Gfry

Does anyone know where I can get a fuel/gas cap for my Avid?

Well I survived my first engine failure yesterday…. not quite EFATO. I departed Charlton Park at 14:15 and about 1000 feet QFE the engine spluttered, I made a 180 turn and by the time I finished the turn the engine died at 14:17. Pitch for 65mph put out a MAYDAY to all stations on Kemble’s frequency. Now you would think an Avid Speedwing (bit like a kitfox) would glide lovely…… Wrong. To maintain 65mph was 1200 foot a minute decent.

There was absolutely no way of making it back to Charlton Park. I had to pick a field. The problem is all the fields had either telephone cables or power cable across them…apart from two, and they stretched the glide. So now I was about 600 feet and things up to that point seemed slow motion. After 600 feet everything happened so fast. It became clear the field I wanted was no longer possible and the only field now available was about 200 meters long, dome shaped, ridge and furrow very long grass and hemmed in by 8-foot hedges and a scattering of trees with a house in it.

I clipped a hedge, but other than that was down safe and stopped slap bang in the middle of the field. At 14:20 I got out the plane and called Kemble on the landline to let them know I was safe with no damage to property or the aircraft.

Now I remember that after the initial MAYDAY a helicopter said they were in the area and would head over to find me. I then gave a running commentary over the radio of what was going on until I was at 600foot. My last comment was I will call on the landline if I made it safe. Thing that got me is initially how slow everything seemed to go and then speed of event after 600 feet. All that was going through my head was “find a field” and “pitch for speed” over and over again, all the way until touch down.

At about 100 foot I did not think I was going to make it and thought I was going in to the trees and hedges, when I clipped the hedges there was the field with a steep upwards slope right in front of me. I yanked back on the stick immediately which gave the softest of touchdowns I think I ever done!!
What did I not do, I never switched anything at all, No fuel, no electrics, nothing. I don’t think I panicked, although I am sure my MAYDAY probably sounded a bit excited. A few mins after calling Kemble on the phone I felt really really sick and that passed after about 10 mins.

What would I do different if it happened again? I am not sure I would/could do anything different to be honest.

Ah yes what caused the failure. I am not sure yet, but the fuel cap had come off at some point in the take off. The wing was covered in fuel, but the tank was not empty by any means. So, I kind of hope that it was something to do with pressure and the fuel venting out the wing instead of getting to the engine. Now don’t shoot me for not checking the fuel cap as a pre-flight check…because I did. The fuel cap is an old vintage style cap like that of a cub or old car. How it came off is a mystery to me.

I survived, property survived and the aircraft survived with a tiny hedge rash. Would be intrigued to hear comments and questions.

Hedge Rash:

Hi All,
So whenever you talk about clear doors, everyone says Lexan. Lexan is just a brand of polycarb and pretty cheap as well.  However Margard is part of the Lexan product line which is a lot more expensive and much more scratch resistance.  Surely a more scratch resistant product would be better?
Has anyone here any experience with using Margard instead of standard Lexan?

Hi All,
I am looking for door latches and handles for my Avid MK IV.  Currently it only has a handle on the port side door which is from a house door! and the latches on both sides are worn and barley catch.
 
I am in the UK, but happy to pay for international shipping.