Welcome to the Year of the Fire Dragon, 10th February 2024
'Went flying a couple of times recently in Thailand.
I once had a partial engine failure towards this direction, nose
down,
65 knots and headed towards my best option ahead.
Not even a hint of turning back in my mind, do your safety brief!
Recent turn back accidents have underlined how important the
pre-takeoff safety brief is.
Engine Failure After TakeOff (EFATO)
If you have a plan
for the eventuality through knowing the terrain beyond the end of
the runway, you can respond, nose down, and if height permits, a
turn towards the best option.
A survey of the airfield surrounds helps with instant decision
making.
Following our
flight in the JetProp to do Practice Forced Landings at
Phitsanulok, we did the same over Ban Thi after surveying the
fields around the departure ends of the runways. This time we
flew the Tecnam P92-JS.
Knowing what is beyond the end of the departure runway is a very
good idea as it allows for instant decision making as to where to
go if the engine fails after takeoff.
"If the engine fails after takeoff with insufficient runway
remaining I will lower the nose, (sixty) knots and land within
30/45 degrees ahead." "In this case it will be a
right/left turn..."
Practice Forced Landings (Enroute, PFLs)
A request to
Chiang Mai Approach and we were allowed to climb to 3,500 feet,
or 2,500 feet above ground level to do some PFLs.
Again we did the high key - low key forced
landing technique, but what is the definition of high key and low
key?
Since we did likewise in the Cessna 172 as written below, where
ATC at Nakhon Ratchasima asked me to report 'low key', it is
important to know what the local low key
definition is.
A check on the internet showed various definitions, one was high
key at 1,000 feet AGL, and low key at 500 feet AGL, while I have
used 2,000 feet AGL high key, and 1,000 feet AGL as low key.
1,000 feet AGL low key is the usual height above ground for a
circuit at most places. These high and low key definitions vary
with the performance of your aircraft.
I am not sure what low key meant to ATC, one would have to ask
the local school...
This type of
forced landing procedure means a circling approach above the
emergency landing place. Crossing over the proposed touch down
point, and noting the height, then completing a circle at a
comfortable angle of bank, and noting the height loss, then in
the second turn adjusting the bank (and hence the air distance)
to turn on to a final approach to the point on the ground based
on the remaining height.
We do not always know the elevation of the ground and so the
altimeter can only be a guide, mostly it's the pilots' experience
in judging height above the ground that is most important.
A big advantage is that the high key - low key
procedure keeps you local to the forced landing place.
I write "place" because you might not always find a field, it may be a gravel bar in a river, or the only open place for a controlled crash!
Pollution
Being in Thailand this time of the
year is seriously bad for your health.
I considered
flying to Da Nang in order to get another thirty days in
Thailand, but finances and many important things to be done in
England, and the rising levels of pollution meant rebooking my
return flight on Thai and leaving early.
As pilots we must protect our health in order to be able to fly
for the fifty years I have so far flown.
In 2006 I left China before the serious pollution there did me
in, there were few pilots in their 50's when I was there, mostly
smoking and pollution had aged them into poor health early.
I stayed in
Jomtien for a few days, the air quality was a lot better there.
I had applied for a Validation to fly aeroplanes at Pattaya
Eastern, but this did not come through in time. You need a 2,000
Baht Validation for each club at which you want to fly,
Validations in Thailand are not 'blanket' permissions.
Before leaving I
had a couple of days stay at the Victory Hotel & Residences
which is my favourite stop in Bangkok.
It is very convenient for public transport to both Don Mueang and
Suvarnabhum Airports as well as other places.
The BTS (Skytrain) from Victory Monument is a short walk away and
now terminates well to the north which meant I could save Khun
Mao a lot of driving and make it easier to get to Klong 11
airfield.
A friend who is a plane spotter looked up this registration.
It is not easy to fly foreign registered aeroplanes in Thailand,
a request has to be made days in advance.
Some time ago a
Cirrus landed at Lamphun Airport after sunset.
Since there are no lights the airfield is not available for use
in the dark. Locals use the runway to go jogging in the
evening...
A Cirrus landed one evening and killed a jogger... The aeroplane
was allegedly damaged beyond economical repair.
Nakhon
Ratchasima
Khun Mao took me
flying in his Cessna 172P to Korat, aka Nakhon Ratchasima, where
we practiced a couple of High Key - Low Key forced landing
procedures.
Enroute at 5,500 feet we were mostly above the pollution. The air
was highly thermic and at times a lot of power had to be reduced
in order to prevent being lifted high into the heavens above our
reported altitude. It was power rather than entering the yellow
arc in the bumpy air.
Approaching Nakhon Ratchasima we requested an overhead join at
3,000 feet to do a PFL, and then again a request was made after
the first effort and a touch and go was followed by climb back to
the same initial position.
The first try was not perfect, and the second effort was a lot
better,
We landed to pay 340 Baht for two landings.
Nakhon Ratchasima
Airport is east of a big ex-Vietnam War Airbase which is still in
use by the Thai Airforce.
It is a fully staffed airport and we were likely the only
movement it had seen in days.
The local flying schools' Cessna 172s were all parked in their
corner, there's a lack of students these days as airlines have
enough pilots.
CAAT is adopting the onerous EASA rules, and so there will be
some difficulty for operations in the future.
There was some ideas about PPL students only being allowed to
train at aviation colleges rather than at flying clubs. There is
also a rule that flying clubs have to provide 60 hours flight
training to PPL students.
This is burning season, beware of your health.
Once you have all your paperwork in order it is easy to fly in Thailand.
Of course the engine suffered a
simulated failure downwind when we arrived back at Klong 11.