Here is the experience that Denys Cloutier kindly shared with us:
It is Saturday September 5, 2015.
It takes a radiant weather, and a heat worthy of the most beautiful summer days.
I decide to go to the Casey RVA, 184 NM from the Charlevoix CYML airport.
In preparation for the flight, I add 50 liters of mogas. My tank can hold 100 liters and displays 45%. So I have 90 @ 95 liters, for an outward flight of 1h50.
The flight is going well. In Casey, there are almost a hundred devices.
Nice friendly meetings.
At 1 p.m., I prepare for the return. The gang of aviators from Charlevoix meet every year at the private track in Clermont, corn on the menu and hot dog on the menu. Meet at 5 p.m.
My fuel level indicator shows 50%, which corresponds to a consumption on the outward journey of + - 40 liters, which is normal, considering that at the start, the time to warm up the engine, waiting to let go one aircraft and let another land have consumed fuel.
So I take off for a return to La Malbaie.
I fly over the Hautes-Gorges of the Malbaie river, when I see the fuel level needle go down at an abnormal rate. I start to worry and maybe suspect a gas leak to justify this behavior.
I am at 4,500 ft. I still have 15 NM to reach the runway. At 5NM I announce myself on Unicom, which confirms that there is no traffic announced. I announce that I am starting a slow descent to arrive directly in the final. I am 3500 ft, 2 Nm from the runway. I have just gone over the vertical of route 138, when the engine stops. Immediately I turn on the electric pump. The engine restarts, but stops again after a few seconds. Of fuel.
I am too low to reach the track (altitude 970ft), especially since there are high voltage Hydro lines not far ahead.
All around is the forest. My only option is route 138.
I take a 180 ”turn to join the road behind me.
I monitor my angle of descent and my speed so as not to put myself in a stall situation.
It's Labor Day Saturday. Traffic is important.
Fortunately at this point of the 138, the 3-lane divided road. There is spacing between 2 groups of automobiles. I fly over the first group, one eye on my speed, pass about 2 ft above the lead car, put 15 degrees of flaps, and touch gently.
But here I am on the downhill part of the road, and there is a pickup in the left lane. He's stopped, but I'm unable to brake enough, and I'm afraid of hitting him with my left wing. I hit the left hand pedals and hit the street chain. The right gear gave way under impact, the plane swiveled and the left wing hit a small roadside fir tree. The plane stops. I am not injured, I injured no one and did not harm others.
Immobilized traffic, police, ambulances, fire engines, dozens of spectators with their cell phones in video mode. I'm a little ashamed.
My cell phone rings: it is Trenton who calls following the triggering of my ELT 406. Then it is the TSB's turn to inquire about my version, ask a police officer for his version, ask for a photo of the damage before authorizing moving the plane.
I have significant damage, but the plane is recoverable. The carbon fiber cell is broken in three places. The left wing has a notch at the leading edge. The carbon fiber main gear is also scrap.
Aviation R. Goulet de Bromont is responsible for repairs.
The aircraft was returned to flight in July 2017.
The tank still empty, I decided to check the accuracy of my fuel indicator. I make a mark every 20 liters, to realize that at 50%, there is only 37 liters of gasoline, and not 50.
That's why I ran out of fuel.
The probe has since been removed and recalibrated, but the suspicion is still there, and I add gas after each flight, and refill the cap for a traveling flight. My gas tank is behind the seats, and it is impossible to check with a wand.
I realize today that I got a lot out of my lucky bag, and that probably my time had not come. This incident made me an ultra careful pilot.
I hope I have not emptied my bag, because no one is immune to an unexpected glitch.
Denys Cloutier, Sky Cruiser C-IHVW
We invite you to do like Florent Gagné and share with us this moment that you lived where you picked up your bag of chances? How did you end up in this situation? How did you do? What lessons have you learned?
Write to us about your experience via email securite@aviateurs.quebec .
Photo : Facebook page Denys Cloutier
.jpg?1549482437393)
