Excuse me, has anybody seen my plane?

We've all been embarrassed at various times in our lives, right? Well, not like this you haven't:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...502212,00.html


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Aw bless....

Oh dear.. Ive heard stories of people getting out of helicopters to yank on a jammed throttle cable that somehow werent left behind.... rather an embarrassing situation there... explain that one off to the insurance companies!

[Stu]

Well I did leave the handbrake off once

Dont'cha just hate it when that happens.

I bet just before it took off he thought "bu**er, how am I going to stop that thing now?"

Must of nudged the trottle quite a bit to get it to fly, and IIRC, a plane that has a modern inspection should be fitted with spring return throttle. Don't know if that was old enough to just get the old standard inspection though.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Baph

Must of nudged the trottle quite a bit to get it to fly, and IIRC, a plane that has a modern inspection should be fitted with spring return throttle. Don't know if that was old enough to just get the old standard inspection though.

That's surprising, I thought with all planes the throttle just stuck where you left it (like cruise control) from little planes with a knob in the dashboard to 747s with 4 controls by your side

d'oh

Originally Posted by Stu

That's surprising, I thought with all planes the throttle just stuck where you left it (like cruise control) from little planes with a knob in the dashboard to 747s with 4 controls by your side

Jet turbines are differnet to prop's. With an amateur built prop plane, they definately HAVE to have spring return throttles (called "spring open" - open being off, closed is on). With manufactured prop planes, I'm not too sure, but I'm sure his insurers will know!

Reason being, amateur built prop planes are aften flown by enthsiasts, and the pre-flight checks (apparently) aren't the same as what goes into that of a 747 (for example). They're also often flown by the pilot alone, as in this case. If he'd of had someone with him to turn the prop when he thought it stalled, non of this would of happened.

Unlucky for him though, similar situations happen all the time, with no bad effect.

[Luckypants]

The scariest bit is where Barton airfield is located, right next to M60 (Barton brodge over ship canal). Imagine the insurance claim if that had landed on you on the commute!