Cherokee makes a divot.

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Racerx

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This was making the rounds on the socials. Cherokee in Australia digs in at a golf course. Both occupants OK.

 
Interesting. Did that right wing stall right before impact? Or pilot just didn’t level the wings?
 
That was a hard hit. It's nice to see someone rushing to the assistance of the pilot and passengers instead of pulling out a phone and recording video.

There is too much open mouthed gawking in today's world.
 
3393RP said:
That was a hard hit. It's nice to see someone rushing to the assistance of the pilot and passengers instead of pulling out a phone and recording video.

There is too much open mouthed gawking in today's world.
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Lol. except that guy running totally ate **** on his way. Find the longer version. Poor guy.
 
3393RP said:
That was a hard hit. It's nice to see someone rushing to the assistance of the pilot and passengers instead of pulling out a phone and recording video.
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Except for the guy who recorded others "rushing to the assistance of the pilot and passengers instead of pulling out a phone and recording video."
 
Eh, I give style points to the 172 . . .
(Santa Monica CA May 2, 2025)
 
billsgs126 said:
Except for the guy who recorded others "rushing to the assistance of the pilot and passengers instead of pulling out a phone and recording video."
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As long as somebody was rushing to aid the pilot.

I think the kind of person who would remain in place to video the scene is also the kind of person who would be utterly useless in rendering assistance.
 
flyingron said:
$100 whoever hits the plane...
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In the early 90's, I played golf a few times at the Hickam AFB golf course in Hawaii. One of the tee boxes was right next to a taxiway regularly used by airliners at Honolulu Intl Airport. There was a large sign which said Warning! It is illegal to hit golf balls at the airplanes! I'm 100% sure that sign was not placed preemptively.
 
Jim K said:
It's actually a little surprising the wing DIDN'T come off of a Cherokee with that hard of a hit.
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I find it rather comforting. For some reason when I fly my Cherokee, there's a little part of my brain that still says "hey, what do we think the odds are that the wing is going to fold up in flight? Not zero, right?" Totally irrational fear, given that my plane hasn't gone anywhere near Embry Riddle, but now I'll feel better about my wings. Of course, now I will worry about the empennage...
 
AvNavCom said:
I find it rather comforting. For some reason when I fly my Cherokee, there's a little part of my brain that still says "hey, what do we think the odds are that the wing is going to fold up in flight? Not zero, right?" Totally irrational fear, given that my plane hasn't gone anywhere near Embry Riddle, but now I'll feel better about my wings. Of course, now I will worry about the empennage...
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Fwiw, there was a flight school that commented on the most recent request for comment on the proposed AD. They flew in the same area as erau. All of there planes had come back clean. One had iirc 18,000 hours.
 
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AvNavCom said:
I find it rather comforting. For some reason when I fly my Cherokee, there's a little part of my brain that still says "hey, what do we think the odds are that the wing is going to fold up in flight? Not zero, right?" Totally irrational fear, given that my plane hasn't gone anywhere near Embry Riddle, but now I'll feel better about my wings. Of course, now I will worry about the empennage...
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It is always in my mind during preflight.

I don’t feel the information available right now supports much comfort. Just is not clear why it has happened a few times. And also if you say test and found an issue, replacement is expensive or impossible.
 
Racerx said:
Fwiw, there was a flight school that commented on the most recent request for comment. They flew in the same area as erau. All of there planes had come back clean. One had iirc 18,000 hours.
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ERAU must have several ex-Navy pilots as instructors.
 
SebIp said:
It is always in my mind during preflight.

I don’t feel the information available right now supports much comfort. Just is not clear why it has happened a few times. And also if you say test and found an issue, replacement is expensive or impossible.
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One happened because the plane had been ridden hard and put away wet - pretty much nothing but patterns all day every day, and there were rumors of aerobatics done in it.

The other happened because of aerobatics. The report says it was a stall recovery where the wing just folded, but it makes no sense. The wing showed no prior fatigue or damage. A hundred to one they (two CFIs) were playing FAFO. That same fright school had another fatal a few months later when another of their CFIs botched recovery from a simulated engine failure in a twin, had an actual failure and spun trying to do a go-around. The plane had come out of annual the day before, but the report detailed worn linkage on the throttle.

TL;DR nothing wrong with Cherokees. The problem is amateurs with a child’s mentality treating them like their first bike.
 
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ateamer said:
The other happened because of aerobatics. The report says it was a stall recovery where the wing just folded, but it makes no sense. The wing showed no prior fatigue or damage.
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Not disagreeing, but you really have to pull hard or completely botch an aerobatic maneuver to over-G an aircraft, even in normal category. Normal category is rated to 3.8, while utility category is rated to 4.4. In both cases the structure must be engineered to 1.5x rated load before failure. So theoretically a PA28 should take 6.6G to pluck the wings off.

I fly acro several times a week. To get north of 5G, you have to try pretty hard. Like dive vertically to near Vne and then pull hard and sustained through the bottom.

So my suspicion would be previous bouts of overstress had weakened that spar considerably. That's one area where metal spars are actually inferior to wood. There is less elasticity and resilience once a crack starts.
 
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ateamer said:
Ed Haywood said:
Not disagreeing, but you really have to pull hard or completely botch an aerobatic maneuver to over-G an aircraft, even in normal category. Normal category is rated to 3.8, while utility category is rated to 4.4. In both cases the structure must be engineered to 1.5x rated load before failure. So theoretically a PA28 should take 6.6G to pluck the wings off.

I fly acro several times a week. To get north of 5G, you have to try pretty hard. Like dive vertically to near Vne and then pull hard and sustained through the bottom.

So my suspicion would be previous bouts of overstress had weakened that spar considerably. That's one area where metal spars are actually inferior to wood. There is less elasticity and resilience one a crack
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Ed Haywood said:
Not disagreeing, but you really have to pull hard or completely botch an aerobatic maneuver to over-G an aircraft, even in normal category. Normal category is rated to 3.8, while utility category is rated to 4.4. In both cases the structure must be engineered to 1.5x rated load before failure. So theoretically a PA28 should take 6.6G to pluck the wings off.

I fly acro several times a week. To get north of 5G, you have to try pretty hard. Like dive vertically to near Vne and then pull hard and sustained through the bottom.

So my suspicion would be previous bouts of overstress had weakened that spar considerably. That's one area where metal spars are actually inferior to wood. There is less elasticity and resilience one a crack starts.
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That aircraft N9855S had a previous accident in TX. Report called it Substantial Damage.
 
Ed Haywood said:
In the early 90's, I played golf a few times at the Hickam AFB golf course in Hawaii. One of the tee boxes was right next to a taxiway regularly used by airliners at Honolulu Intl Airport. There was a large sign which said Warning! It is illegal to hit golf balls at the airplanes! I'm 100% sure that sign was not placed preemptively.
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We were kayaking at a resort in New Mexico once and the rental place advised us against getting too close to this one part of the lake as it was prone to having golf balls landing there.

Years ago my office on Aberdeen Proving Ground was right at the fifth hole of the post course (inside an 8' barbed wire fence). I'd regularly find balls in our parking lot. If I'd see them land, I'd chuck them back on the green. The rest I through in a box in my office. When I quit that job I gave my collection to a woman who was making a similar collection in her office. I always thought it would be neat to just go up on the roof some day and start chucking them onto the green trying to see if I could sink one in the hole.
 
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