Our favorite pilot demonstrates another unusual attitude

flyingron

flyingron

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FlyingRon
Watch the AI at the 26 minute mark. Can't fly with the autopilot on. Can't fly with the autopilot off.


 
"got thrown off the course by the autopilot"

oy
 
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His response when called out, was that he ws "coordinated and in control."
 
what a clownshow. The gasp the rear pax gave in the back says it all. He takes a lot of license in manhandling airplanes in IMC, that's gonna catch up with him one day. The cherry was tower checking him on the runway assignment for landing. Unsurprising, that final approach was such a clusterf; prob looked about as football bat from the tower cab.
 
Yikes!!!! Holy smokes, that was scary. The scared gasp by the passenger said it all.
 
He turned the ap off and then immediately took his eyes off the instruments. He is lucky, again, he broke out. His analysis before this happened as to why he blasted through the approach course then reacted inappropriately. He better have high personal mins.
 
What would prompt someone to put up a video of a loss of control incident, rather than filling out a NASA form and calling your CFI for some remedial help? Serious question.

To me, the lesson here is that skills can deteriorate, and just because you have an IR doesn't mean you can fly it.
 
I think he thinks it’s cool / proof of skills to recover from stuff like that. He seems to love being banked > 45 degrees.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Isn't there supposed to be some "blue" showing on that upper left screen?

(Skip to 25 minutes if you have not yet watched...)
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Some of the video comments note his steep bank, nose down, IFR conditions, low altitude, over a populated area, and one claimed he was below blue line.

I wonder if the FAA will come a calling on him? Nah! It's Jerry! ;)
 
You see it and hopefully learn something from it. I actually appreciate the content that he puts up. May not always agree with it or how he does things but content is content and a helluva lot more interesting in YouTube than the first solo flights that always pop up.
 
Everyone makes mistakes. His “pilot error” was not pushing the wrong button, which he described as pilot error, but rather not flying the airplane after the error… which he seemed to never recognize.
 
MauleSkinner said:
I would revise this note…the airplane WILL try to stay upright if the pilot doesn’t interfere.
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If properly trimmed and rigged, sure. I used to fly a club 172 that would enter a tightening left turn and eventually a spiral if left to its own devices. It was annoying. Club maintenance officer didn't seem to think it was a big deal. I don't know if they ever fixed it or not.
 
Country Flier said:
Boy he's looking awfully close to AI tumble territory right there.
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I noticed that the AI on the right does not seem to be indicating the nose down attitude that the PFD is.
 
Salty said:
I noticed that the AI on the right does not seem to be indicating the nose down attitude that the PFD is.
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Be interesting to see if that AI actually works right to start with, but I’m not going to watch his videos to find out.
 
DaleB said:
If properly trimmed and rigged, sure. I used to fly a club 172 that would enter a tightening left turn and eventually a spiral if left to its own devices. It was annoying. Club maintenance officer didn't seem to think it was a big deal. I don't know if they ever fixed it or not.
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If his Twin Cessna is so it of rig that it can’t be trimmed, that’s just another reason he shouldn’t be flying.

My Maule would enter a spiral pretty quickly, but we figured out what the problem was and fixed it (wingtips weren’t straight.)
 
The more I watch disasters like this, the more I'm convinced that the urge to disconnect the autopilot at the first sign of trouble is the wrong thing to do unless you absolutely know the autopilot has failed. For this issue, click the autopilot to heading mode, dial it in to follow the approach course magenta line, then figure out the problem. Turning off the autopilot is the same as taking your most valuable tool at the moment, opening the door and throwing it out. It makes no sense to me.

His deviation from controlled flight was probably about 10 seconds, then he began recovering, albeit not very gracefully, but his lack of attention to maintaining control will kill him someday if he doesn't smarten up.
 
DaleB said:
If properly trimmed and rigged, sure. I used to fly a club 172 that would enter a tightening left turn and eventually a spiral if left to its own devices. It was annoying. Club maintenance officer didn't seem to think it was a big deal. I don't know if they ever fixed it or not.
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Also hard to balance the fuel in the 4 tank set up in the Comanche, it's always wing heavy one way or the other.
 
What's the over/under on the post count before N1120A is here to defend this as a perfect approach and Jerry's top percentile flying skills?
 
Dave Theisen said:
At some point it becomes a usual attitude. :)
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Fr Jerry it's ubiquitous. Also love his comment in the comments section that he won't activate VTF because it doesn't take him direct to a waypoint on the approach. It's VTF not VTW.
 
PaulS said:
The more I watch disasters like this, the more I'm convinced that the urge to disconnect the autopilot at the first sign of trouble is the wrong thing to do unless you absolutely know the autopilot has failed. For this issue, click the autopilot to heading mode, dial it in to follow the approach course magenta line, then figure out the problem. Turning off the autopilot is the same as taking your most valuable tool at the moment, opening the door and throwing it out. It makes no sense to me.

His deviation from controlled flight was probably about 10 seconds, then he began recovering, albeit not very gracefully, but his lack of attention to maintaining control will kill him someday if he doesn't smarten up.
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Disconnect the autopilot, yank the plane from 15 degrees left to 15 degrees right and then immediately fixate on the gps. Makes sense to me.
 
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His comments on YouTube saying it's good to know your airport make me laugh. Why do you need the gps so bad that you ignore the instruments if you know your way around so well?

I agree with @PaulS about using heading mode, but if he's so comfortable with the aircraft and airport, hand flying the entire approach would have been far safer than what he did.

My favorite part though, is to have a copilot that you don't trust to actually do anything useful for you when you need help the most, but let them stick their hands in front of you while you blindly poke at buttons.
 
Salty said:
His comments on YouTube saying it's good to know your airport make me laugh. Why do you need the gps so bad that you ignore the instruments if you know your way around so well?

I agree with @PaulS about using heading mode, but if he's so comfortable with the aircraft and airport, hand flying the entire approach would have been far safer than what he did.
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And what good it is to know your airport when you are in IMC and CAN'T SEE THE AIRPORT? Maybe knowing the taxiways helps when you're in a 60 degree nose down pre-death-spiral.
 
Wow. I don't think he was looking when he clicked AP off. Just cranked right aileron. Looks like he got to 75-85 degree bank?
 
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