Dented wing... and dented pickup

DaleB

DaleB

Final Approach
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Aug 24, 2011
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Omaha, NE
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DaleB
My truck, not my plane. It was being towed at the time. The plane, not the truck. I'm just
glad I wasn’t driving anything involved with this when it happened...
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Little bondo, little paint, big hammer.. It will fly again.
 
Have the wing tip pulled off and assess. There’s a rib right there that’s probably fractured, but can’t say for sure without seeing. You WILL want to inspect the entire wing including attach points.
 
Ryanb said:
Have the wing tip pulled off and assess. There’s a rib right there that’s probably fractured, but can’t say for sure without seeing. You WILL want to inspect the entire wing including attach points.
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I don't have to worry about the plane -- not mine. It was under tow by a line guy with a cart. Pretty sure the damage missed the outboard rib and the next one in though. It will need a nose skin for sure -- obviously -- but the top and bottom skins look OK. I'm sure they'll want to inspect the whole thing though, no telling what the impact may have tweaked. If it were my plane -- and I were working on it -- I'd be checking the gear, the firewall, the gear legs, the spars, all of it.

As it is I'll just be getting body shop quotes.
 
That will buff right out. As soon as they put a new wing on it.
 
Since it is a Cherokee, with all their recent wing attach "dirty laundry," it would be good to adhere to the recent Piper SB
 
How fast was towing? Must have been texting and towing to do that.
 
Sorry, I just have to know, why was your truck anywhere near where it could get hit by a plane?
 
Assuming your truck is a newer Ford with an aluminum body, so you should consult your A&P for the repair.
:)
 
meh....it'll fly fine, just use a little bit more opposite aileron.o_O
 
It's going to be fun explaining the damage to the body shop. :)
asicer said:
Does the line guy still have a job?
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I hope so. People make mistakes, things get broken. Everyone involved has insurance. Just about guarantee that whatever mistake he may have made, he'll never make that one again.
PaulS said:
Sorry, I just have to know, why was your truck anywhere near where it could get hit by a plane?
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Have you ever visited hangars at an airport? The truck was parked where it is quite common to have vehicles parked while people are in hangars. We're doing a condition inspection. Had my partner not been over at the FBO at the time, his vehicle may have gotten whacked instead. As it was, he was following the plane under tow and got the event on his dash cam.
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Assuming your truck is a newer Ford with an aluminum body, so you should consult your A&P for the repair.
:)
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Steel body. If it were aluminum I'd just rivet in a patch panel and vinyl wrap. :)
 
When I worked for an air cargo outfit, one of the Detroit area city guys running around in all the snow, hit one of our Falcon 20 freighters.....Their insurance wasn't amused at the final bills. I think we bought and converted another jet with the payment.
 
I still can't figure out why FBOs tow thousands of airplanes for nothing but risk. For MX is one thing but a lot are towed to the ramp up to the FBO buildings for flights around here.
 
bnt83 said:
I still can't figure out why FBOs tow thousands of airplanes for nothing but risk. For MX is one thing but a lot are towed to the ramp up to the FBO buildings for flights around here.
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Probably because the revenue they generate for doing as part of their "FBO service" fees outweighs the insurance deductible.
 
PaulS said:
Sorry, I just have to know, why was your truck anywhere near where it could get hit by a plane?
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there are vehicles all over the ramp at my home base, in front of hangers, next to the back door of the FBO, next to the outside tie downs when folks go flying, etc.

stupid question.
 
bnt83 said:
I still can't figure out why FBOs tow thousands of airplanes for nothing but risk. For MX is one thing but a lot are towed to the ramp up to the FBO buildings for flights around here.
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Pretty sure this particular one was being towed for MX. Nose wheel pant was covered with oil, which I was told was there before impact.
 
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Wow... looks totaled....


DaleB said:
People make mistakes, things get broken. Everyone involved has insurance. Just about guarantee that whatever mistake he may have made, he'll never make that one again.
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Exactly. I have worked for companies that would fire people for petty mistakes, then have to go hire someone and train them, then hope they don't make the same mistake.
 
DaleB said:
As it was, he was following the plane under tow and got the event on his dash cam.
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Was person towing facing the airplane (using a front hitch) or did they have their back to it (rear hitch)?
 
Zeldman said:
Wow... looks totaled....
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Honestly, I debated the merits of just pulling it out and leaving it. But, after finally deciding to keep it indefinitely rather than sell like I was planning to, I also decided to get it cleaned up and do some work on it. I was actually planning to see about getting it into a detail shop this week. I'm glad I didn't do that last week, I guess.
 
DaleB said:
As it was, he was following the plane under tow and got the event on his dash cam.
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Don't torture us, post the dash cam video!

At my airport we're very, very, critical of ANYONE that parks within 30' of the taxiway centerline.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
At my airport, people run into hangars with airplanes
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I remember many years ago when the leading edge of a wing on the club's 150 had a dent in it. Someone tried to pull it out of a hangar without fully opening the hangar door. Oops. That's $1000 from the member and the rest of the repair bill from the insurance company.
 
timwinters said:
One more reason why high wings are so much better than low wings!
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That just makes it a higher reach to make the repairs.

Worst I've seen was a recent solo student that decided to taxi a 172 up to the fuel tanks after a flight. He figured he should park it about the same distance away from pump as when he is filling up his car. Ran the wing smack into the light pole on the end of the fueling island. Of course if that hadn't been there he would have hit the tank.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
At my airport, people run into hangars with airplanes
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I've seen a taxiing airplane run into a parked airplane. Plane #1 pulls into the run-up, starts doing its thing. Plane #2 pulls into run-up while #1 is doing its thing. I pull into run-up as #3 in time to witness #1 finishing run-up and taxiing out, unaware of #2's presence... Bang!
 
DaleB said:
People make mistakes, things get broken. Everyone involved has insurance. Just about guarantee that whatever mistake he may have made, he'll never make that one again.
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I agree... If this was a first-time offense.
 
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