cocolos
Pre-takeoff checklist
tl;dr: Had partial power loss; Pushed mixture full rich and switched tanks then regained power. I declared an emergency and landed without incident.
So I had flight plan a flight from KSAC to KPOC in my cherokee 180. I was headed down there for a conference, so I invited one of my colleagues. It was his first time in a small airplane so I made sure to explain to him all the things I was doing, e.g. preflight, run-up, etc.
Fast forward 29 minutes after take-off and all was smooth as we were level at 9,500 feet. At minute 30 it was time to switch tanks; I turned on the fuel pump and went from the left to the right tank. I noticed the engine seemed a bit deeper. Not rough just deeper. I glanced over at the gauges and all the temperatures and levels seemed fine, so I just went back to looking at my flight plan to see my next checkpoint. 5 minutes after the tank switch I suddenly felt a drop in RPM and I looked over at the tachometer to see the RPM go from 2450 to just below 2100 in a matter of seconds. The nose dropped a bit and without thinking I push the mixture full rich and switched the tank back to the right. As soon as I did that the power came back. My passenger quickly said "what the hell was that" and I just responded with a "I am not sure but we're going to land." At this point we were right over Modesto and I could see the airport right under us. I began a spiral down to the airport. Since I was already under flight following I called up NorCal and declared an emergency. At this point I was under the impression that the line for the right tank had an issue or that my tank selector was faulty. I advised NorCal what had happened and then they switched me tower. The tower asked if I needed services and I denied, since everything seemed under control. I lined up for a base entry and made one of the softest landing I've ever made.
The mechanic on the field and I ran it up and tried to see if the right tank would lose fuel pressure or if the engine would drop in RPM, but we did not succeed in finding anything. He presumed that it could have just been vapor lock and said it seems fine. I ran it up several times to see if I could replicated but I could not. I took off again and landed at KPOC without any further issues. I was a lot more weary of the closest airports and I kept a shorter interval in scanning my instruments.
In retrospects, I guess an emergency wasn't necessary, since I had a running engine and within gliding distance of the field. However like they say everyone has 20/20 vision in hindsight. I finally see why pilots say that the best thing you can do in an emergency is stay calm and fly the airplane. This is definitely a flight i'll remember.
Thanks for those that read all the way to the end.
So I had flight plan a flight from KSAC to KPOC in my cherokee 180. I was headed down there for a conference, so I invited one of my colleagues. It was his first time in a small airplane so I made sure to explain to him all the things I was doing, e.g. preflight, run-up, etc.
Fast forward 29 minutes after take-off and all was smooth as we were level at 9,500 feet. At minute 30 it was time to switch tanks; I turned on the fuel pump and went from the left to the right tank. I noticed the engine seemed a bit deeper. Not rough just deeper. I glanced over at the gauges and all the temperatures and levels seemed fine, so I just went back to looking at my flight plan to see my next checkpoint. 5 minutes after the tank switch I suddenly felt a drop in RPM and I looked over at the tachometer to see the RPM go from 2450 to just below 2100 in a matter of seconds. The nose dropped a bit and without thinking I push the mixture full rich and switched the tank back to the right. As soon as I did that the power came back. My passenger quickly said "what the hell was that" and I just responded with a "I am not sure but we're going to land." At this point we were right over Modesto and I could see the airport right under us. I began a spiral down to the airport. Since I was already under flight following I called up NorCal and declared an emergency. At this point I was under the impression that the line for the right tank had an issue or that my tank selector was faulty. I advised NorCal what had happened and then they switched me tower. The tower asked if I needed services and I denied, since everything seemed under control. I lined up for a base entry and made one of the softest landing I've ever made.
The mechanic on the field and I ran it up and tried to see if the right tank would lose fuel pressure or if the engine would drop in RPM, but we did not succeed in finding anything. He presumed that it could have just been vapor lock and said it seems fine. I ran it up several times to see if I could replicated but I could not. I took off again and landed at KPOC without any further issues. I was a lot more weary of the closest airports and I kept a shorter interval in scanning my instruments.
In retrospects, I guess an emergency wasn't necessary, since I had a running engine and within gliding distance of the field. However like they say everyone has 20/20 vision in hindsight. I finally see why pilots say that the best thing you can do in an emergency is stay calm and fly the airplane. This is definitely a flight i'll remember.
Thanks for those that read all the way to the end.
