- Joined
- Aug 21, 2010
- Messages
- 3,406
- Reaction score
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Well, I learned a lesson yesterday. Plane was parked on the ramp with the tail into a stiff wind. Lowered the flaps for pre-flight, did my walkaround, then climbed into the cockpit and retracted the flaps. Got into the pilot seat, buckled up, and was donning my headset when I heard (and felt) a *bang* and a "sproinnnnnnng" noise. I thought the wind caught a control surface and slammed it to the stops, but there was no yoke movement.
Took me a second to figure out that when I lowered the Johnson bar to retract the flaps, the wind was strong enough to hold them in the deployed position. Only when the wind slacked a little bit did the spring force overcome the aerodynamics, and then the flaps came all the way up with a *bang*.
It never occurred to me that the wind could be strong enough to keep the flaps in the down position like that.
When I have pax, I always raise the flaps before they board, and I warn them to stay clear and keep an eye out as I lower the bar, but when I'm with myself I don't always watch the flaps when I raise them. I'll probably watch them more closely in the future....
Took me a second to figure out that when I lowered the Johnson bar to retract the flaps, the wind was strong enough to hold them in the deployed position. Only when the wind slacked a little bit did the spring force overcome the aerodynamics, and then the flaps came all the way up with a *bang*.
It never occurred to me that the wind could be strong enough to keep the flaps in the down position like that.
When I have pax, I always raise the flaps before they board, and I warn them to stay clear and keep an eye out as I lower the bar, but when I'm with myself I don't always watch the flaps when I raise them. I'll probably watch them more closely in the future....
