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An airborne challenge that arose whilst towing gliders for the Australian, Southern Cross Gliding Club in Camden, New South Wales. Gliders were confined to the grass cross strip at Camden Airport and, as there was an Air Traffic Controller in the control tower at all times, separation from normal traffic was rarely an issue.
It’s a Cessna 182 – what could possibly go wrong?
In this particular incident I had been flying a Piper Super Cub most of the day when the Tug Master asked if I could give him a break and use the C182. This was not a problem as it gave me time on something other than a tail dragger. He told me that several flights ago the C182 had been over to the fuelling area, been refuelled, and topped off with oil.
I did a “quick” flight check and, as nothing was “falling off,” I got ready to get in and start towing. A glider pilot came up to me before I got in and asked if her young son could go up with me in the front seat as he was a keen pilot-to-be and not just on gliders. I saw no problem taking him along as back then we could take someone up especially if it was a “checkride” or a budding “tug pilot”. The guardian had to give permission as did the ground marshall.
All was good and we lined up to hitch on the glider, an all metal two seat Blanik trainer. The instructor was one I knew personally and respected. We got the signal to take up slack followed by the takeoff wave. I powered up and we started the roll. The C182 with its large engine moved boldly down the grass strip until we reached takeoff speed. The glider normally got airborne before the tug and kept low.
We lifted off without issue and commenced the climb. At about 100 feet I noticed some dark spots appearing on the windscreen – must be an insect swarm. At around 200 feet the spots started to get bigger and more frequent. At about 300 feet there was a blackish veil creeping up the windscreen. There was no insect swarm would do that. I thought that surely this was not an oil leak as the C182 had several flights before I got in. A glance at the oil pressure, oil temp and engine temp gauges did not immediately raise an alarm.
I couldn’t dump the glider at that point as they may have had serious difficulty getting down safely. It would be just as challenging for me because straight ahead was not really an option due to trees. I continued climbing straight ahead to about 500 feet while closely monitoring the gauges before I waggled the wings in a sign to the glider that I was in trouble. As we were now high enough, (and still within the precincts of the airfield) both of us could get back. The instructor got off the tow promptly, turned right and headed back towards the glider landing check point. I radioed a Pan Pan call, advising the Controller of the situation and that I was executing a 180 degree tirm to land back on the grass, albeit, downwind.
I couldn’t dump the glider at that point as they may have had serious difficulty getting down safely.
Given the all clear I powered back to reduce oil pressure and engine temp to protect the engine, executed the 180 turned and lined up for final. Meanwhile the young passenger was looking rather confused as this did not seem normal. To allay any fears, I kept him busy looking out for any other aircraft (as my “number two”). He even bragged about it later to his peer group, like a hero. With the windscreen now covered in oil, I had to side slip the C182 to the left so I could see what was ahead.
My judgement was obviously good as I had given myself enough height to execute a safe turn for a downwind landing, albeit in a side slip. We touched down on the left side of the strip with plenty of room between me and the glider coming the other way. We rolled to the flight line where I was joined by a rather shaken tug master. He saw the oil and before I got out, he had opened the oil flap on the cowl and pulled out the dip stick.
During the prior oil check, the dip stick had been replaced after oil had been added and was in the process of being screwed in place when someone came up inadvertently distracting the person doing the job.
Apparently, during the prior oil check, the dip stick had been replaced after oil had been added and was in the process of being screwed in place when someone came up inadvertently distracting the person doing the job. The oil cowl flap was then secured in place and the C182 returned to the flight line. Obviously, the vibration during the previous flights before I got in had shaken the dip stick loose enough to allow oil to be sucked out into the engine bay and the airflow did the rest.
The tug master thanked me profusely for saving his aircraft, whilst I was thankful this had not occurred just prior to lift-off as any reaction time may not have left enough room to pull up safely for me or the glider. Lady Luck?
Lesson Learned
What you least expect will usually crop up at the most inopportune time and not provide much reaction time. What you do determines the outcome. Experience can also help. The classic advice is to stay alert, calm, think logically, and avoid panic because panic tends to cloud one’s judgement and reactions and the outcome usually does not end well. It is also critical to maintain close attention to the task at hand and avoid any distraction for anyone when working on an aircraft. That may be an obvious statement but it can be unwittingly overlooked.
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Glad no metal got bent. Congratulations. Older C182’s as shown in the photo had Continental O-470’s that didn’t have a screw-in dip stick. Leaving the oil filler cap loose, however, would result in an oil mess as you described. The 2nd photo shows a Lycoming screw-in dipstick. When these are left loose zero to a very marginal amount of oil is lost. Ask me how I know!