters poured in the Johnson family home, popular songs about the aviatrix were penned, streets and schools were named in her honor. Amy Johnson embarked on an international tour where she was feted by Kings and Presidents. She became friends with Amelia Earhart, and Charlie Chaplain. On July 17, 1980 at 19:58 local time Jan Schönburg was on final approach to runway 11 at Darwin Interna-tional with her heart in her throat. Jan was well aware that her Cessna 150 flight from England to Australia would never capture the world’s attention as Amy John-son’s had half a century before. All the same, in the process of retracing Amy Johnson’s flight Jan Schön-burg had herself achieved something not matched be-fore or since, flying half way around the world in a 100 horsepower Cessna 150. Evidence of Jan’s admiration for Amy was all around, she had named G-AWAW “Sunbird Amy” and even had a photograph of Johnson displayed on the windscreen. Amy Johnson was still a heroine in Australia, well wishers awaiting Jan’s arrival were among the few who recognized the significance of Jan’s flight. Ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of Johnson’s flight were taking place all over Australia even as Sunbird Amy’s wheels touched down on Aus-tralian soil. After taxiing to a parking spot, Jan was congratulated by tower controllers, then several gentlemen attired in traditional Australian short trousers approached the air-plane and handed her a aerosol can of insecticide, which she was instructed to discharge in the airplane with the windows closed. After nearly 11 hours in the cockpit, it was surreal to sit there for a few minutes more, in a chemical fog, protecting the land down under from foreign insect invasion. Once allowed to disem-bark from the airplane Jan was greeted by friends and

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Jan and Amy (Continued from page 7)

by repeatedly running through her navigational calcula-tions. She now estimated that her ground speed was five knots better than expected. She looked down at the lonely waters below, glanced back at her inflatable din-ghy, and wondered if she would survive ditching if the engine should quit. The minutes ticked slowly by. An hour an a half from Darwin she was able to communi-cate with ATC directly, and then she picked up the VOR signal. ATC picked up Sunbird Amy on Radar at 85 nautical miles, and reported she was traveling at 60 knots groundspeed. Then for the first time in seven hours, Jan spotted land, Melville Island was directly un-derneath, partially obscured by haze. Jan’s impatience increased, she was intensely eager to get down onto Australian soil. 50 years prior, Amy Johnson too passed over Melville Island. Like Jan, Amy had been in the air for about ten hours before sighting land. Thirty minutes after crossing Melville Island, Amy touched down at the airdrome in Darwin, and into the history books. She had not broken the Bert Hinkler’s England to Australia record, but no one seemed to notice, she was immediately recognized as the premier female aviator, becoming an instant world wide celebrity.

Amy Johnson in Darwin May 24, 1930

Amy Creates a Stir Everywhere She Appears


originally expected to fly Sunbird Amy home by the same route she had come, but realized that the deterio-rating political situation in the middle east and short-ness of funding made that impossible. It was eventually arranged for the airplane to be disassembled and shipped home in the cargo hold of a British Airways 747. Though the flight did not bring Jan Schönburg fame and fortune, it did not go unnoticed by the aviation community at large. Jan story was featured in several aviation publications and she was even awarded the prestigious Barbazon Cup by no less than Prince Charles himself!

Upon her return to “normal” life in England, Jan Schön-burg worked once again as a nurse while studying for her commercial pilot’s license. The trip had practically ruined Jan financially, G-AWAW had been leased for the flight, the freight bill home and reassembly had been extraordinarily expensive. Jan had to sell her home and for a time lived in a tent in East London. During these darkest of times her spirits were often sus-tained by fellow pilots from the UK and Australia who encouraged her to carry on. Jan persevered, and ob-tained her commercial pilots license after two hard years of struggle. She went on to a satisfying career as a transport pilot. In 1993 she published a memoir of the flight She Who Dares Succeeds. In recent years Jan Schönburg won a daunting battle with cancer, and re-tired from commercial flying. Jan participated in the 2010 Cessna 150-152 Club salvation of G-AWAW, which had resided for many years in London’s Science Museum, and is now under restoration by Club volun-teers in Florida. She Who Dares Succeeds is now being republished in paperback and will be available in the Cessna 150-152 Club store in the Spring of 2011.

