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From: falk@uiucuxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU
Newsgroups: net.aviation
Subject: Re: Deadstick-  Straight-Tail 150 Engin
Message-ID: <103500002@uiucuxc>
Date: Wed, 30-Oct-85 11:33:00 EST
Article-I.D.: uiucuxc.103500002
Posted: Wed Oct 30 11:33:00 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Nov-85 04:21:05 EST
References: <322@ssc-vax.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:ssc-vax.UUCP:-32200:uiucuxc:103500002:000:2853
Nf-From: uiucuxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU!falk    Oct 30 10:33:00 1985


{}

Your tale of a close call (water where there should have been avgas) and
the resulting lessons that you learned reminded me of some important lessons
that I learned on my first solo cross-country a number of years back. I was
going happily on my way to my second stop (the refueling stop) in a 3-stop
trip. It was a beautiful day and I was excited (I was really a pilot, I
was flying all this way on my own). I was using dead-reckoning and had checked
and rechecked my route before leaving, but, I got careless. Instead of flying
due north and following a parallel set of a road and railroad tracks, I flew
N-NE following a 2nd set of parallel road/RR tracks (I hadn't noticed that
there were TWO road/RR track pairs coming out of this small, northern Wiscon-
sin town, and I didn't pay close enough attention to my compass).

Anyway, when I got to where my airport should have been, it, of course, wasn't
there. I was very low on fuel and lost- I immediately began eyeing the terrain
(mostly cornfields) for a suitable emergency landing site. I circled the water-
tower to find out the name of the town I was at, and I couldn't locate it 
immediately on the map, so I called the nearest, fairly large FBO at Appleton.
I did a few left turns on their instructions so they could locate me on their
radar, and they directed me into the Appleton airport.

As I got closer (airport in sight), I requested a straigt-in approach, downwind
(actually, wasn't much wind at all that day, but they were using the runway
from the other side). I recall very clearly telling them that I was "a little
low on fuel" and wasn't sure I could make the pattern. They cleared me and I
landed without problem. When I taxied up to the gas tanks, the guy said "top
off your tanks, m'am?" I said, "yes, top off the tanks". He later came back
and said, with a little astonishment, that he filled over 20gals (in an old 
C-150 where usable fuel was just under 22gal- I had a little over a gallon of 
usable fuel left when I landed!!).

I was very scared and didn't want to fly anymore that day, but I was over 100mi.from home and didn't have much choice (I actually considered renting a car and
driving home, but knew that would be the cowards way out and I would never get
my ticket that way). After regaining my composure, I took off, found the air-
port that I was supposed to have landed at(it wouldn't have counted for my
cross-country if I hadn't done that), and then completed the 3rd leg without
a hitch.  Moral?  One, don't get too overconfident, that's when you make mis-
takes. Two, keep a close eye on the compass as well as on your landmarks. I
really feel that having the close-call like that made me a better pilot, its
too bad that a CFI can't "schedule" one close-call for all students before
they get their ticket( :-) )

Connie Falk
(falk@uiucdcs!uiucuxc)