I was going to solo two weeks ago but had to leave the field for a meeting. Last weekend the weather was bad, yeah,yeah. Anyway, was too cold yesterday, but I loaded up today and went. The wind was gusting to about 15 mph but I was having withdrawls. I got to the field and the final 2 people were leaving. I was hoping to buddy box with someone to aide my psyche since I hadn't buddied in two weeks, however, I decided to go it alone.

Things started excellent three different takeoff/flight/landing sequences of about 15 minutes apiece. I then went for number four. Then it happend, my first dead stick!!! I had only been up for about 5 minutes. Don't know what happened. Engine just quit. Anyway, my postion and speed were pretty good (I was headed toward the runway). Here is the problem. The plane got to me on the runway with WAY TOO MUCH SPEED. I don't know what I did, if I dropped altitude too fast or what. Anyway, I went through the runway and into a nearby fence. The damage isn't too bad. I thought I was doing good to get it on the ground in one piece, but the fence had to jump out there!

Have a question,

1. Have any suggestion as to what makes an OS .40 just shut off like that after three previous successful flights? I have no idea. The glow plug is only a month old and the motor has almost a gallon of fuel through it with no problems.

2. Any advice on those deadstick landings to cut the speed down so you don't run through the runway. (ours is grass by the way) So you can imagine when that plane got to me it was hauling!!

3. The leading edge sheeting has a small pucture in it. Can I just cover this with packing tape? It doesn't seem as if any of the ribs or spars are damaged. It would be ugly but doesn't seem to be bad enough to tear apart.

Thanks for any advice

1) About the engine im guessing its a OS .40 LA dead sticks happen alot when im flying (With an instructor). Did you put the throttle to low that causes alot of my dead sticks. Sometimes my instructor allows me to keep flying until i get a dead stick then he brings it down.
2) One thing he does if im high up make large turns does make any sharp or quick turns take your time line up to the run way (with alot of room to slow down) and slow glide down to the run way.
3) About the leading edge you can usually just take some extra covering and iron/ heat gun it on. But leading edges or dangerous to play with changing the thickness could cause your wings to stall easier and could end up with another crash. Although i doubt some covering will really change that.

Congratulations!!!

That first solo is just a real great thrill.

Keep practicing and start working on touch and go's. That really helps in figuring just what you need to do to get a good landing in under all kinds of wind conditions, etc.

With a dead stick thare is always the problem of estimating just how many circles you can get in to slow down and get your field position correct, what speed the plane will be carrying when it gets to the edge of the runway, etc.

Take care,

Ditto on the Congrats!!!!

Klumsey is also on the money about Airspeed & Altitude on a dead stick. Experience is the only way to tell how much room you're going to need, and all the experience in the world isn't going to help in some cases, you just have to hope for a soft crash.

Slap some covering over the hole and get her back in the air!

CONGRATS on the solo. I still remember mine. I shook so bad, it took me 2 hours to calm down enough to do it again. My second flight on that day was a dead stick. I touched down right in front of me and the plane was cookin'. I had a ton of speed. The good news is, our field is sort of set up like a golf course. The fairway is the runway and to scrub off spped I just steered into the rough. Worked great.

Our's is similar but the path I took down the runway and to the left was not on the side where the thick grass is. The only thing there was that blasted fence. No severe damage. I guess I was so excited about getting the dead stick on the ground I didn't have the presence of mind to STEER MORE on the ground. I was just amazed at the amount of speed that thing was carrying without power, but I guess gravity is a powerful force!!

Also congrats on the solo. I remember mine - I was flying in an oat field. There was a knocked over silo behind us. My instructor who usually stood beside me, walked back and took a perch up on the silo. I said, where ya goin? He said you got it. The rest is history.

An OS 40 shouldn't deadstick unless it is ruined. Like what was said above, make sure the carb isn't closing too far when you pull back the stick. You should have about a toothpick size space at low idle. If that is fine, check the glow plug. Glow plugs can be wrecked after a few minutes of running if dirt or a piece of metal gets in your element. Also your plartinum can come off your element. Try a new one. If all that is fine, take your high speed needle out of your carb and blow air through your carb to clean it out. Dirt can cause trouble. Also make sure you didn't have a hard landing and your clunk is stuck foreward in your gas tank. Also make sure all your fuel lines are good and not pinched or broke somewhere. Check your instructions and make sure your low speed adjustment is set right. If none of these things work, your gas is bad.

OS engines are the most reliable made. I'm 100% confident that yours is fine.

Thanks for those tips. I will run through that checklist. I had already decided to change the glow plug but I will check the other things as well.