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city officials, given flowers and champagne, and hand-shakes all around from dozens of well wishers, many who had been anxiously anticipating her arrival for sev-eral weeks. Jan spent the next few weeks attending various Amy Johnson commemorative events and making new friends all around the Australian continent. She had

Jan Schönburg Arrives in Darwin July 17, 1980


In the beginning there was oil, and it was crude. And then chemists passed over the crude, and it became re-fined and golden. But it was weak when hot and slug-gish when cold. So the chemists invented Viscosity Im-provers and called it "Multigrade". And it was good. But chemists were bored with Nature. They sought to improve the oil, so they invented Synthetic Oil and called it Mobil AV-1. It lubricated at high and low tem-peratures, it was better, and they gave it unto the masses. And there was much rejoicing. Then like a plague of locusts, the planes descended from the skies as the oil became fouled. And the masses revolted, and the chemists took back their product. And the chemists studied in their Ivory Tower, for they feared the masses gathered below with their lawyers and papers. The chemists learned that although their Synthetic was a better oil, it was a horrible cleanser. So they combined the Natural and the Synthetic, and called it AeroShell 15W-50. It lubricated at high and low temperatures, and it kept the engines clean, it was much better, and they gave it unto the masses. And there was much rejoicing. I recently read through Aviation Consumer's test of aviation oils. Here's the Reader’s Digest version: Use AeroShell 15W-50. Here's the longer answer: Any oil you use will be good enough. None are 'bad' or 'dangerous'. However, the AeroShell 15W-50 in their tests seems to have the best lubrication and corrosion protection properties. Exxon Elite is equal in corrosion protection, but not nearly as good in lubrication (Exxon disputes those test results). The better lubrication may be due to AeroShell's semi-synthetic mix, since synthetic oils are very good at lu-brication. Surprisingly, the multi-weight oils (ie. 15W-50) were better at corrosion protection than the straight-weight oils (ie. 100AD). This is surprising for the following reason. 15W-50 oil is really 15-weight oil with additives that make it be-have like a 50-weight oil would when hot. But when things cool off, 15W-50 goes back to being a thin 15-weight oil. Conventional wisdom says that this oil would readily drain off of metal parts, exposing them to moisture.

However, straight 50-weight oil would get thick and gooey, coating parts and protecting them. So it was thought that straight-weight oil protected idle engines better. Turns out not to be so. My own personal practice was to use Phillips 20W-50 in the summer, and AeroShell 15W-50 in the winter. Why? Because Phillips was a thicker base stock (20) than AeroShell (15). In the summer heat, the thicker oil wouldn't rely on the additives as much to maintain vis-cosity (additives degrade during use). The thicker oil (in my thinking) would more easily maintain oil pres-sure and would protect against rust better. Again, ac-cording to Aviation Consumer, this is not true. The AeroShell was much better than the Phillips at both cor-rosion protection and lubrication. On the flip side, Richard Collins of Flying magazine has used nothing but Phillips 20W-50 in his planes, and has had several engines go to TBO. The basic conclu-sion was that the additives make the oil. However, addi-tives degrade over time and use. So, changing oil fre-quently insures a fresh supply of additives in the oil. Synthetic oil is generally not as good at holding dirt in suspension (Mobil AV-1's downfall). AeroShell is a mix of natural and synthetic, so it can be said that the regu-lar oil does the cleaning and the synthetic oil does the lubricating. Again, changing oil frequently ensures the oil doesn't get loaded up with sludge (by the way, that's why you change the oil when hot - the contaminants don't have a chance to settle out). Since then Castrol Aviation Oil has joined the fray brought to us by BP. Though marketed as “Premium” the Castrol oils are generally the least expensive and sold in single grades only 30, 40, 50, and 60 weight re-spectively

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An Oil Fable By Kirk Wennerstrom

