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CHOMERICS Advanced
Aero Safety, Inc. Dear
Mr. Hall, I operate out of a 1,700’ grass
runway, which inclines slightly to the north. It has a 400’ very soft
overrun which is part of a runway extension that is under construction.
The overrun terminates in a 15' deep gully. Immediately beyond the gully
there are trees 35 to 40 feet above the mean height over the runway. My aircraft is a Seneca II and
has a Robertson Conversion with full span fowler flaps and spoilers for
roll control. Two weeks ago I lost an engine just after takeoff. The plane had
60 gallons of fuel and three heavy guys in it. We took off to the north
because winds of 3 to 5 mph favored that direction. The standard STOL
departure is 30 degrees of flaps with rotation at 60 knots. The aircraft
broke ground at about 750', at which time the flaps were reduced to 20
degrees. I was waiting to get out of ground effect before retracting the
gear when the plane yawed sharply to the right about 20 feet above the
ground. Immediately thereafter
your zero thrust indicator on the right engine was activated. (It
was interesting to learn that the noise and the light, both of which I
thought were inadequate in practice, seemed very bright and loud at that
moment.) I continued the takeoff by feathering the right engine and
retracting the gear. A ground observer said the gear was in the wells by
the 1,7001 mark. The engine was completely feathered just as I cleared
the trees, which I missed by about ten feet. My airspeed at that moment
was 61-62 knots. Flaps were reduced to 10 degrees. The trees in my
line of flight were rising and I was able to climb above them. I was
able to break left and swap altitude for airspeed by descending over the
hillside which fell away to the west, during which time flaps were fully
retracted. I landed uneventfully at a nearby airport. The Seneca, with full
take-off power in the left engine, was able to climb at
approximately 100’ per minute at 89 knots (VYSE). The
diaphragm in the fuel pump had ruptured,
a failure, which simply could not have been predicted. The plane is very
well maintained, the Robertson Conversion works perfectly and I have had
good training, but I must say that the immediate confirmation of right engine failure by your zero thrust
indicator probably saved my ass.
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