AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2024 - 99

RUDDER & WRENCH
NEVER AGAIN /
Whole lotta shakin' goin' on
Dog-gone engine problems
BY KURT BECKER
The controller stated " Emmett, 12
AS WI TH MOST flights I've taken, this trip
started out uneventfully. I had topped off my
Cessna 170B in Caldwell, Idaho, and was en
route to McCall (MYL) to meet my wife. She
was recreating there near Donnelly (U84)
and had one of our yellow lab dogs with her.
I had our other lab and the gear for a muchanticipated
camping trip. I had 52 gallons on
board, and because it was a hot summer day,
it took a while to get to my cruising altitude
of 7,500 feet. I reduced the power to cruise
and texted my wife to see if she wanted to
meet me at the Donnelly airstrip instead.
I was waiting to get a text back from
my wife when suddenly and without warning,
the engine started running extremely
rough and the airplane began shaking violently.
I immediately turned right toward
the Garden Valley airstrip (U88), the closest
field, and I reduced power to subdue the
vibration. I was over some rough terrain
and realized that I would have to cross two
mountain ridges to get to Garden Valley, so
I decided on a 180-degree turn to head to
Emmett (S78), about 20 miles away. When
the vibration became manageable, I texted
my wife, " Vibration; going back. "
I had not been on flight following, so I
contacted Big Sky Approach and informed
them of my issue. The controller gave me
a squawk code, and I continued flying
toward Emmett. The engine was still running
rough, but no anomalies showed up
on the EGT/CHT scanner, so I thought
the vibration damper on my long Hartzell
propeller had come loose. I couldn't maintain
altitude at that power setting and was
descending at about 250 feet per minute,
but I calculated I would still have about 500
feet of altitude when I reached Emmett.
o'clock six miles " when all hell broke loose.
The 170B shook violently for about five
seconds, and I saw parts departing the airplane
on the left front side before the prop
stopped, and it suddenly became quiet. I
was now flying a glider. I told the controller
that the engine had failed and I would
try to land in a pasture. I shut off the master
and fuel and concentrated on flying the
airplane. I pulled the prop knob to coarse
pitch, but that didn't help my glide.
I had been looking at potential off-airport
landing sites as I descended out of
the mountains, but nothing looked good. I
was just coming out of the mountains and a
pasture that appeared to be about 500 feet
long and a half-mile away looked like my
only hope. I turned toward it.
I set up for best glide speed and
inspected the pasture more closely. I could
see power lines on the far side, but there was
a dirt road on the right side that was longer
than the pasture itself and had no other
obstructions nearby except a combine and a
barn at the end of the road. I instructed my
dog to get in the back and focused on flying.
I thought: This is going to work out. I
can turn base just before the power lines,
parallel them, and then turn final and pull
full flaps for a three-point landing on the
road with a couple hundred feet to spare.
Just then, my dog jumped back into
the front seat. I pulled off my headset
and yelled for him to get in the back. He
obeyed, but I had now flown past the
power lines-it looked like my only hope
was to go under them. Pulling up to go
over the lines would probably stall the
airplane, and hitting the lines would also
be disastrous.
I pulled in full flaps and focused on
the field. I landed in a two-point attitude
just under the lines at about 65 knots.
I dumped the flaps, braked hard, and
AOPA PILOT / August 2024
99
JAMES CAREY
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2024

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