Brand / Type Per Quart

In Case Quantity

Castrol A80 (40w) 4.35 5.55

Phillips 20-50 4.65 4.81

AeroShell 100 4.95 4.98

Phillips 100AD 5.85 4.89

AeroShell 15-50 6.50 6.14

Exxon Elite 6.65 5.94

Aircraft Oil by Price Aircraft Spruce January 2011


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My Cessna 150 is a Reims AEROBAT with a zeroed time 135 hp RR motor, IFR panel and new paint. In the UK we use letters for the Registration, my Cessna was previously registered from Ireland to G-JHAC. It started life in the UK back in 1972 as G-BACM when it was used as a trainer at Compton Abbes Airfield deep in the South Western part of the UK - a short flight further SW takes you into Dartmoor (a mini Yellow Stone Park ) . After several owners - all flying clubs she moved to Southern Ireland where she saw serve at Trim Flying Club and eventually becoming part of a small group comprising of a Farmer, a Carpenter and a Bank Man-ager all who knew little of flying other than they wanted to learn. EI-BRX as it was known then, got all of them their Private Pilots Licenses, but by then its engine time was expired so they decided to sell. I had my eyes open for a 150 Reims AEROBAT - the difference being the 135 hp Rolls Royce Engine ( basi-cally a Continental built under license - But still a RR !! ) having rebuilt a Cub with a 65 hp engine and nearly lost all on my first take off I knew I needed more H.P. After 27 years with the wheel at the front end I really had a problem on the Cub not being able to see where I was going until the tail came up, not being able to see the instruments if I had a passenger and the brakes (what brakes ??) on the wrong end of the rudder ped-als - na forget it. I also came close to losing a good friend in the Cub who until recently drove the LHR seat on Concorde. He had expectations, and I could not see - O Hell... I just had to sell the Cub before someone got hurt or killed! I found the Reims 150 at a little airfield called Ab-beshule - 65 miles west of Dublin, Ireland. After an hour of inspection and a run up (she started first time after standing for 2 months outside) a compression check - but no flight test due to no C of A, the haggling started. We came together 1 1/2 hrs later and shook hands. It had been hard and I had not moved but these great guys offered to buy my lunch. These guys also learnt how to take off inspection covers - if she still had some engine time I think they would have withdrawn from negotiations. Now that I owned her, I had to get her back to the UK , there is only 80 miles or so of water but it is cold and can be very rough. I thought seriously about taking the wings and tail feathers off and trailering it - but it was


I fly from a private strip on my farm is in Wiltshire, England - near Devizes. This is on a historic site of one of the last battles between the Cromwell Roundheads and the Kings men who were driven back to Bristol some 40 miles away.

My air strip runs the length of the property - 580 yards. It’s unusual in that it has a 20' kink at the midway point. It requires concentration to get the 150 landing on the numbers to make sure you have slowed / stopped before the kink. Early landings were interesting but not that difficult, on one occasion one wheel pirouetted round the kink but it worked out.

My daughter Lynzey and I have a great tradition of celebrating important milestones in her life with flights. In the picture above she was just 6 years old.

UK Family Postcard By John Clarke


UK Family Postcard (Continued from page 11) 240 miles of road and then a ferry crossing. I contracted Pat, an Irish maintenance guy, to get her through the export paperwork and part of the deal was - if you say its ok to fly, YOU fly it over the water for me !! 3 months later I’m on holiday in Portugal and I get a call on my mobile phone from Pat... " Hi John, I'm in the UK! " " Great Pat, with my airplane ? " " O sure, no problems except ... I forgot my passport." " Pat! How did you get past Special branch ? " " They didn't ask. " Well, in the UK we are a bit leery of Irish guys coming in by small airplane - I 'm worrying that my airplane might be impounded as a result. These worries were in-terrupted by Pat... " You have to help me ! " " Pat, I am in Portugal ." We decided he should try to get to London Stanstead and get on an Irish night post plane. I never heard from him again, so he must have made it !! The airplane then went into the Mike Allan paint shop, and the engine went to Ronaldson Aviation in Oxford to undertake the Engineering. During the rebuild they found a leaking heater assembly, which might have spelled disaster had I flown her over the cold Irish sea and used the heater. Three great organizations worked to produce a superb zero timed engine which as Engineer I al-most had an orgasm over (am I allowed to say that ??). It’s now a really great looking airplane and one which despite its 9,600 hrs fly's like a dream. I pushed everyone to get the air-

