When Bad Things Happen to Good Planes...The Old Bird is Totaled

Glad they are OK. They came down pretty hard on that wing. I'd be interested to hear what happened if you ever found out. Again, glad to hear folks are ok.

Was this a gear failure? Ken

Glad John and his passenger were able to walk away
from this. Makes damage to that beautiful plane
seem somewhat irrelevant.
I hope all three fly together again.
Bob

Looks like it's gonna be a pilot error deal. John was making a practice run for an upcoming "Flour-Bombing" contest next week. His passenger was a newspaper reporter on his first airplane ride !!!

John simply let the PT get too slow while concentrating on the drop, and the plane stalled. With the combination of low altitude and an extended flap (which, on the PT, adds a lot more drag than lift), John was a lucky pup to get the PT close to level before it struck the ground.

He's already been back to the plane, with a gruesome black eye, surveying the damage, and is pretty embarrassed over the whole deal.

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/19536476/plan-crashes-at-cape-girardeau-regional-airport

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-D0Q930zK4

Glad to see them walk away from that.

Chrome moly and wood can be replaced, friends can't.

I suppose the engine will have to be rebuilt as well as the airframe. A prop strike must stress the rotating assembly in all sorts of expensive ways.

RknRusty wrote:I suppose the engine will have to be rebuilt as well as the airframe. A prop strike must stress the rotating assembly in all sorts of expensive ways.

Prop strikes, even very minor, generally require a complete tear-down, inspection and magnafluxing.

What a shame -- the plane looked immaculate and was obviously given a lot of TLC. The wing saddle damage on the left side and crumpled fuselage stringers will require some significant work. Two of the gremlins of flying, too low and too slow, conspired on this one -- he was trying to power out, but just needed some more altitude.

At least both flyers walked away.

Yeah, John rebuilt the center section four years ago, after he felt an "Oil Canning" in the airframe as he taxied the PT. He had to do some deep digging, but discovered some damage to the load-bearing members between the gear legs, so the whole section was taken apart and rebuilt. While he had it apart, the engine and fuselage were also gone through by John and his helper Brian.









His work with it's engine and others has caused him to become known as "Mr. Ranger Engine", and he always seems to have one of these apart in his shop, overhauling it for somebody. He'll get it back together.

After this last round of rebuilding, he installed an electric starter which, while it made it easier on me and my buds getting the old plane going, still took away a bit of "character" from the PT!

Horrible. Glad they both walked away. As the FAA comes swooping in to interrogate endlessly, Pops used to call them the Gestapo of the air.

The reporter wont forget his first flight, that's for sure. Probably some new pants needed and scattered his chickens good.

Again, very glad they walked away and the plane is fixable.

PV Pilot wrote:Horrible. Glad they both walked away. As the FAA comes swooping in to interrogate endlessly, Pops used to call them the Gestapo of the air.

The reporter wont forget his first flight, that's for sure. Probably some new pants needed and scattered his chickens good.

Again, very glad they walked away and the plane is fixable.

Yeah, "Gestapo" is one of the kinder terms we have for them here. Fortunately, I'm told that we've got one of the few "good guys" of the bunch coming down to do the investigation. He's an actual PILOT...(of all things!)...and I think will wrap it up quickly. Since there were only moderate injuries, things don't get nearly as complicated.

We've got another government idiot that shows up occasionally, waddling around the ramp and waving his plastic badge, but for whatever reason, he didn't pop out of the potter's ground on this deal.

A local pilot collapsed the gear on his RV4 during a landing (parts failure). He mentioned that it took a couple years to get them(FAA) off his back about the whole thing.

Unfortunately, not an unusual situation. Perhaps the most famous is the 1990's grounding of Bob Hover, because two of these federal worms thought his airshow demonstration was "tentative". He was forced to spend tons of money to regain his rights. This American War Veteran was forced to fly his airshows in Austrailia and other country while his lawyer fought with the motherless dregs who wanted his scalp for their belts.

He eventually won the right to fly in his own country again, and I'm sure the two worms are now enjoying the retirement you and I finance.

In a Proper World, these two parasites would have been tied to the wings of Bob's Shrike during one of his flight demos, so the crowd could enjoy the brown vapor trail they'd leave.

I have a hat that I bought from Hoover's crew when he came back to the US Air Show circuit. I seen his routine in OKC, it was very good!

Youse guys seem of the anti-big goverment pursuasion.

Keep that in mind when you vote in November.

"A government that is big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you've got."

