Took off this afternoon planning to fly over to the house but never made it! I had launched from Kolb Field in North Phoenixville and not long after crossing past the town my drive belt decided to end the flight and broke. This caused me to have to shut down the motor to avoid internal damage. As I do when I fly my Cherokee, I constantly look for alternate landing sites should the need arise and it did today. Below me, and only 1 mile from my house I could see the Longford Crossing Bark Park. Because there were high tension power lines between me and the dog park, I decided to take the safer route and land in the field adjacent to the factory across the street. Below is the video of that flight.
Hi!, I’m Shane Watts and have been involved in the aviation community for 25+ years. I began my aviation career as an Air Traffic Controller serving in the United States Air Force. I truly enjoyed the time served and the opportunities I had along the way. I did see the world, sometimes with 80 pounds of gear with the 1st Combat Communications Group, and sometimes in Bermuda shorts and flips flops. I served as an air traffic controller, and simultaneously began flying in September of 1997. I soloed on my fourth training day. When I had made up my mind to learn to fly, I flew every single day, and sometimes twice. This strategy seemed to work and 3 weeks later I successfully flew my checkride. During my career I held Pilot-Controller Liaisons (PICLs) duties and was lucky enough to get rides in T37's, T38's, UH-1's, UH60's, T43's, and an F16! All in all 21 hours worth; now I have 1200+ hours and I love to fly and I try to get airborne as often as I can. The amazement of flying has never subsided in me. Recently (Aug 2010), I began Powered Paragliding and have met another long lived dream. I'm still flying fixed wing, but now I have an additional vehicle to get airborne.
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