plane done for an important deadline. My Lynzey was marring her Chef Adam ( I have never known a young man who works harder - 16 hr days are standard !) In addition to the airplane I had been rebuilding a clas-sic Volkswagen Beetle for Lynzey, I started the project 6 years ago when she began driving at 17, but now I had a deadline to get it done in time for the wedding. In my own defense, I had spent much of the time in be-tween trying to build a Murphy Rebel Kit (I finally sold it unfinished) and trying to kill myself and my friends in my Piper Cub. Fearing that I would try to feature the unfinished Cessna and Volkswagen in Lynzey’s wedding, my fam-ily banned them from the ceremony, but I had an ace up my sleeve… I was paying for the Wedding after all, and both projects were going to be finished on time. The weather for a month leading up to Lynzey’s wed-ding was unflyable, I feared we would be unable to keep our tradition on the big day. But in the UK we have a necessary expression “All water off a duck’s back.” As you can see by the photo below, we were able to keep our flying tradition on the wedding day, and the Beetle was ready on time as well. I love my Cessna 150 !! John ( Henry Alfred ) Clarke Oak Farm Airport, St Ediths Marsh, Bromham Chippenham, United Kingdom.

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Tuesday, August 03, 2010, Auburn, IN Cessna 152, N93927 4 Uninjured. The pilot of of N98022, a Piper J3C-85,reported that he was taxiing to the runway for departure and he saw another airplane, a Cessna, stopped on the taxiway. He reported that the Cessna pilot radioed he was holding short of the runway. The pilot of the Piper said that he expected the Cessna to move to the hold short line but the Cessna was 30 feet from the hold short line. The Piper struck the Cessna from behind resulting in damage to both airplanes. The Piper sustained damage to its left wing and propeller. The Cessna sustained damage to its right wing and aileron. The pilot of the Cessna reported that he was stopped on the taxiway waiting for landing traffic when his airplane was struck from behind by the Piper. The NTSB determined the probable cause(s) of this accident was: The pilot of the Piper failing to monitor the position the Cessna. Saturday, August 07, 2010, Livermore, CA Cessna 152, N6165M 2 Uninjured. The pilot reported that after an uneventful cross country flight he returned to the airport to practice three landings. The first two landings were normal and uneventful. During final ap-proach of the third landing the airplane encountered “wind shear,” and despite the pilot’s control inputs, the airplane en-tered a “nose dive.” The airplane impacted the runway and slid about 40 feet, substantially damaging the airplane’s firewall. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine prior to the accident. The accident air-port’s weather observation system reported at the time of the accident wind from 300 degrees at 12 knots. Saturday, August 14, 2010, West Liberty, KY Cessna 150A, N7023X 2 Minor Injuries. The Pilot reported filling the airplane with 26 gallons of fuel before the accident flight. The pilot performed a preflight in-spection, then he and the passenger got into the airplane and taxied to the runway. He set the flaps at 10 degrees before he departed from runway 25. After the airplane was in the air, the pilot began turning 30 degrees to the left when he noticed the airplane was not going to clear the trees. The pilot stated that he heard the stall warning horn before the airplane hit the trees. The airplane fell to the ground, and came to rest inverted caus-ing substantial damage. In his statement, the pilot commented that he “made a poor decision due to weight and very hot condi-tions.” The pilot did not report any mechanical failures or mal-

functions of the airplane. Winds, recorded at an airport 19 miles to the south about the time of the accident, were calm. Wednesday, August 18, 2010, Miami, FL Cessna 152, N24870 2 Uninjured. According to an FAA inspector, the two private pilots reported that after departure, they proceeded to several airports for land-ings, before stopping at a fourth airport where they added air to the nose tire and took on 20.83 gallons of fuel. After a subse-quent departure, the pilots flew the airplane south to two other airports, before turning north toward the original departure air-port. About 15 miles south of the original departure airport, the engine began to run roughly, then finally quit. A witness stated that he observed the airplane just north of his position, with the engine not running, and heading east, when it made a right turn back towards his position and descended into a retention pond. The witness ran over to the pond and found that the two pilots had swum to shore. One of the pilots told the witness that they had "run out of fuel,” and a subsequent examination of the air-plane by the FAA inspector after recovery from the pond found no fuel in the right tank and only 4 pints of fuel in the left tank. Friday, August 20, 2010, Hollywood, FL Cessna 152, N93588 2 Uninjured. At 9:20 am the airplane experience a total loss of engine power while in the traffic pattern at North Perry Airport (HWO), Hol-lywood, Florida. Conditions were VFR. The commercial pilot and one passenger reported no injuries but the airplane sus-tained substantial damage. The personal flight was operated in accordance with 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight originated from HWO at 0918. The pilot stated he conducted a preflight inspection prior to the flight and the airplane had 22.5 gallons of fuel on board at take-off. No anomalies were noted during engine start, taxi, or en-gine run up. The flight departed from runway 27 left and the airplane was at 250 feet above ground level (agl) when the en-gine sputtered and quit. The pilot immediately lowered the nose of the airplane and the engine started. He made a left turn to avoid a housing complex and entered a left downwind for run-way 27 left, maintaining 250 feet agl. The airplane was abeam mid-field and the engine quit again. The pilot lowered the nose of the airplane to maintain airspeed and turned towards runway 27 left. The airplane touched down on the last one-third of the runway and traveled off the end of the runway. The nose wheel collided with a rut and the airplane nosed over, coming to rest inverted. An engine examination was conducted by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector on August 25, 2010. The top spark plugs were removed and a compression check was performed using a differential compression check tool. All cylinders read "80/80." A timing check was performed on the engine using a timing light and the timing was plus or minus 2 degrees in ac-cordance with the manufacturer's specifications. Fuel was pre-sent in the gascolator and the carburetor. The rocker box covers were removed and the propeller was rotated by hand. Continu-