President Gerald R. Ford

Kim wrote:Unfortunately, not an unusual situation. Perhaps the most famous is the 1990's grounding of Bob Hover, because two of these federal worms thought his airshow demonstration was "tentative". He was forced to spend tons of money to regain his rights. This American War Veteran was forced to fly his airshows in Austrailia and other country while his lawyer fought with the motherless dregs who wanted his scalp for their belts.

He eventually won the right to fly in his own country again, and I'm sure the two worms are now enjoying the retirement you and I finance.

In a Proper World, these two parasites would have been tied to the wings of Bob's Shrike during one of his flight demos, so the crowd could enjoy the brown vapor trail they'd leave.

Have you ever thought of going into politics Kim?

The plane crash near Springfield, I knew of the lady that was killed. Very sad... 2 adults and 3 kids were killed in a single engine plane crash. Plane was a Cirrus SR-22, which is a 4-seater with a ballistic parachute. Very sad indeed...

http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=702822

John Goddard wrote:

Kim wrote:Unfortunately, not an unusual situation. Perhaps the most famous is the 1990's grounding of Bob Hover, because two of these federal worms thought his airshow demonstration was "tentative". He was forced to spend tons of money to regain his rights. This American War Veteran was forced to fly his airshows in Austrailia and other country while his lawyer fought with the motherless dregs who wanted his scalp for their belts.

He eventually won the right to fly in his own country again, and I'm sure the two worms are now enjoying the retirement you and I finance.

In a Proper World, these two parasites would have been tied to the wings of Bob's Shrike during one of his flight demos, so the crowd could enjoy the brown vapor trail they'd leave.

Have you ever thought of going into politics Kim?

I'm told I'd have to surrender my "Man Parts" first...and that just doesn't sit well with me !!!

WingingIt74 wrote:The plane crash near Springfield, I knew of the lady that was killed. Very sad... 2 adults and 3 kids were killed in a single engine plane crash. Plane was a Cirrus SR-22, which is a 4-seater with a ballistic parachute. Very sad indeed...

http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=702822

Yeah, saw that. A very bad deal.

A life of adventure is a life with danger ever-present. As for me I've lived a life of adventure during my seventy five years but have "dodged the bullet" of serious injury or. obviously, death. Sure tragedy happens and we grieve but such are the risks of adventure.

I can't imagine living a life without adventure ergo my signature below.

Kim wrote:

WingingIt74 wrote:The plane crash near Springfield, I knew of the lady that was killed. Very sad... 2 adults and 3 kids were killed in a single engine plane crash. Plane was a Cirrus SR-22, which is a 4-seater with a ballistic parachute. Very sad indeed...

http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=702822

Yeah, saw that. A very bad deal.

I didn't want to throw my opinion out, not being a pilot myself, but I hope you understood my comment.

WingingIt74 wrote:

Kim wrote:

WingingIt74 wrote:The plane crash near Springfield, I knew of the lady that was killed. Very sad... 2 adults and 3 kids were killed in a single engine plane crash. Plane was a Cirrus SR-22, which is a 4-seater with a ballistic parachute. Very sad indeed...

http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=702822

Yeah, saw that. A very bad deal.

I didn't want to throw my opinion out, not being a pilot myself, but I hope you understood my comment.

Of course...these things are a tragedy across the board... A person has to wonder what was going on in the cockpit, it's natural.

Wow, there was another one in NW MO this weekend.
http://fox2now.com/2012/09/17/pilot-dies-in-small-plane-crash-in-nw-missouri/

On a side note, Jeremy's Uncle Chris was killed in a Mini-Max crash back when we were in high school.

Kim wrote:

John Goddard wrote:

Kim wrote:Unfortunately, not an unusual situation. Perhaps the most famous is the 1990's grounding of Bob Hover, because two of these federal worms thought his airshow demonstration was "tentative". He was forced to spend tons of money to regain his rights. This American War Veteran was forced to fly his airshows in Austrailia and other country while his lawyer fought with the motherless dregs who wanted his scalp for their belts.

He eventually won the right to fly in his own country again, and I'm sure the two worms are now enjoying the retirement you and I finance.

In a Proper World, these two parasites would have been tied to the wings of Bob's Shrike during one of his flight demos, so the crowd could enjoy the brown vapor trail they'd leave.

Have you ever thought of going into politics Kim?

I'm told I'd have to surrender my "Man Parts" first...and that just doesn't sit well with me !!!

From what I can tell it's your soul and conscience you have to give up to be any good at politics. Hope I'm wrong.

Bob