Keep your eyes outside...

ugh, that is pretty cool that everyone got down safely, with mid-airs, usually, when it rains it pours and both don't make it....
 
Another one watching porn on the MFD, how many have to die before Garmin will disable that feature?
 
SR22 said he never got a traffic alert. I wonder if some only look after being alerted? I've also wondered about the silver paint scheme on newer Cirri. Seems to match haze pretty nicely. Glad everyone is ok.
 
The hardest plane to see is the one coming straight at you. The closing speed is fast and the object isn't moving in your visual field. It is only growing larger. By the time that growth is significant the object is almost upon you. Even with active traffic and as a result knowing where to look, you can miss the other plane until it is right in your face. Flying with active traffic is interesting and it is fun to see a pilot do it for the first time. Particularly fun to watch are egotistical pilots who brag about how they keep their eyes outside and spot other aircraft and who slam others as keeping their head inside too much. The traffic system quickly shows how many plane the pilot has failed to spot. I get a kick out of watching the traffic system track a plane as it goes by and the pilot never sees it - well as long as I'm not the pilot missing the plane. :)
 
peppy said:
The hardest plane to see is the one coming straight at you. The closing speed is fast and the object isn't moving in your visual field. It is only growing larger. By the time that growth is significant the object is almost upon you. Even with active traffic and as a result knowing where to look, you can miss the other plane until it is right in your face. Flying with active traffic is interesting and it is fun to see a pilot do it for the first time. Particularly fun to watch are egotistical pilots who brag about how they keep their eyes outside and spot other aircraft and who slam others as keeping their head inside too much. The traffic system quickly shows how many plane the pilot has failed to spot. I get a kick out of watching the traffic system track a plane as it goes by and the pilot never sees it - well as long as I'm not the pilot missing the plane. :)
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Based on the facts in the article these two were closing at a right angle to each other, the Cirrus headed NE (050 deg), the C150 southeast. As the C150 was climbing the Cirrus would have been in the instructor's two o'clock position, and the Cirrus' ten o'clock.
 
This is one of the reasons I don't fly VFR on any XC, even in CAVU. I'm not saying that IFR would have definitely prevented this accident as VFR traffic does transit the IFR altitudes, but I think it would have helped. I fly to Austin frequently from Dallas and that area is a very busy airspace, but there is complete radar coverage in that corridor and the Cirrus on an IFR clearance would have been advised of traffic (even without XPDR) by ATC. The article states that neither aircraft had contacted the KCCL tower prior to the collision, but it doesn't say whether flight following was being used either.

Of course we are all relieved that nobody was hurt and kudos to the two pilots for keeping their cool and successfully limping home safely in their banged up airplanes.

I am curious to know if any Cirrus pilots among us can tell from the picture whether the BRS was compromised by the damage.
 
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LDJones said:
Based on the facts in the article these two were closing at a right angle to each other, the Cirrus headed NE (050 deg), the C150 southeast. As the C150 was climbing the Cirrus would have been in the instructor's two o'clock position, and the Cirrus' ten o'clock.
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Low wing high wing issue perhaps?
 
MAKG1 said:
Doesn't sound like it. The 152 had its right main gear hosed up, and the Cirrus lost its windshield.
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Wow! A $250 ebay landing gear leg and axle the 152 is flying again!

The Cirrus, not so much:nonod:


Damn lucky.
 
LDJones said:
Based on the facts in the article these two were closing at a right angle to each other, the Cirrus headed NE (050 deg), the C150 southeast. As the C150 was climbing the Cirrus would have been in the instructor's two o'clock position, and the Cirrus' ten o'clock.
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That should have made them much easier to spot.
 
DrMack said:
I am curious to know if any Cirrus pilots among us can tell from the picture whether the BRS was compromised by the damage.
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It doesn't look like it. The only thing in the roof is the firing cable and handle. The chute itself is in the back and the straps run down the sides beneath the doors.
 
One reason to set AP at 3,400', don't overfly airports/VOR's and get FF. I have only been dropped twice in 100 hrs. Boy, they were lucky.
 
bnt83 said:
Wow! A $250 ebay landing gear leg and axle the 152 is flying again!

The Cirrus, not so much:nonod:
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If the 152 got hit in the same manner as the Cirrus it would still be a complicated repair.

In the case of the Cirrus and composite aircraft, how do you repair damage like that? My experience with resins and fiberglass as well as carbon fiber is limited but I know enough that bonding cured layers results in compromised durability. There is always the potential of delaminating of subsequent layers.
 
Composite aircraft are easier to repair, if you don't mind epoxy and sanding. This stuff isn't new fiberglass sailplanes have been around for 50 years. Composite airframes have been rebuilt after being smashed to bits.
inactive15 said:
If the 152 got hit in the same manner as the Cirrus it would still be a complicated repair.

In the case of the Cirrus and composite aircraft, how do you repair damage like that? My experience with resins and fiberglass as well as carbon fiber is limited but I know enough that bonding cured layers results in compromised durability. There is always the potential of delaminating of subsequent layers.
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peppy said:
That should have made them much easier to spot.
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Somewhat, in that the closure rate is reduced. But the other problem you mentioned (the fact that a collision course target doesn't move in the visual field) is the same for any closure angle if neither airplane is turning / changing vertical speed
 
MAKG1 said:
Doesn't sound like it. The 152 had its right main gear hosed up, and the Cirrus lost its windshield.
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True but the Cessna was climbing, so for how long was he at or above the level of the cirrus?
 
RV10flyer said:
One reason to set AP at 3,400', don't overfly airports/VOR's and get FF. I have only been dropped twice in 100 hrs. Boy, they were lucky.
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And smack into the someone else who follows your advice.
As imperfect as the regulations are do you have some compelling reason for your defiant disregard of them?
 
inactive15 said:
If the 152 got hit in the same manner as the Cirrus it would still be a complicated repair.

In the case of the Cirrus and composite aircraft, how do you repair damage like that? My experience with resins and fiberglass as well as carbon fiber is limited but I know enough that bonding cured layers results in compromised durability. There is always the potential of delaminating of subsequent layers.
Click to expand...

If the 152 had been hit in the same manner as the cirrus it would likely have crashed, there is structure supporting the wings right behind the windshield.
 
flyingron said:
And smack into the someone else who follows your advice.
As imperfect as the regulations are do you have some compelling reason for your defiant disregard of them?
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waah I fly at whatever altitude I want.:lol:
 
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