August /September 2010 Accidents

Important: The Cessna 150-152 club publishes these accident reports in the hope that readers will consider the role that each pilot’s decisions played in the outcome and learn from the experiences of others. These reports are solely based on preliminary NTSB reports which may contain errors. They have been edited for clarity. They are not intended to judge or reach any definitive conclusion about the ability or capacity of any person, aircraft, or accessory.


short of the runway's displaced threshold, which was about 17 feet short of the runway's asphalt pavement. Marks on the tar-mac consistent with the Cessna's nose wheel were noted lo-cated in the run-up area, clear of the active runway. Tuesday, August 24, 2010, Gaylord, MI Cessna 150K, N6032G 1 Minor Injury. The pilot reported that he was on a local flight and the engine gradually lost power. He performed the checklist for a loss of engine power and the airplane did not regain full power. The pilot then chose an emergency landing field, extended full flaps, and the engine "quit." As the pilot pumped the throttle, the engine restarted and the airplane started to climb. The en-gine lost power again and the pilot chose another field. During the forced landing, the airplane nosed over. After the accident, the engine ran during a subsequent test run. The pilot reported that a cup of water was removed from the right fuel tank sump and a quarter cup from the front sump during the airplane pre-flight. The NTSB determined the probable cause(s) of this acci-dent was: A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. Thursday, September 02, 2010, Boone, IA Cessna 150L, N10128 1 Fatality. At about 9:20 am the banner tow airplane collided with terrain near Boone, IA. The pilot sustained fatal injuries. The local banner tow flight had departed the Boone Municipal Airport (BNW), Conditions were VFR. At 0915, the recorded weather at BNW was: Wind 310 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 20 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, sky condition clear, tempera-ture 22 degrees C, dew point 17 degrees C, altimeter 29.81 . Friday, September 03, 2010, Fields, OR Cessna 150C, N2068Z 2 Uninjured. The pilot reported that during an off-field landing on a dry lake bed in a tail-wheel equipped airplane, he "rounded out too high, dropped hard," and the airplane bounced two times. As the air-plane began to slow, it veered to the left despite the pilot's con-trol inputs. Subsequently, the right main landing gear col-lapsed, which resulted in structural damage to the right wing. The pilot stated that he felt that his perception of his vertical position was affected by the featureless, white landing surface. Post accident examination of the airplane by the pilot revealed that the tail wheel was separated due to a "broken" spring and remained attached to the fuselage by the tail wheel steering links. The pilot further stated that he felt that the damage to the tail wheel spring was a result of the hard landing and subse-quent bounces. The pilot reported that there were no mechani-cal malfunctions with the airplane or flight control systems prior to the accident. Saturday, September 04, 2010, DeLand, FL Cessna 150H, N23471 1 Fatality, 1 Serious Injury. At about 2:30 pm the airplane collided with power lines shortly after takeoff from DeLand Municipal Airport.. Conditions were VFR. The private pilot was fatally injured and the certificated private pilot passenger was seriously injured. According to an

