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+--- Thread: Complacency can lead to fatality (/thread-168.html)
Complacency can lead to fatality - Orv Neisingh - 08-05-2026
Bill was a really nice man who was always willing to help out his fellow Sierra Rotorcraft Club members. When I was building my first Exec 152 Bill was flying his jet black Exec 152 regularly. When I completed my build I went to get me hover training at the Rotorway factory in the late 1980s and received my solo hover endorsement after only 5 hours on the controls. I was not ready but that is all the time that they allowed at the factory training center for the week that they held class.
When I got home I followed the factory advice to tie the helicopter down with ropes and try lifting off solo. All I achieved by doing that was to have the helicopter slide sideways and hang precariously by the rope and with one skid in the air and one on the ground. This was not what I was comfortable with. I called Bill and he told me to bring my Exec up to Lake Beryessa and he would help me out. I hauled it up to the large asphalt parking lot near the boat ramp and unloaded it from my trailer and about that time Bill flew in with his Exec 152 and landed.
Once the helicopter was ready to fly Bill got into the passenger seat and was there to assist me if I needed him. I was able to perform a very nice lift off with Bill just sitting there and realized that all I had needed was for the helicopter to be properly balanced/balasted like it was in flight training and then I could hover it. We hovered together for about an hour then Bill asked me if I would like to go from a ride in his Exec over the lake. That sounded great to me so we got into his ship and lifted off. Remember that these Execs had single ignition one plug per cylinder fed by an upside down distributor powered by a Malory coil that was prone to failure (but I did not know that at the time).
The lake was at a historic low due to the drought and Bill wanted to show me an old flooded town that was now beginning to be visible as the water level dropped. We flew way out over the lake at around 50 feet over the water and waved at some boaters as we enjoyed the flight. I was oblivious to the danger of flying so low over the water with no place to land in an emergency but ignorance is bliss, so they say.
As we approached the sunken town Bill slowed the helicopter below ETL for us to get a good look and as he did so the helicopter began to descend toward the water. I saw the rotor RPM decreasing as Bill applied full throttle but we were going down. There was a very small island with steep gravel banks next to us so Bill was able to just make it to a landing on that slope with the nose pointing up the steep hill and the tail rotor just inches above the water. At least we did not crash into the lake.
Bill shut the helicopter down and we got out to assess the situation. Bill asked me what I would do to get us off the island safely. I told him that he was the trained pilot and he responded that he had a couple of hours in an R22 then then began flying his Exec with no further flight training. I had no other helicopter experience than my hover training at Rotorway and the one hour of hover with Bill so I told him that it seemed like our only option was to get in, run the rotor RPM up to red line, then jump the helicopter off the steep slope otherwise if we just got light it would slide into the water. Bill thought that might work so we got in and fired up the engine. Bill ran the RPM up to red line as this ignorant conspirator suggested and then yanked the collective up popping us up and backwards out over the water without the tail rotor contacting the lake. He dumped the nose, gained airspeed and we actually were able to pass through ETL before contacting the water.
We made it back to the parking lot and landed and at that time I learned a very valuable lesson. Do not assume that just because a person is flying their own helicopter, they are well trained and experienced. There were several dangerous things that Bill did on that flight. First he flew at low altitude over the water with no escape plan should the helicopter experience an emergency. Second he slowed to below ETL over water which provides little or no ground effect to help with lift, third is he trusted the advice of his passenger that had virtually no flight experience in helicopters. The Lord was good to us and we made it back safely.
As I completed my flight training at the Rotorway factory and earned my private pilot Rotorcraft Helicopter certificate I got heavily involved with the Sierra Rotorcraft club. Most of our members were from California including Jeff Dunham the ventriloquist who always brought Peanut, Arthur, and Jose to our meets in northern California. At the time that I earned my rotorcraft rating, there were only about three members of the club that had their helicopter ratings. Others had beautiful helicopters but would bring them to the gathering, polish them, start the engines and run them on the ground but they did not know how to fly them. I began flying with those members that wanted to learn.
One of our members Len C. was a CFI but had been in an accident and had his legs crushed so he wore heavy metal braces. He could not operate the anti-torque pedals so I would fly with the student pilot and Len would direct us on the radio as he sat and watched us go through the maneuvers. We ended up getting most of the club members trained in their helicopters by this method. More to come.
