Home | Articles | Events Flying | Video Clips | About | Contact
The fence at Georgetown
Five of us were in the mighty 206 EPL flying around Australia. We had spent a day and a couple of nights in Cooktown. We had been at Thursday Island before Cooktown. The weather had been very ordinary, so bad was it that we were forced to collect ourselves for a couple of nights at Cooktown. When we left Cooktown, we were heading for Longreach for the night. Cooktown to Longreach is, to be safe with the wind and having a reserve, too far without a fuel stop. Georgetown was decided as the spot, not in a direct line but well placed and over country we wanted to see.
We landed at Georgetown’s runway 24 after the usual fly over check of the wind sock, and ensuring there were no obstructions on the runway. On landing I had no trouble stopping before the taxiway to the terminal on the left. I paid no attention to the remaining runway as I turned off. I should have.
After refuelling I mean making sure we were absolutely full of fuel, we got on board and taxied down to the same end of runway 24 we had just landed on. It was now early afternoon and hot. The runway was over a thousand meters so my mind was not concerned about density altitude (but conscious of it), particularly as there were no obstacles to be cleared after take-off - flat country all around - if with some short gum trees. The airfield is also not high at a bit under 1000 feet. The runway was sealed and in good order. However, it was so hot I left my window open as we taxied until we turned to face the runway for take-off. As I looked down the runway, I failed to appreciate an important fact – we were tail heavy. The tail must have been low and close to the ground, a fact I should have realised when I noticed it was difficult to turn while taxiing. I made another error that afternoon. I failed to notice we were taking off on a slight uphill runway. I don’t recall the airfield details telling me there was a 20-foot incline in our direction. If it did, I did not notice it. We had to use 24, there was a breeze coming from the west.
The 206 has a three bladed prop, driven by a fuel injected 300 horse power 6- cylinder motor. So powerful is the motor that one can only run full take off power for 5 minutes. The revs must be brought back to 2500 within those 5 minutes. The manifold pressure (throttle) can stay flat out particularly given you are climbing into less dense air and therefore the manifold pressure will reduce so long as you keep climbing. In my early days I was instructed to turn the manifold back to 25 (inches), before turning the revs back. There was a strict ‘never be over square’ attitude in those days. A close conversation with LAMEs, reveals it is only the revs that need to come back if absolute full power is still required after 5 minutes. In my experience one is well established in a climbing reduced power setting within 5 minutes thus not requiring full power. The other aspect to this is the fact I usually get to wind back the engine within a minute of leaving the ground. A 206 (and 210) have a particularly noisy prop above 2500 revs. The sooner one gets the revs back - the happier the immediate environment.
At the very end of the runway and before doing the engine checks, I set the trim to neutral and visually check that this is the case by turning around to see that the trim tab is lined up with the elevator. Flaps set at 10 degrees, I checked the passengers were strapped in and secure before closing the window to do the engine checks.
Now for take-off – I gently push in the throttle, we start moving down the runway, I increase the throttle to flat out showing some airspeed (the left turn effect of torque from a sudden increase in revs is worth avoiding). At this point I look down at the manifolds pressure and revs to check the engine is in fact producing full power - better there than as you run out of runway! Passengers of mine will attest to me usually saying over the intercom “We have full power.” Sometimes, if feeling they need a stir up, I then say “Let’s see if she’ll fly.”
On opening to full power, it struck me how slowly we were moving along the runway. The airspeed continued increasing but too damn slowly! My attention then went back out front.
How much runway was left? Enough but not much more. The airspeed reached over 60kts and was slowly increasing. We should have been flying by now - now was time to fly given the approaching fence.
Very gentle back pressure on the yoke easing the nose off the ground. Well, that was the plan - but nothing. Instead of the usual gentle rise into the air, the main wheels were locked into a set of rails at a fun park.
Frightening does not cut it. Why were we not leaving the ground? Sure, we filled our water bottles and absolutely filled the fuel tanks, but that’s not enough to cause this sudden love of the ground by EPL!
With the remaining runway becoming rapidly shorter and too quickly, I finally realised we were nose high running along in a mushing configuration. Why had I not noticed this!? I had obviously forgotten to lift the tail on the start of our run down the runway. I usually apply forward pressure to the yoke at the start of the take-off run, thereby lifting the tail and flattening the wings to the airflow. The angle of attack was miles too high. I had therefore further exacerbated things by eased back on the yoke – causing a worse drag instead of flight.
For a split second I thought – what if I pull the power and hit the brakes? No - I was not comfortable with the distance to stop on the runway! There was only one thing to do - leave the ground and clear the fence or crash into it.
I forcefully pushed the nose down. I could feel the aircraft accelerate towards the now well too close fence. We were closing fast. I didn’t take my eyes off the fence. No need to see the airspeed indicator, I could feel the aircraft, we had to fly or die.
The longer I left her on the ground racing towards the fence, the higher the airspeed and therefore the higher the probability of flight. Yes, I was focussed on the fence. The now excited front passenger, Ian Smith, said “You got the fence?” At a point I thought would be the very last moment, I pulled back firmly, hoping to break whatever it was that had been attaching us to the ground. The bitumen was about to run out and the fence just a bit on from that - we had to jump or hit it.
The 206 responded well, she left the ground, not with a jump but more a groan of an old man getting up from a low chair. We cleared the fence with feet to spare Then very gently I eased the pressure on the yoke so as to not continue decaying our precious airspeed in what was now an unnecessary immediate climb. I levelled out to a gentle climb while trimming and slowly retracting the flaps and bringing the engine revs back.
This was a really horrible experience never to be repeated.
What was the cause of this near abrupt conclusion to a great trip? I think there were two principal reasons. The first, I failed to appreciate the tail was so low and secondly, a fact I only appreciated upon unloading the aircraft at Longreach – while refuelling the aircraft some of the passengers had gone into town (very close) to buy some supplies including lunch and things for the next few days. These things had been loaded by them, not me, into the back of the aircraft in the baggage area. I would have noticed this weight had I loaded it and would have spread it over the aircraft away from the tail. The 206 is a great aircraft but heavy things in the baggage area with a near full passenger load, cause the tail to sit low. I should not have trusted who ever it was who loaded these things and have not done so since.
© C McKeown 2022.