Accident Reports (Continued from page 13)

ity of the crankshaft was confirmed to the rear accessory gears and to the valve train. The magnetos were removed and bench tested. All components were replaced on the airplane pending an engine run. An engine run was conducted on August 31, 2010, with the engine installed on the airplane. The damaged propeller was removed and a new propeller was installed. The engine was started, ran at idle power, and the throttle was increased to takeoff power. The engine was run for about 2 minutes and there was no indication of engine vibration or loss of engine power. The throttle was reduced to idle power and shut down. The reason for the reported loss of engine reported by the pilot could not be determined. Tuesday, August 24, 2010, Sequim, WA Cessna 150J, N50464 1 Minor Injury, 2 Uninjured. At about 4:10 pm, a Piper PA-28-180, N5101L, collided with a Cessna 150J, N50464, at the Diamond Point Airstrip, Sequim, Washington. At the time of the collision, the Piper was on short final approach to runway 29 when the airplane impacted up-sloping terrain short of the runway. Thereafter, the Piper veered into the Cessna that was holding short of the runway waiting for takeoff. Both airplanes were substantially damaged. The private pilot flying the Piper sustained minor injuries. The CFI pilot in the Cessna was providing flight instruction to his primary flight student. Neither the CFI nor student was injured. Their flight was originating at the time of the collision. Condi-tions were VFR. The NTSB investigator interviewed the Piper and Cessna pi-lots. The Piper pilot made various statements regarding his air-plane's mechanical condition, the weather, the environment, his flying technique and experience. In pertinent part, the pilot in-dicated that he had not previously landed at this uncontrolled airport. The pilot indicated that during his initial approach, he believed the airplane's flight path was normal. However, on short final approach he had been low and slow. The runway is located on top of hilly terrain. Seconds prior to impact he rec-ognized that his flight path was too low, and he applied engine power to decrease his rate of descent. Despite his efforts, the airplane impacted terrain and collided with the Cessna located in the run-up area near the approach end of the runway. The CFI reported that the Cessna was standing in the run-up area, and the airplane was completely clear of the active run-way. The CFI observed the Piper approaching the runway and recognized that it was too low. The CFI informed his student that the airplane looked like it was going to crash, and seconds later it did. An FAA investigator examined the airplanes and accident site, and he documented the scene. Additionally, several witnesses provided the Safety Board investigator with statements, draw-ings, and photographs. Ground scar evidence indicates the Piper touched down on an embankment an estimated 217 feet

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employee of the FBO, he observed the accident airplane during takeoff. The airplane pitched nose down; recovered, and then appeared to be gaining altitude when the employee returned to his duties. Several eyewitnesses reported in written statements to the DeLand police officers on-scene, that they saw the air-plane impact power lines, nose over, and come to rest inverted. Some witnesses reported that fuel was "pouring out" of the wings after it came to rest. The pilot, age 90, held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. His most recent application for a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) third-class medical cer-tificate was denied on April 20, 2009 and at that time he indi-cated 1,157 total hours of flight experience. The pilot rated pas-senger, age 86, held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. His most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued on September 29, 1998 and at that time he had indicated 1,500 total hours of flight experience. According to FAA records and placards located by each wing's fuel cap, the airplane had a supplemental type certificate that was dated October 26, 2000, which authorized the use of auto gas in the engine. A fuel receipt with the pilot's name handwrit-ten on it, dated August 13, 2010, revealed that 5 gallons of 87 octane auto fuel was purchased. At the time of this writing no airplane maintenance logbooks had been located. The airplane came to rest inverted, with the nose of the airplane facing back towards the airport, at the edge of the westbound lanes of a four lane highway, approximately 2,750 feet from the departure runway. The airplane impacted and severed four power lines, about 1 inch in diameter, that were 37 and 40 feet above ground level (agl) along the highway, prior to coming to rest 45 feet beyond the power lines on a heading of 013 degrees from the power lines. The engine was examined and appeared intact. Accessories mounted on the rear accessory drive were intact and void of damage. Approximately 4 ounces of fuel was drained from the fuel strainer. Corrosion was found on the carburetor fuel bowl drain plug. The fuel inlet strainer was dry and void of debris. The throttle and mixture control cables remained attached and were operated with full travel and continuity was confirmed from the cockpit to the engine. The No. 4 engine cylinder was a Millennium cylinder the other three were Continental cylinders. Thumb compression was verified on all cylinders and spark was produced on all spark plug leads when the propeller was rotated by hand. The magneto timing was confirmed at 24 degrees off top dead center. The spark plugs were removed, coked, and ex-hibited normal wear. The internal combustion chambers exhib-ited a material consistent with that of combustion deposits. The cylinder bores were free of scoring. Suction and compression were obtained on all cylinders at the top spark plug hole when the crankshaft was rotated by hand at the crankshaft flange. The engine was operated for approximately five minutes at vari-ous power settings with no anomalies noted. Throughout the engine run, the engine accelerated normally without hesitation or interruption in power. The engine throttle was rapidly ad-vanced from idle to full throttle several times where it per-

