REFLECTOR: N44VF off airport landing

[Scott Derrick]

That was one excellent landing by Elizabeth!!  She saved both your lives 
and the plane!  Major kudo's to her!

You should be able to tell what happened to the oil line by examining 
the end.  Interesting to see what the problem was.

Scott


Brett Ferrell wrote:
> I know that folks have been anxious to hear about our off-airport landing this weekend.  You guys have been really great with all of the well-wishs and kind words, and although it's been a very hectic few days I did want to get the information out to folks as quickly as we reasonably could.
> 
> First up, let me say that I'm sorry for any negative affect that our incident has on our Velocity community, we're aware that we don't exist in isolation.  Too that end, I'll mention that the FAA did downgrade this to an incident, so that's good news, and said that they did not believe that any 'action' was warranted or some such, which I took to mean we were in pretty good shape.  Second, let me say that Elizabeth did a great job of flying us to the road, and I feel that this is directly related to the excellent training she received, first from the factory, and then with Dave Bertram who did her high power XL and EFIS transition training.  I really recommend folks avail themselves of these resources, you are worth the investment.
> 
> Next I'll say that we did get, on the whole, decent reporting.  Maybe that's because we landed in Mayberry, RFD, but it was refreshing.  You can check out the stories below if you'd like.
> http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008809280516
> http://www.fox41.com/Global/story.asp?S=9085833
> http://www.wesh.com/news/17574062/detail.html
> 
> So, here are the top line facts, and if you'd like to read a fully accounting you can do so at our website:
> http://n44vf.velocityxl.com/incident.php
> 
> While in cruise flight at about 160 kts and 2,500' MSL below a solid overcast layer en route to Rough River, we blew the hard tubed oil line to the nose cooler at a 3-way valve.  That valve allows a second cooler that recircs cabin air in the winter to be activated.  The cause of that failure is not yet known, but the oil pressure immediately went to 0 psi, and the cabin started to fill with hot oil.  We weren't talking to anyone, and weren't able to declare an emergency before landing on Highway 3 in Otisco, Indiana, a two lane country road.  We landed without major incident, but did strike a a reflector street post while avoiding stopped traffic on rollout.  The engine as running at shutdown, and we believe the only damage to be where the pole struck the copilot wing, mid-section, which we hopeful will be a straightforward repair.  I encourage folks to read the longer account to know more, and to see what an APRS tracker (as written about in a recent Kitplanes article) ca
n!
>   offer, as well as our impressions and recollections from the experience.
> 
> Brett
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