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Which one you want first?. King Air #2 engine compressor disk failure and subsequent loss of torque on jump run with 13 jumpers on board while dropping the first load , in slight left bank, with head looking out left side of plane....funny why is the rate of descent suddenly 2000 fpm??? WTF!
DC-3 blew main tyre on landing at Smyrna TN, 3:00 am after freight run, we were both almost asleep until the runway lights went "across" in front of the windshield. Never before or after have i had to use METO power to stay "On the runway". But the first and ever ingrained in memory as Ernie Gann so eloquently put it in "Fate is the Hunter first chapter". ...Something was not right.....There we were DC-3, just south of San Antonio, 8.00pm on our way to LRD to pickup car parts, In the soup, undercast at 5000, we were at 7. Everything seemed ok but yet still, there was that itching feeling that something was about to happen, i remember actually shuffling in my seat, adjusting my harness tighter,not saying anything to the copilot. I watched all the engine gauges and felt the seat and my yoke. I had known this DC-3 for only 6 months or so and was still learning her habits and moods. Both hands on the yoke...wait was that something, difficult to tell as she vibrated and droned along, seemed like the normal "shake rattle and roll ". Gauges all showed ok, yet the temperature in the left seat had started to go up slightly. I really was living that first chapter moment. I looked at the carb temp, noticed it was a bit cold. As there was lots of moisture out, i asked the copilot " gimmie a little carb heat please".
As she reached out and adjusted the heat on both, the right engine exploded!. All i saw was a flash of flame, a rather loud bang and sudden yaw to the right. I can honestly say that i was ready for it. Some of you may not buy this, but most that are of the "seat of the pants" type, in tune with your surrounding and the machine , and have read " Fate is the Hunter" then you will understand.
I feathered the #2, called for engine shutdown checklist, notified ATC that we were single engine,and were returning to Georgetown GTU. Now i will admit that being 25 and having my first real emergency to deal with i was shaking like you know what. I also would spend many hours brooding over the decisions that i made that night. We executed a 180, the plane held blue line +5 at 4500 ft with climb power on #1, we had dropped out of the soup and had good vis, and began to trundle back home. The copilots eyes were big as saucers, she was saying something about "fire" none of which sounded good. i had no indication of such, the fire warning had not gone off and there was no "glow of light" on the right side. After i had the plane trimmed and settled, i handed over the control to my copilot, grabbed the regulation flashlight and headed for the back to see what i could see. To my amazement, i could see that the entire cowling ring had gone!!, no more, finito, see ya!!, no signs of fire, my concern now turned to the tail and was there any damage from separating engine cowls. I could also see a cylinder hanging out but no detail due to the angle i was looking from. ATC had very graciously cleared the sky and we flew back to Georgetown via San Antonio Stinson, International, New Braunfels, San Marcos, Austin, and then to Georgetown. This was one of the decisions that i questioned myself on as to why did i not put her down at " the nearest suitable airport". Well all i can say now is i already knew what it was changing engines on the road and felt comfortable in taking her home. It took 1 hour of single engine flight to get there. ( later emergencies i would no longer be brave and favored the "lets get the H@LL on the ground now! approach". We lined up on a long straight in to 36 at GTU, ATC had notified dispatch, they came on and i will never forget my dad saying " how far out are you?"...me " 5 miles straight in"...him" 1 or 2?",...me "1, i might need a tug". At this time i looked over at the hyd pressure gauge and noticed the system was at zero!, nice!!!. Another curve thrown at us. We briefed for a emergency gear extension, possible no flap and no brake landing, cleared all the charts and stuff from the hand pump and the copilot was notified that when we touched down, "pump like H@ll" so i could have brakes as with the other engine at idle, the good hyd pump would not send enough pressure to the brake booster for much stopping power, not that you ever really had any to begin with on a good day.
The gear free fell into position fine, 2 greens, hand pump to get down line pressure,pumped the flaps down and I planted her on the numbers, average wheel landing, tail down for drag immediately, and let her roll to the end. We managed actually to coast off the active make a right 180 and come to a stop in front of our hangar. By this time it was 10pm so no-one else around. The copilot left the cockpit, i tried to get up but funnily enough, the legs did not want to work for 5 minutes, though they were shaking as if i had just run a marathon!!!. I got up and walked to the back, where my dad met me at the door with a Beer in hand. I sat on the door sill and "Chilled" for a while. An inspection the next day revealed that the front bank master rod failed, blowing the cylinder off the engine, removing all 3 cowling sections, one went forward into the propeller before falling away, the cylinder was held in place by the prop gov cables. The cowling's had taken the cowl flap actuators with them and that was why all the hydraulic fluid was gone as the hoses were open. No damage to the tail.
Well there you have it, not the first engine problem i had in a 3, definitely not the last, but the first with me as a new captain and i learned about flying from that..... Oh and one more thing, somewhere is south texas in the middle of a farmers field is a set of used DC-3 cowlings , i wonder if the "P&W dependable engines" sticker is up or down?......
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"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"
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