AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2017 - 18

PROFICIENT PILOT

Scud running

BY BARRY SCHIFF

How worsening conditions lure pilots onward

BARRY SCHIFF

was a test pilot in
light aircraft, and
was an active
member of the
Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

IT HAS BEEN MY GOOD FORTUNE to have become
acquainted with many famous pilots. A favorite was
Frank Tallman, an aviator whose exploits as a motionpicture pilot are the stuff of which legends are made.
One of his most famous stunts involved flying a twin
Beech through a steel-rimmed Coca-Cola billboard
for the 1963 movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
Moviegoers, however, never got to see what happened
after the D18 popped out the other side. According to
witnesses, flying through the thin plywood caused the
propellers to bend aft and necessitated an immediate
forced landing.
I recall sitting once with Tallman and a few other
pilots under the wing of his B-25 photo plane (the one
he flew through the Grand Canyon during the filming
of the first Cinerama movie in 1952). His planned flight
had been delayed because of weather, and he had time
to hangar fly with some of his admirers. We huddled in
rapt attention, pouncing on every morsel of aeronautical
lore. There was so much to learn from such an aviator.
Someone asked Tallman to describe his most
dangerous "stunt." But he did not. He instead said matter-of-factly that he did not consider his type of flying
as hazardous. He claimed that his assignments were so
thoroughly and precisely planned that the outcome of
each was predictable. He added that the variables of
weather gave him greater cause for concern than the
demands of performing for the camera.
Tallman then described a fascinating phenomenon
he said occurs while flying low in poor visibility. "When a
pilot is scud running in gradually worsening conditions,
he might glance rearward to appraise his escape option.
But when looking aft, the pilot observes the landmarks
disappearing into the veil of limited visibility behind
the aircraft. This creates an illusion that can lead him to
believe that conditions behind are worsening or closing
up. Contributing to this deception is the illusion that
conditions ahead are improving. This is because the
airplane's forward motion allows progressively more
of the landmarks ahead to come into view.
"As a result," he continued, "a pilot can be lured into
believing that continuing straight ahead is his best alternative. He becomes reluctant to turn around while he
still has the time and opportunity to do so. This illusion-coupled with a pilot's natural mindset to proceed
with a planned course of action-probably is a factor in
many scud-running accidents."

18 | AOPA PILOT September 2017

This phenomenon becomes more deceptive as airspeed increases. This is because the disappearance of
objects behind the aircraft and the emergence of those
ahead occur more rapidly. Excessive speed adds to the
risk for another reason. When flying at 180 knots, for
example, it takes only 20 seconds to cover one mile,
which might be the limit of forward visibility. Precious
little time is available to see and avoid obstacles. But at
60 knots, the pilot has a full minute to appraise and react
to the obstacle in his windshield.
To discourage scud running, the aviation division
of Transport Canada once asked pilots to contemplate
these questions:
* How much airspeed is lost when a pilot rapidly rolls
into and holds a 45-degree banked turn?
* How much room is needed to make a 180-degree turn?
* How much additional space is required if turning
from the upwind side of a valley to the downwind side?
* How far away can a pilot see a wire?
* How much distance is flown from the time a pilot
first sees a wire strung across his flight path until he can
react and begin a climb?
* How prepared is a pilot to cope with a fuel tank running dry or having an engine fail at very low altitude?
* Can your windshield withstand hitting a two-pound
bird?
* Do you still feel like flying at low altitude in limited
visibility?
Other questions might include:
* Does a scud-running pilot always know his position?
* Does he know the location and height of all nearby
obstructions?
* If conditions worsen, is he prepared to declare an
emergency and climb into the overcast?
* If unable to fly on instruments, is the pilot prepared
to make an emergency, off-airport landing?
* If a scud-running pilot has passengers on board, what
right does he have to expose them to such hazard?
Some years after our memorable hangar-flying session, Tallman used an object lesson to teach the aviation
community much more than he had intended. He taught
that knowledge and experience are worthless unless
put into practice. Tallman-one of America's greatest
pilots-was killed while scud running in a Piper Aztec
through the mountains near his home airport. AOPA
WEB

www.barryschiff.com

http://www.barryschiff.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2017