My G.U.M.P. check in my DA40 will now be my G.U.M.P.Y. check

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clsuther
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My G.U.M.P. check in my DA40 will now be my G.U.M.P.Y. check

Post by clsuther »

gumpy.jpg
Today I flew from Omaha, Nebraska to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was on final and all was normal. I crossed the numbers and as I lowered towards the ground, I began my flare. The yoke stopped and it wouldn't go back in further. I knew something was wrong. I pulled back again and it wouldn't go back in further. I held the yoke as far back as it would go and it seemed as if I was not going to flare enough for landing. The plane entered ground effect and flared. The landing was smooth and I taxied off the runway, but I knew something had gone wrong with my airplane. I looked at my friend to my right and noticed that his phone that was on his lap had slid down between his legs and lodged between the seat and the yoke. On decent the phone did not create a problem but when I pulled the yoke back to flare it stopped the yoke and there was not enough time to look around and figure out why the yoke had stopped. Had my buddy owned a little larger phone this could have created a real problem.
From now on, my GUMP check will be a GUMPY check. Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Prop, Yoke. I will be checking both the pilot and co-pilot yoke for obstructions or anything that could slide or fall into the yoke mechanism and become an obstruction. I will also be giving passengers pre-flight instructions regarding the importance of keeping stuff out of the yoke area. I have included a picture of how an item can restrict the yoke. If this subject has already been covered in the forum I apologize, but I didn't remember seeing it.

thanks,
Chris
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rwtucker
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Re: My G.U.M.P. check in my DA40 will now be my G.U.M.P.Y. c

Post by rwtucker »

Thanks a million Chris. It's on my checklist now.
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Steve
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Re: My G.U.M.P. check in my DA40 will now be my G.U.M.P.Y. c

Post by Steve »

I guess that the new iPhones really don't bend...

...I know you were trying with all your might!

Steve
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Gnomad
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Re: My G.U.M.P. check in my DA40 will now be my G.U.M.P.Y. c

Post by Gnomad »

Glad it worked out ok and welcome to the forum!

I remember reading awhile back, it might of been here, of someone on final having their wife move her purse out of the way of the stick , only to have the strap catch the flap lever and raise the flaps! :shock:

Personally, now that I'm in a 42...I've reworked mine to gumpsUUUUUUUUU (gear down!) :D
Eric


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krellis
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Re: My G.U.M.P. check in my DA40 will now be my G.U.M.P.Y. c

Post by krellis »

Guess you aren't the only one. Check out this article about a near loss of an RAF A330 due to the Captain's camera getting wedged between the seat and the control stick. I'll refrain on commenting about the Airbus FBW design philosophy.

Krea Ellis

http://app.info.aviationweek.com/e/er?s ... de63dbbea9
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Colin
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Re: My G.U.M.P. check in my DA40 will now be my G.U.M.P.Y. c

Post by Colin »

My Catalina Hike blog entry includes:

"One of my scarier moments in the plane was in that first month. I had loaded a case of Pellegrino on the right seat (there were a bunch of bags and another box in the back seats and I was alone in the plane. During the flight my kneeboard (the old, full-sized one, now I have a Mini-Z from Zulu that is perfect) started to bother me. So I yanked it off and tossed it over with the bottled water. Just as I got down to short final I started to ease back on the stick, only to have it hit a hard “stop” somewhere. So the plane continued it’s dive toward the end of the runway. After a quick scramble (as I started to spin the trim as a possible fix and prepared to duck into a hard right to spiral down toward the water two thousand below) and I found the kneeboard wedged in front of the case of water, blocking the travel of of the stick."

It does not mention that my heart rate did not return to normal for quite some time.

And I am also the pilot who asked my wife to move her handbag, only to have her knock the flaps switch up on short final. It was fine, it was a long runway and practicing a no-flap landing now and again is a good idea. We still had a talk about stowing hand luggage more carefully when approaching to land.
Colin Summers, PP Multi-Engine IFR, ~3,000hrs
colin@mightycheese.com * send email rather than PM
http://www.flyingsummers.com
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Jean
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Re: My G.U.M.P. check in my DA40 will now be my G.U.M.P.Y. c

Post by Jean »

40.446, G1000, KAP 140, Hartzell Metal
Antoine
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Re: My G.U.M.P. check in my DA40 will now be my G.U.M.P.Y. c

Post by Antoine »

GUMPY is a great idea. Colin's story some time ago has made me a maniac about "stuff" that could possibly block the yoke or the rudder pedals or catch a switch. I will definitely further increase my paranoia levels!

Thank you
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DCLEMONS
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Re: My G.U.M.P. check in my DA40 will now be my G.U.M.P.Y. c

Post by DCLEMONS »

WOW !!! Thank you for the post ! We all devices and I too have not been checking where my small device is ending up. I am going to immediately commit to GUMPYS!!!!
Such a simple safety step... thank you .
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