Earlier this month when a Lancair 235 shed a prop blade in the Bavarian Alps, well, the odds were not great that things would turn out well, especially given the slippery nature of the aircraft involved and its petite airframe. The Lancair 235 is a small, single-engine, composite-construction kitplane powered by a Lycoming O-235, which in most configurations puts out around 112 hp. Despite this wee power output, the kitplane can cruise at 140 knots, when it has all of its propeller blades, that is. And even though you might expect the plane to stall fast, as a function of its aerodynamically efficient design, it actually stalls at around 55 knots—six knots slower than the FAA’s basic requirement for singles. That doesn’t mean it flies like a Part 23 single. It doesn’t and wasn’t required to. Kitbuilt planes can fly in any way the designer and builder (along with the ghosts of Isaac Newton and Daniel Bernoulli) decide.
Still, when the prop blade went buh-bye, things looked bleak. For one thing, props are balanced, and when one blade departs the building, you’re left with a 250-pound chunk of white-hot metal doing its best to shake itself loose of the airframe. And if that were to happen, it’s usually unsurvivable. Which is why the first thing you should do should your engine shed a prop blade is shut it down and accept that you’re in a not-particularly efficient glider.
It’s not clear from the video at what point the pilot did just that, but once he did, things got much quieter. Then the process becomes clear: Find a survivable place to put the ersatz glider down.
Some commenters wondered why the pilot didn’t choose the road that you can see nearby. The road that’s fringed by power lines and butts up against the mountain side. Ummm.
Anyway, the pilot instead selects a snowy field. It’s not a risk-free option, as you can see from some of the big rocks sticking up through the snow near the forced landing site. Luckily and smartly, he missed all of those.
He also left the gear up. The idea of a forced landing is NOT to save the plane but to save the occupants. Which is why Sully chose the Hudson and not the West Side Highway.
So, our hats are off to this pilot for nailing this forced landing. Now, if someone finds a single propeller blade somewhere in the Alps, would you please let him know. No, super glue won’t do the trick, but it would be a great piece of art history for his den.
