Fly Salvaged Airplanes?

VWGhiaBob

VWGhiaBob

Line Up and Wait
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VWGhiaBob
So I had a few extra minutes today and I decided to put the tail numbers of the planes I rent into the NTSB accident database. Wish I hadn't.

Turns out two of them have been in fairly serious accidents. One hit trees when a pilot took off from the middle of a very short runway and just couldn't get high enough fast enough..."major structural damage" to wings, flaps, etc. I even found pictures online...not pretty.

The pilot of the other one decided to land at an airport even though the tower warned of severe turbulence. Plane was blown off the runway. Again...major damage...left wheel stripped off, damage to wing, etc.

My question: Would you rent and fly these planes? Are the tests done to airplanes before they are returned to the air thorough enough that you'd fly in them?
 
Yeah, I'd fly em. The quickest way to scare yourself in aviation is to read through the NTSB database.
 
The plane I gave an FAA inspector a ride in was totaled in the 90s.
 
Depends how they were fixed, documented, and inspected. Sometimes a plane with major damage can have major components replaced with undamaged parts from another plane. Bolting on a good wing onto a totaled plane might replace all the damage, for example. Many classic or otherwise desirable planes have been rebuilt completely, essentially keeping a data plate and starting over.
 
What Scott said. I've done considerable structural repair in my career, and if they're properly repaired and documented damage history isn't a big deal. Belly landings are common and fairly easy to repair. Wings and control surfaces can be repaired by shops such as Williams Airmotive and be as good or better than new.

I know of a Seneca that caught fire in a hangar damaging the wing badly enough to require replacement. Test flight after the repair was normal.
 
I wouldn't think twice about it unless I was taking the first flight after the work
 
Flew the heck out of a rental Cherokee that was a half and half. Two wrecked airplanes, one had front damage and the other rear damage. The front half of the fuselage of one wreck was mated to the rear half of other wreck. The other two halves went to the scrap yard. It was and is a good plane. It is still in the area (saw it this morning taking off)

The mechanic and his son drilled out the rivets and took the two planes apart right behind the seats. Then jigged the good pieces back into alignment and riveted the parts back together.
 
This is the plane I learned to fly in - before I learned to fly in it.

Cub58H_after_twister.jpg


and BTW - it's still flying today
 
I am training for my tail wheel in a 1944 PT-19. I am willing to bet that plane has a ton of damage history, but today she flies like a new plane.
 
I flew an airplane that was in a midair. Before and after the midair.
 
If the airplane was put back together properly it may be better than a lot of airplanes that havnt been maintained.
 
Fearless Tower said:
I got to ride in a H-46 that was shot down in Vietnam, recovered and rebuilt.
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I flew in one in 1998 that you could see patched over bullet holes. We used to joke that if it wasn't leaking any fluid then you had to worry because you ran out of it.

My 150 was flipped in a storm years ago, and I damaged it earlier this year. Flies just fine.
 
Dr. O said:
Flew the heck out of a rental Cherokee that was a half and half. Two wrecked airplanes, one had front damage and the other rear damage. The front half of the fuselage of one wreck was mated to the rear half of other wreck. The other two halves went to the scrap yard. It was and is a good plane. It is still in the area (saw it this morning taking off)

The mechanic and his son drilled out the rivets and took the two planes apart right behind the seats. Then jigged the good pieces back into alignment and riveted the parts back together.
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Which plane did the new one become? As in which serial number?
 
If you have already flown them, and they seem to be rigged correctly, what's the issue?

The T-41B I fly had a run off the runway at the Grand Canyon Airport, the pilot could not handle the wind. Resulted in prop strike, they swapped the prop, ferry permit home and the FBO was not insured, no engine repairs. Aircraft sat and the airport commission finally impounded it for unpaid tie down fees and taxes after a few years.

Current owner picked it up on the tax auction, rebuilt the engine and basically went throught the whole airplane, new instrument panel etc. One thing that was noted, the airplane did not sit level on the main gear, one wing tip is a little lower.

Opened up the belly and inspected the main gear attach points and supporting structure. Everything is kosher. It taxis and lands straight, no issues. Just don't leave the fuel selector in both when parked.
 
Yes of course. I have a C-140 in our shop right now that has been groundlooped and flipped at least a couple times over its life.
 
Our club's 182 was flipped on its back during a bad landing, totaled, wreck sold off, rebuilt, and the club bought it back. So it's the second time the club has owned this plane.

Flies just fine, and I'm not afraid to get in it.
 
johnrweb said:
During the midair too? :)


Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 4
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Haha luckily no. But when I flew it post midair I was safety piloting for the girl who was in the midair. The midair was during the first stage of her instrument, I was flying with her the day before her checkride. I am fortunate that I got to fly with her, and continue flying with her.
 
Sounds like it's nearly unanimous! So up I go this weekend!
 
Up until at least a couple years ago the 727 that did the roll/nose dive as TWA841 in 1979 was still flying freight. I am told it wouldn't fly straight/was never in trim.
 
If its been safely flying for ten years after, I certainly wouldn't worry. I might be nervous those first couple flights....
 
there is a log entry far far back in our pawnee's logbook that says, in short, replaced fuselage, wings, and empennage with serviceable used parts
 
We had a Warrior clip a truck while taxiing. It was totaled by the insurance company but later was repaired. The cost of a new wing was some $40k. On a 25 year old Warrior with one radio and a second hand VFR only 89-b, it doesn't take much to total it.
The repairs have been made (10 months) and the plane is back in the air.
 
VWGhiaBob said:
So I had a few extra minutes today and I decided to put the tail numbers of the planes I rent into the NTSB accident database. Wish I hadn't.
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Then you REALLY don't want to know what's in chicken nuggets! ;)

Seriously, most wrecked planes aren't totally destroyed, they're just damaged. Remember that the plane didn't grow from a seed, it was assembled from parts, and you can replace parts.

"Kelly's Bastard Child" was an SR-71 built using the front end of a static test item and the back half of a wrecked YF-12. It flew supersonic missions for decades, and now is sitting in the museum at Hill AFB.
 
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