![[Image: IMG-4822.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/SwTBR2n8/IMG-4822.jpg)
At the time the in house DPE was Stretch Walter who is pictured handing me my R/H certification.
Bill's story continued:
We had many years of fun meets around various locations in northern California. We also did a lot of group fly-outs to explore new areas. Remember that these early Execs were no where near as reliable as our current Exec 90s, 162Fs and Talons. One such adventure began at our property in Vacaville, CA where Steve L, Bill C, Dan V, and Sheila and I in our 152 departed for an air show in Marysville about 60 miles away. The flight over the fields and rice paddys was interrupted by my seeing Bill's Exec trailing a large amount of what looked like smoke. I called him on the radio and told him to land. We discovered that one of his coolant hoses had developed a hole that allowed antifreeze to spray onto his hot exhaust. One of us had duct tape, one had safety wire, and we had a couple of bottles of drinking water so we repaired the hose, topped off the radiator, and continued on to Marysville. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we all enjoyed the experience.
I asked Bill how old his hoses were and he said that they were the originals and were around 8 years old at that time. We were able to purchase a new hose and some antifreeze at the local hardware store in Marysville to replace that bad hose. After the air show we departed so that we could all arrive at my unlit property before dark.
The return flight turned into quite the adventure. about half way home as the sun was nearing the horizon we again noticed a white cloud of smoke coming from Bill's engine compartment. On the radio we told Bill to land which he did into a freshly plowed field and the other three helicopters landed nearby. This time another of Bill's outdated coolant hoses sprung a leak. We uses more duct tape and safety wire to repair the hose but we had no water to fill the radiator. We noticed a farm house about a mile away so Sheila and I flew over and asked a farm worker if we could borrow a bucket and some water. They were happy to help so we got the water in a bucket and lifted off with Sheila holding the bucket out the door as we air taxied back to the group. After returning the bucket we all headed for my property but is was now twilight. Only Dan's ship and mine had position lights and landing lights so we few a staggered formation trusting that Steve and Bill would stay back and not run into us or each other. we flew into the property as a flight of 4 in the pitch black night and miraculously we all set down safely.
We highly encouraged Bill to complete the required maintenance on his Helicopter before flying again. To be continued.
RE: Complacency can lead to fatality - Orv Neisingh - 08-05-2026
After Bill had supposedly upgraded his hoses and belts we decided to take a group flight up the coast of California. The plan was that we would all meet at the Petaluma airport at around 10am to top off our tanks and then continue from there. Sheila and I flew our Exec to the Nut Tree airport in Vacaville and topped it off. Remember that this was in the early 90s and our Execs had very marginal power. When our little Exec was full of fuel and two aboard it could not maintain a hover on a warm day. I had stainless steel skid shoes so I would get it light on the skids and then slide it across the asphalt/concrete/grass until it reached ETL and would become airborne. This was just a normal procedure in those days.
We met up with the group in Petaluma and topped off our tanks then proceeded to fly out over Bodega Bay turning north to follow the coastline up to Fort Ross. It was a beautiful flight but about half way to Ft. Ross Bill had to set down on a grassy bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I don't recall the reason but between the 4 pilots there were were able to solve the issue with Bill's Exec and continue the flight. We landed on the top of a cliff near Ft. Ross and enjoyed a picnic lunch that we had packed. Following lunch we lifted off and followed the Russian River up to the Healdsburg airport for fuel. After fueling we each headed our own ways back to our home bases.
At a Sierra Rotorcraft meet at the Ranch Marietta airport in CA. we all had our motor homes and helicopters ready for a great time. This particular morning we had planned a group fly out and as the rest of us were doing our pre-flights, Bill and his wife took off in their Exec anxious to get airborne. Next to the parking ramp where we were inspecting our helicopters was a 4 foot deep drainage ditch and on the other side of the ditch was a bean field with soybean plants that were several feet tall. Bill decided to wait for us to lift off so he made an approach over the beans to a hover. He had not been taught that tall vegetation will negate the ground effect needed to hover and as a result his helicopter began to sink into the bean plants. He made a valiant effort to reach the asphalt ramp but he ran out of rotor RPM just as he was crossing the 4 foot deep drainage ditch and crashed into the ditch. The main rotor blades severed the tail boom and the landing gear collapsed.
