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CH701 Goes Golfing

 
I got an email from Wayne Petrus in Monroe, LA.  He wanted me to look at a 701 he was buying located in Harsens Island, Michigan.  I agreed to go look, after all I love to look at airplanes.  Oh, I don't know either Wayne or Don (the seller).  Don's airplane was in the June EAA mag and I had already thought about going over to look at it.  Anyway, I went last Friday and met Don and looked at a nicely built 701.  We are both full figured men...about 230+ each, so we didn't fly it.  I watched Don fly around the airport and the airplane performed great for a 95 degree day.  So I called Wayne and told him what I saw.  Ok, I tell a story by going around the moon.  Last night I sat down to watch the 5 o'clock news and they were talking about an airplane that landed on a golf course.  That kind of news always gets my attention and the intro picture stunned me.  It was the 701 I looked at on Friday.  Wayne picked ! it up yesterday morning and flew for about an hour when the prop vanished and the engine seized at 2000 feet agl.  I called him on his cellphone as soon as I watched the news.  He seemed to be in good spirits.  I told him I was glad he was ok and felt bad about what happened.  He said he did a careful inspection of everything including the prop and felt as I did that it was a well built airplane.  If you would like to see the news video check out http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/4611618/detail.html
 
Wayne said a couple of other things.  He felt that a wood prop on an airplane that was stored outside might not be a good idea.  The other thing he mentioned was our choice of engine might be a great thing.

Pilot Makes Emergency Landing On Golf Course

Louisiana Man Just Purchased Homemade Plane

REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A Louisiana man made an emergency landing on a Redford Township golf course with a homemade plane he had just purchased through eBay Wednesday morning, Local 4 reported.

Pilot Wayne Petrus had no problems when he took the Zenith 701 plane for a test flight with the owner on Harsen's Island Tuesday, Local 4 reported. He was flying back to Louisiana at about 8 a.m. Wednesday when he lost a propeller, according to the report.

 

Petrus said he flew about an hour before the incident occurred.

"It was just a quick hit ... and the engine was dead," said Petrus.

Petrus said he was at about 2,000 feet in the air and knew he was going down, so he immediately looked for somewhere to land.

"I spotted the golf course," said Petrus.

Petrus made an emergency landing near the eighth hole of the Glenhurst Golf Course, located at Six Mile and Beech Daly roads, Local 4 learned. Golfers were preparing to tee-off at the hole when the plane landed, radio station WWJ reported.

Petrus said he did not see golfers when he landed, but did notice a golf ball rolling beneath his plane.

The landing gear on the plane was bent when it hit a hill on the golf course, but otherwise Petrus said, "Everything worked out great."

A tow truck was called to the scene to transport the plane off the golf course, according to Local 4. The wings were expected to be removed from the plane to transport it off the course.

The propeller was not located.

There were no passengers on board the plane, according to Local 4. No injuries were reported.

Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration are expected to investigate the incident.