formed without hesitation or interruption in power. The ta-chometer indication in the cockpit was observed at 2300 rpm. Friday, September 10, 2010, Fayetteville, WV Cessna 150, N7922E 2 Serious Injuries At about 1:15 pm the airplane made a forced landing following a partial loss of engine power near the Fayette Airport. The CFI and private pilot passenger received serious injuries. Conditions were VFR. The CFI stated that the preflight and ground run up check prior to flight were unremarkable. During the initial climb the airplane engine’s rpm gauge indicated 1900 and the airplane would not gain altitude. He elected to land in a field; the airplane collided with trees before impacting the ground. The CFI was able to call for assistance, and both occupants were taken to the hospital due to their injuries. The responding FAA inspector stated that post recovery exami-nation of the airplane revealed fuel in the fuel tanks and the car-buretor system. All cylinders had compression when checked. The right magneto developed sparks to all corresponding plugs. The left magneto produced spark to one plug only. The magne-tos, carburetor, and spark plugs were retained for further test-ing. Saturday, September 11, 2010, Kenai, AK Cessna 150L, N1612Q 2 Uninjured. The private pilot reported that he and a passenger were attempt-ing to takeoff from a remote lake in his float-equipped airplane. During the initial climb, the airplane struck trees on the perime-ter of the lake, became inverted in the trees, and caught fire. The pilot and passenger were not injured, but the airplane re-ceived structural damage to the fuselage and wings. The pilot was not certificated for seaplane operations, and noted in his report to the NTSB that he had probably overloaded the air-plane prior to takeoff. He indicated there were no preimpact mechanical problems with the airplane. The NTSB determined the probable cause(s) of this accident was: The pilot's decision to takeoff from a remote lake after overloading the airplane. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of a seaplane rating. Tuesday, September 14, 2010, Bethel, AK Cessna 150M, N45624 1 Uninjured. The solo commercial pilot was doing full stop night landings, to become night current. On his third landing, he noticed that the VASI lights were becoming red over red indicating that he was below the glide slope. He said he later concluded he should have applied full power. The pilot reported that the airplane continued to descend, and struck the elevated instrument land-ing system (ILS) runway centerline lights and terrain short of the runway. He said there were no mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident. The airplane's fuselage sus-tained substantial damage during the accident. The NTSB determined the probable cause(s) of this accident was:The pilot's failure to maintain altitude/clearance during a night approach, resulting in a collision with terrain short of the



