Eduardo wants to know how I got down from 5000 feet. Well here goes.
The object of that exercise was to test for power stalls. I also wanted to
check it out for a wing drop on a violent stall. This was at about 35 hours
into the testing.Up to about this time you could never let go of the stick
because it would roll left.We found that when the wing was bolted onto the
fuselage, it had hung up on the left side. and did not come down properly. This
had twisted one wing. We were able to get the wing into a new and correct
position.The question was would it still roll left? While I was at 5000 feet
the mild stalls indicated there now was no roll on the stall. That was why I
decided to do a violent power stall. I zoomed up to somewhere between 60 or 70
degrees, chopped the power and pulled back very hard on the stick.The Jodel has
a peculiar 2 stick system. Provision had been made for two sticks but only one
was installed on the pilot's side . A horizontal tube interconnected the two
sticks. The passenger side at this moment in time was only an empty elbow
pointing upwards. In the future the passenger stick would be inserted into the
elbow. When the pilot's stick broke off at the floor level, all that remained
was the horizontal extension with the empty elbow on it.
The plane picked up speed in its vertical dive. I was over Mud Lake and could
see the pads of bull rushes getting bigger.I pulled the trim tab to nose up but
it was stuck. The plane has arbitrarily been red lined somewhere around 145
mph. It was now passing 180 mph. I tried to reach over the back seat to get at
the elevator controllable but the floor in the baggage compartment prevented
this. Then I noticed that the bull rushes were now moving down past the nose.
The very high lift generated by the high speed was causing the plane to
"climb". At 2000 feet it was level and starting to climb. At 4500 feet it
stalled, again no fall off on the wings.
As it stalled I applied full throttle, flattening the stall. Then power off and
down we went again. It was a milder repetition this time . There were 3
roller-coaster dives. I was able to get it level at about 4000 feet. It flew
perfectly level.I then inspected the break. I reasoned that if I could place
the stick alongside the passengers horizontal portion and tie it to the elbow ,
I might regain control. In the luggage compartment was a screw driver. It was
far too sloppy when set into the elbow.
I got the yellow pencil from the log book, broke it into 3 pieces, placed them
in the elbow and pushed the screw driver in between. It was much stiffer now.I
took off my belt from my trousers, released my shoulder harness got my head
down under the dash and proceed to wrap the belt around the stick and the
horizontal tube.It was at this time that I realized the engine was revving up.
I glanced over the panel in time to see the horizon vertical on the nose. It
had rolled over and was nosing down into another dive. I grabbed the elbow and
lifted it. This stopped to roll. By pulling back on the screwdriver I got it
level again. I then took out the shoe laces from my shoes and laced the
screwdriver and the broken stick together.This produced another roll over and
dive but it was now much easier to control. This was a day which was sunny, no
wind, no bumps. Just a perfect day. No traffic around our small airport. I
reduced speed to 65 mph and tried gentle turns. It was good in roll but sloppy
in pitch. A long 5 mile approach was made .A gentle decent rate was controlled
by throttle.The approach took us over the tree tops , over a bay, over the far
shore , over the fence and onto the grass runway for a painted on landing. Cut
the throttle, turn off to my parking spot and stop. I sure was glad to get down
in one piece. In 3 days the controls had been fixed and the plane inspected
for poor welds. I took it up and it flew like an angel. I think that there was
one riding on my shoulder that eventful day.
The moral of this tale seems to be: 1) get good welds . 2) install a trim tab
that works over all speed ranges. 3) ensure that the plane will fly level
without touching the stick at normal glide speed. 4) get a guardian angel and
always fly with her. Sorry that this got so long winded.
Harold Woods
Orillia,ON. Can.
harold wo...@rogers.com
