Silver Falcons "Gooney Bird" missing

[John Boucher]

You have already passed through the transition level and at that altitude should be on 1013 (QNE) and this remains a constant. You are thus flying on a flight level. Flying on QNH (not a constant) and going through all those pressure variations would cause serious akkies if you were flying IMC.

If you take the grid MORA into account then they should have been at at least FL130 (on QNE 1013) and thus standard setting 13000 ft above sea level. Any variation in the altimeter reading would then mean you are going up or down.

[mike wissing]

[quote="John Boucher"

If you take the grid MORA into account then they should have been at at least FL130 (on QNE 1013) and thus standard setting 13000 ft above sea level. Any variation in the altimeter reading would then mean you are going up or down.[/quote]

John, I am sure that was a slip of the pen. It should have been FL140, obeying the semi-circular rule.
Being on 1013.2 does not mean that you are 13000' asl though!
There was a thunderstorm cell in the vicinity, so they could have been a little lower than they thought.

This is an absolute tragedy - keep safe, and most importantly, keep your options open!

[John Boucher]

Wow, we are honoured to have you join us here on Microlighters Mike ... let me be the first to welcome you in this tragic thread. As you may notice, the chaps don't thrash the things as much but are eager to learn!

As for your reply - Mike you are right... I just looked at the safe separation on a direct to flight... The poor bird couldn't fly there in any case! As you know and mentioned somewhere else... that separation is for normal ops... it all goes out the window in IMC and in this case - a storm with intensity! Very easy to gain height with updraughts but the downside is on the otherside of that updraught is something going the opposite direction.... and thats DOWN!

You are quite correctly referred to the sequence of events leading up to the event and for others I add this : An accident is a sequence or chain of events that culminate in a catastrophic event!

Len Klopper referred to this some time ago as ... When the holes in the cheese line up!

[Tumbleweed]

Thanks for the response.

I was not referring to this tragedy in particular but to stimulate debate and awareness of how easily aircraft could drift towards each other and terrain whilst incorrectly using a different reference i.e. fluctuating QNH as well as being on the wrong frequency.

[mike wissing]

Wow, we are honoured to have you join us here on Microlighters Mike ... let me be the first to welcome you in this tragic thread. As you may notice, the chaps don't thrash the things as much but are eager to learn!

As for your reply - Mike you are right... I just looked at the safe separation on a direct to flight... The poor bird couldn't fly there in any case! As you know and mentioned somewhere else... that separation is for normal ops... it all goes out the window in IMC and in this case - a storm with intensity! Very easy to gain height with updraughts but the downside is on the otherside of that updraught is something going the opposite direction.... and thats DOWN!

You are quite correctly referred to the sequence of events leading up to the event and for others I add this : An accident is a sequence or chain of events that culminate in a catastrophic event!

Len Klopper referred to this some time ago as ... When the holes in the cheese line up!

Thanks for the welcome John!
Believe it or not, I have about 125 hours on trikes, and close to 4000 hours on hang and paragliders and PPG's over a 15 year period as a professional instructor and manufacturer, so Microlights are very near and dear to my heart. Back in the day, the CAA thought it was a great idea to make hang gliding instructor like me instructors on the early trikes. Wow, what a learning curve! I first flew a Moonraker wing with a nasty chainsaw motor bolted on, and then progressed to one of Aiden's early modified Zenith 2 wings. You guys have it easy now!!

I am so glad this is a site where people are civil. Avcom can take a leaf out of your book.

[John Young]

I am so glad this is a site where people are civil. Avcom can take a leaf out of your book.

Hi Mike,

Firstly - condolences to all family and friends.

Mike, this is such a friendly site that we don't encourage the bashing of Avcom. In fact this site is a break-away from Avcom with their assistance.

The Moderators here have only deleted 2 or so posts in 6 years - nice chaps.

Demon is the founder - Da Boss.

Mike really great to see you here and your contributions will be of huge value - please hang around.

Regards
John