"Emergency landing a success thanks to GPS III Pilot"

I am one of your newest customers. I just ordered a GARMIN GPS III Pilot for my plane. Only after seeing the unit in action last Saturday and literally seeing how it was instrumental in saving my life did I order the unit. I had been "waiting" for the prices to hopefully drop on the III Pilot before I got one. Now I see that its price is actually very reasonable. After all, how much is a life worth?

My instructor, Johnny S., a stunt pilot/medical student in Mississippi, and I were flying to an airshow last Saturday. The airshow was to be held in Dexter, Missouri. We were flying from Jackson, Mississippi, to Missouri in Johnny's Hiperbipe stunt plane. Johnny was to perform the following day at the airshow.

While en route to the airshow, we were cruising at about 5,500 feet MSL. Johnny was flying in the right seat and I was in the left seat. All of a sudden, Johnny reached up and punched one of the buttons on his III Pilot. He immediately commented that we were going to have to make an emergency landing. I was totally in the dark about any problems with the plane. The engine seemed to be running fine. There were no weird sounds and the ride was as smooth as silk.

Upon questioning him further, he quickly commented that he was getting oil on the windshield from the prop area. He indicated that things were going to get worse before they got better and we had to get down and get down quickly. He commented that the nearest airport was the Lexington, Mississippi, airport which was about 5 1/2 minutes away. He, of course, was reading this information right off of the III Pilot screen and pointed it out to me.

Within seconds, the situation had gotten much worse just as he had said it would. The oil from the prop area seemed to be flowing freely and the windshield quickly was covered to the point where it looked like rippling caramel coating it. Johnny's window and side view was not far behind in being completely covered. It was as though someone had thrown a blanket over the windshield. There was zero visibility from the PIC's right-seat position.

My side of the plane was quickly getting coated with oil as well. Johnny tried opening his door to view what was ahead but the hot oil from the engine plastered him. He quickly closed the door. He called 121.5 and transmitted a Mayday.

There was no way for Johnny to pick an emergency landing area with his view totally blocked. I too had limited visibility and could see no good landing spots. He told me that he had the III Pilot locked on the Lexington airport and we were going to head toward the airport.

With only a small area to look through the window on my side and no area on Johnny's side of the plane, Johnny asked me to tell him when I saw the airport and to tell him when we crossed mid-field. He was doing his best to keep the plane flying.

Eventually, I spotted the airport among a grove of trees. There would have been no way to see this airport when we initially began to experience problems with the plane. Thank goodness, Johnny knew how to find the nearest airport using the GPS and had enough experience to know that the GPS would point us to the airport. He relied totally on the III Pilot and it came through big time.

As we approached mid-field, I let Johnny know we were crossing. He instinctively flew the pattern with no visibility on his side and me giving directions as to where the runway was located.

Believe it or not, he flew the plane on final approach and maneuvered based on my telling him to "go left, go right, go left, left some more, go right," etc.

The landing consisted of one bounce and a huge flare with a soft touch down. We rolled to a stop in disbelief. In a moment of silence, I am not sure what Johnny was thinking, but I was thanking the Lord for letting us survive this ordeal. And thanking Him for the III Pilot mounted on the dash. Without it, there is no way we would have ever found the airport. Also, did I mention that the area we flew over was covered with trees? No other emergency landing site could be seen.

My III Pilot is supposed to be on my doorstep come Thursday. I can't wait to set it up and start learning all about it. I am attaching a digital photo of Johnny's plane which I took after the ordeal. The oil has settle down somewhat in the photo but I believe the photo will speak for itself.

Thank you guys for such a great product—a true lifesaver.

R.W.