Hangar Rash Discussion....There's a lesson there.

[HangarSphere]

Hi POA,
Please share your our someone else's Hangar Rash experience. Feel free to change the names to protect the innocent (and their egos!) Thanks all!

 

[Ken Ibold]

This one isn't too bad ...

I borrowed a friend's T206H for a Thanksgiving trip from Orlando to Atlanta, landing at Peachtree-Dekalb. Uneventful trip both ways. I got home just as the line crew for the FBO was finishing up for the night. They said they'd put the airplane back in the gang hangar where it lived, so I went home.

Next day, my friend calls me. "Did you fly into a grass field or something?"
"Nope. Went to PDK. What's up?"
"The prop's all chewed up."
"It's what?"
"It's all chewed up. It's going to need a new blade."
"What the hell? I didn't see anything, and it flew fine."

Long story short, the line guys used tug that had mounted on it a towbar that was incompatible with a 3-bladed prop unless you used a very wide turn radius. They crapped out the downward blade with the edge of the towbar and then just tucked the airplane away and slipped away into the night.

The FBO bought a new blade and installed it for free, but I always had the feeling my friend held me responsible. And in a way, I guess I was. I screwed up. I trusted someone to be competent.

 

[Traket92X]

Back when I was about 14, my older brother was a young pilot and had taken me for a flight. When we got back to the hanger, he asked me to open one of the doors. I pushed it open and then went to help him push it in. Just as the wings went through, there was a scrapping sound. Turns out I had stopped short of all the way open and it scrapped a smallish scratch (1"x3") on the very end of the wing. That was 13 years ago and the current owner had stopped in town a few weeks ago. That scratch was still there and the only major blemish on a nice old 172. Still feel bad about it.

 

[lr60plt]

.....Long story short, the line guys used tug that had mounted on it a towbar that was incompatible with a 3-bladed prop unless you used a very wide turn radius. They crapped out the downward blade with the edge of the towbar and then just tucked the airplane away and slipped away into the night.

The FBO bought a new blade and installed it for free, but I always had the feeling my friend held me responsible. And in a way, I guess I was. I screwed up. I trusted someone to be competent.

Depending on when that happened, wouldn't that require an engine tear-down?


--------------------

2004-10-14 LYCOMING ENGINES

DEFINITION OF PROPELLER STRIKE

(i) For the purposes of this AD, a propeller strike is defined as
follows:

(1) Any incident, whether or not the engine is operating, that requires repair to the propeller other than minor dressing of the blades.

 

[denverpilot]

I still feel bad about the inch of paint or so that I dinged up on the left wingtip of the 182.

My co-owners have always been exceedingly gracious about it. They even pointed out the well-camouflaged twin scrape that had been touched up on the right wingtip that I had ever noticed.

I was mortified and still am to some extent. It's in my head, not theirs.

In Ken's case, he handed the airplane off to professionals, and they did it. The owner could have easily done the same thing unless he supervises all aircraft movements personally. As an owner who's watched line guys drive off with my 182 hooked to a tow bar and a pickup truck, I can say its unlikely that you can always do that.

If the owner is blaming Ken for it after everyone else on the planet agreed it wasn't Ken's fault, there's something wrong there, but not with Ken.

If the owner isn't blaming you and isn't looking at you funny, Ken... It might be in *your* head.

Maybe the owner hasn't made the logical leap to "Would I have done anything different than Ken did?" or, "Who really damaged the airplane here and caused me this headache?"

I'd just ask him if he's still bothered by your decision to hand the keys to the line guys, Ken. If there is something he thinks you could have done differently, he'll say it. Ask in exactly those terms.

He either has to say yes, you shouldn't have handed over the keys, which is unreasonable IMHO, or he has to transfer his frustration back where it belongs.

That said, he may always associate you with pain and suffering caused by having to arrange a repair. But at least he might get over overtly blaming you for it.