Accident Reports (Continued from page 15) runway. Friday, September 24, 2010, Tea, SD Cessna 152, N5364H 1 Uninjured. At approximately 5:00 pm the airplane made a forced landing to a muddy corn field near Tea, South Dakota. The private pi-lot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. Conditions were VFR, the flight was originating at the time of the accident and was destined for Yankton, South Dakota. The pilot reported that, approximately 200 feet above ground level after takeoff, the engine lost total power. The pilot reported the engine did not hesitate or misfire prior to the power loss. The pilot elected to perform a forced landing to a corn field. During the forced landing, the airplane impacted corn stalks and muddy terrain. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. According to the pilot, the airplane contained 13 gallons of fuel at the time of the accident. On October 7, 2010, Examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector found that the fuel line inlet fitting to the carburetor was broken as a result of the accident sequence. No evidence of fuel was noted in the fuel tanks and the tanks were not compro-mised. Prior to an engine test, a local mechanic who was assist-ing the inspector, needed to put fuel in the fuel tanks. Subse-quently, the engine was test run on the airframe using the primer due to the broken fuel line, and the engine operated without any problems at various power settings. The carburetor was disassembled and no anomalies were noted other than the broken fuel inlet fitting. Sunday, September 26, 2010, Sweetwater, TN Cessna 150F, N7915F 1 Fatality. At about 10:50 am the airplane impacted trees and terrain, while maneuvering near Sweetwater, Tennessee. The certifi-cated private pilot was killed. Instrument meteorological condi-tions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the planned flight to Knoxville Downtown Island Airport (DKX), Knox-ville, Tennessee. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight originated from Cobb County Airport (RYY), Marietta, Georgia, about 1000. According to owner/operator, the airplane was based at DKX and the pilot was a friend who borrowed the airplane to visit family. On September 25, 2010, the pilot flew uneventfully from UBS to RYY. The pilot was returning from RYY to DKX when the airplane impacted a hill located about 6 miles north-west of Monroe County Airport (MNV), Madisonville, Tennes-see. Two witnesses in the area reported hearing an airplane "sputter" and then crash into a ridgeline. One witness stated that the airplane appeared to approach from the east. The other wit-ness stated that the area was foggy and she did not see the im-pact. The wreckage was located about 1,300 feet mean sea level (msl) and examined on September 27 and 28. All major compo-

nents of the airplane were accounted for at the scene. No debris path was noted, except for two scarred trees, oriented from north to south. The airplane came to rest upright, left wing down, nose low, on a heading of about 060 degrees magnetic. The engine remained attached to the airframe and the propeller remained attached to the engine. One propeller blade exhibited s-bending and chordwise scratches. The other propeller blade exhibited chordwise scratching and polishing. The propeller was rotated freely by hand. Camshaft, crankshaft, and valve train continuity was confirmed and thumb compression was attained on all cylinders. The top spark plugs were removed for inspection; their electrodes were intact and light gray in color. The carburetor was disassembled and examined. The examina-tion revealed that the floats and valve remained intact. The pilot, age 62, held a private pilot certificate, with a rating for airplane single-engine land. The pilot did not possess an instrument rating. His most recent Federal Aviation Admini-stration third-class medical certificate was issued on July 22, 2009. At that time, the pilot reported a total flight experience of 315 hours. Review of the airplane's logbooks revealed that its most recent annual inspection was completed on July 3, 2010. At that time, the airplane had accumulated 3,582.8 total hours of operation. The engine had also accumulated 3,582.8 total hours of opera-tion since new, and 1,986.8 hours since overhaul. The airplane had flown about 13 hours since the most recent annual inspec-tion. The recorded 1056 weather at MNV, located at 1,031 feet msl, was: wind from 320 degrees at 4 knots; visibility 9 miles; over-cast ceiling at 600 feet; temperature 17 degrees Celsius; dew point 17 degrees Celsius; altimeter 29.93. Review of flight ser-vice and data user access terminal information did not reveal any evidence of the pilot obtaining a weather briefing for the accident flight. Thursday, September 30, 2010, North Pole, AK Cessna 150F, N3569L 1 Uninjured. At about 5:00 pm the airplane sustained substantial damage following a loss of control during takeoff at the Bradley Sky Ranch Airport, North Pole, Alaska. The airplane was operated as a solo visual flight rules (VFR) instructional flight under the provisions of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91, when the accident occurred. The student pilot, the sole oc-cupant of the airplane, was not injured. VFR conditions pre-vailed for the flight that was destined for Fairbanks, Alaska. No flight plan was filed. In a written report submitted to the NTSB, the pilot reported that during the takeoff roll, at about 50 mph, the airplane swerved left. He stated rudder inputs and corrective actions were not effective and the airplane continued to veer "hard left." He reported that during the swerve, the nose wheel "dug" into the dirt runway and the airplane nosed over.

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The Cessna 150-152 Club is pleased to announce the publishing of a new edition of Jan Schönburg’s fascinating account of her 1980 England to Australia Flight. She Who Dares Succeeds was last published in 1993 and has been un-available for more than a decade. This New Edition will be available in the Cessna 150-152 Club store in the Spring of 2011.

Documents

Cessna 150-152 Pilot · 14/09/2010 · bers will continue to receive excellent customer service. It has been a genuine pleasure to participate in the lead-ership of The Cessna 150-152