We all helped Bill load his wreck onto his trailer to take it home and rebuild it.
Several months later Bill showed up with is rebuilt Exec with new fiberglass main rotor blades. He asked me if I wanted to try hovering it which I did and I found that the blades performed very differently than any of the Rotorways that I had previously flown. As I added collective the helicopter got light on the skids then suddenly launched into a 3 foot hover. As I slowly lowered the collective the helicopter dropped hard onto the asphalt. I had no idea why it performed that way at the time but now I know that Bill had set his Lead Lag center of pressure incorrectly allowing the more flexible fiberglass rotor blades to twist enough to launch the helicopter. I declined to fly it any more but Bill told me that it was just a matter of getting accustomed to the blades.
One issue with Bill's rebuild that we all noticed and mentioned to him was that he had cut his main rotor blade teeter stops way too short so that when parked he could lash the main rotor blade against the side of the tail boom, the shortened teeter stops allowed the rotor system to teeter that much. One day on wind down after a flight one of the main rotor blades was caught bu a gust of wind and actually hit the top of his tail boom leaving a sizable dent in the tail skin. Bill continued to fly his Exec in that condition UNTIL....
We were now at the 1996 Sierra Rotorcraft Western States Fly-in being held at the decommissioned Mather Air Force Base east of Sacramento. We had a great time with about 10 Rotorways flying and participating in the helicopter games that we all enjoyed. We had done the Helicopter Bartender where the passenger has a pitcher of water and while the pilot hovers via verbal cues from the passenger, they lean out and pour as much water into another pitcher with all of the rotor wash making it quite challenging. The winner was the team that got the most water transferred.
Another favorite was the bomb drop. We would fly at 60mph and 100 feet over a target surrounded by concentric rings, each team would get 3 water balloons and make 3 passes. The winner was the one who gained the most points, it is harder than one thinks. The last game we played was helicopter soccer. We set up two cones about 10 feet apart and another two about 50 yards away and 10 feet apart. The ground crew would place a large beach ball with a quart of water in it to keep it on the ground between the first two cones, the helicopter team would then approach the beach ball and herd it down the field and between the other two traffic cones. The winning team did it in the least amount of time.
We were all finished with the games, helicopters parked for the day, when Bill flew in from Napa to say hello. He had been working at a Boy Club event all day but wanted to see all of his helicopter friends before we left the next day. After about an hour of visiting Bill said that he was going to fly out to get fuel and then head back to Napa. Before he got into his helicopter he grabbed two water balloons, a yellow one and an orange one. I asked him what he planned on doing with them and he stated that he was going to do the balloon drop just for fun before heading out. I cautioned his about doing and asked him just how he planned on executing the process. He stuck the stems of the two balloons into his mouth and held them in his teeth demonstrating how he planned on carrying and launching them.
We all watch as Bill lifted off with the two water balloons behind his heels on the floor, we waved goodby and saw him turn down wind to line up for the balloon toss. He was flying solo and as he reached down for a water balloon he inadvertently moved the cyclic forward and the tail of the helicopter rose as the nose dropped. Noticing the downward pitch of the nose we speculate that Bill made a sudden aft cyclic over correction followed by a rapid forward cyclic input. We watched the nose of the helicopter pitch down, then up then down again at which time there was a huge bang and the aft portion of his tail boom was seen spiraling to the ground. At the same time the helicopter rotated about 90 degrees to the side and dropped like a rock into the field 200 feet below and erupted into a huge ball of flames.
We all grabbed fire extinguishers and rushed to the crash, jumped through the flames of the growing grass fire to put out the fire on the helicopter. At first we could not find Bill. Hope against hope that somehow he had been thrown clear and survived. I found his wire rimmed glasses in the charred grass and it wasn't until I returned to the burnt wreckage that I found Bill, obviously he did not survive.
Bill had minimal flight instruction but he flew anyway. He disregarded the advice of his fellow pilots, and he attempted a maneuver that I personally told him was unsafe to try. Rest in peace Bill and may we all learn from your mistakes my friend.