LIGHT AIRCRAFT DOWN NEAR ROBERTSON

[Go0se]

Horrible news. Can anybody tell me the registration please.

Unfortunately, it was Oom Willem's Cub ZU-EIB. Rest in peace. Very sad

[HJK 414]

Unfortunately, it was Oom Willem's Cub ZU-EIB. Rest in peace. Very sad

Goose,

Very sad - may he rest in peace ...

Did he buy that a short while ago ?
(as it was advertised on Avcom)

JK

[MadMacs]

RIP Wllem.

[Whirly]

Weather related?

Whirly.

[Hugo1986]

Willem was on his way back from FASX; He flew in to FASX from FAWC earlier the morning.

Mourning the loss of a great aviator and good friend and mentor; he is the reason I got my PPL.

"I'll rise up like the eagle, and I will soar with You".

[Go0se]

Did he buy that a short while ago ?
(as it was advertised on Avcom)

JK

Yes, as far as I know he bought the plane in May 2023.

[Ray W]

This one.

[Trevor Duane]

Is there any further details from the crash site ? I find it perplexing that an aircraft like this can end up in that way on what appears to be an open field with what seems to be an experience pilot flying. Were all flying surfaces accounted for at the same location ?

[Lood]

RIP to this aviator and my sympathy with his family and friends.

I'm not speculating it to be the cause of this accident, but many moons ago, my family and I were almost killed in an extreme downdraft, very close to Robertson.
My lightly loaded 210hp aircraft was not able to counter the downdraft, just to the north-east, between Robertson and the mountain. Even at full power, max rpm and the IAS at VX, we were descending at more than 1,500ft/min. I pointed the aircraft at Robertson airfield, deciding that I would attempt to put it down there, should we not get out of the downdraft and I think getting a bit further away from the mountain probably saved us.

IIRC, we were about at 500ft AGL, coming down from 6,500ft, before the descent subsided and we were able to fly out of it. I was a very new PPL at the time and not knowing those mountains and conditions nearly wiped us out.

[Worldwideworker]

WhatsApp Image 2023-08-30 at 21.52.22.jpg

WhatsApp Image 2023-08-30 at 21.52.23.jpg

We were having lunch in Robertson at the time when emergency vehicles responded; hazy day 34 degree C

[HJK 414]

Wow,

I find that those photo's make me very sad .........
The desolation / the minute remainder .....

No one should come to his end in such a way.

RIP - May you soar with the angels ...

JK

[Trevor Duane]

Anyone who knew the pilot care to comment on the possibility of a medical event ?

[Iceberg]

Wow,

I find that those photo's make me very sad .........
The desolation / the minute remainder .....

No one should come to his end in such a way.

RIP - May you soar with the angels ...

JK

Same thoughts, especially since the field seems so flat and open - could easily have put it down safely???

RIP.

[JonoSlade]

Anyone who knew the pilot care to comment on the possibility of a medical event ?

He was fit and healthy - often in gym or out paddling on the sea. I very highly doubt medical incapacitation but I guess nothing can be ruled out.

[Patrick AL]

RIP to this aviator and my sympathy with his family and friends.

I'm not speculating it to be the cause of this accident, but many moons ago, my family and I were almost killed in an extreme downdraft, very close to Robertson.
My lightly loaded 210hp aircraft was not able to counter the downdraft, just to the north-east, between Robertson and the mountain. Even at full power, max rpm and the IAS at VX, we were descending at more than 1,500ft/min. I pointed the aircraft at Robertson airfield, deciding that I would attempt to put it down there, should we not get out of the downdraft and I think getting a bit further away from the mountain probably saved us.

IIRC, we were about at 500ft AGL, coming down from 6,500ft, before the descent subsided and we were able to fly out of it. I was a very new PPL at the time and not knowing those mountains and conditions nearly wiped us out.

RIP to the pilot, and condolences to his family, friends and community.

This post very well describes the possible serious effects of 'mountain waves' -and highlights the critical need for pilots to have a very good ability of 'visualising' how air-flows work under differing atmospheric/wind and topographic conditions.

I find that one can understand and predict air-flows fairly reliably if one is able to mentally visualise the air-flows as hydrodynamic flows as may occur in a rocky river/stream flow -where the topography is visualised as the river bed and banks, and the wind visualised as the water flow over and between the landforms. Hydrodynamics and Aerodynamics are very similar in many respects.

There are surely -as described by Lood -serious and unanticipated situations where one finds oneself in a rapid descent which cannot be arrested despite 'excess' power available, and here the grace of ' mountain wave ground-effect' has surely saved many.

Where power in a specific aircraft is perhaps considerably less 'in excess' of normal stable flight requirements than in others, it may ultimately be the force of momentum/inertia that will determine the flight path nearer the ground -and not the delayed 'ground-effect' of the mountain wave, such as where the aircraft has considerable 'excess' power to actually be climbing within the descending airflow, if not climbing relative to the ground.