Hi Everyone,

Just got news of the loss of a good friend in Apple Valley. He was taking off in a Suburu powered model 4 and lost the engine at about 200'. From the initial description, he tried to turn back to the field.

I could not believe it! He was an experienced GA pilot with a several hundred hours of time. He was a large man and the model 4 was heavy built. Apple Valley is high desert on a warm day so density altitude reduced his performance.

Still, initiating a turn back in relatively flat terrain did not make sense to me, he knew better. Why did he not put it down straight in?

Turns out that he did line up on a paved road parallel to the runway but there were several bike riders on it that would have been injured if he attempted to set down. He made a slight turn to avoid them and stalled out then nosed in. His neck was broken and he died instantly.

The effort that cost his life was rather heroic in avoiding the bikers.

Aside from the sad loss, it once again enlightens the potential for danger in what we do.

It would be worthy for new pilots to read comments from this forum concerning the most important emergency procedures. Losing an engine on take-off has killed lots of pilots.

Fly safely,

Pete