Roberto,

Less a matter of "the impossible turn" and more a matter of knowing the performance limits of the aircraft and pilot combination.

The advice to "land straight ahead" is solid for pilot/plane combinations where the pilot has never practiced turn arounds (practice at altitude) because if it is for real and a person tries the turn around, most really don't know what their plane will do; or, how to do it and they end up in the NTSB files.

Prior to my first flight in my kitfox, I was fortunate enough to spend a few hours in a similar Kitfox with an owner who had me practice (AT ALTITUDE!) turn arounds from a climbout configuration. Didn't take too long to get a 180 below 250 feet (Remember a turnaround to the runway isn't a 180....more like a 270). The owner could routinely get his Series 5 through a 180 in less than 200 feet..that was with full fuel and two on board.

The key to it is immediately putting the aircraft into a glide attitude, push the stick right away, and immediately roll into a medium turn (approx 45 degrees)....if the climbout speed was correct....the speed in the turnaround will remain a safe buffer above the stall speed. Climbing at 65 mph with the stall at 46 clean on my particular series 7 makes a safe turn with an immediate push and roll keeping the airspeed at 65 the whole way...with minimal altitude loss.

Now...to see what happens when a person mucks the maneuver up.....GO TO ALTITUDE...LOTS OF IT, go to a climb configuration, pull the throttle and do nothing for 3-5 seconds....or pull back on the stick a little...or try it with a shallow turn.... or a steep turn if you have had spin training........

Practice the maneuver to proficiency with 90, 180, 270, 360 etc turns... do it with and without flaps...you will know the difference between what is possible and what is not possible...the folks who become unfortunate statistics and have never practiced may be engaging in wishful thinking (better to just land straight ahead then) where real knowledge is needed in order to decide if it will work or not in a particular case.

The 4 most dangerous words in aviation...."I think I can"...

Great video...just forgive me for not practicing on the deck....I prefer lots of air under me in case I unintentionally mess it up.

There are a lot of airplanes that cannot do this as well as a Kitfox....

Great video,

Sincerely,

Dave S
KF7 Trigear
9142ULS Warp Drive