Possible "prop strike"?

[tdager]

I posted this on the Red Board as well....

OK...it has been raining, on and off, in the Atlanta area for freaking weeks. Last night we had one heck of a nice storm. It seems there must have been some sort of leak in the ceiling in my hangar because I get out of the shower this morning and hear a thud in the hangar (it is attached to the house), open the door and see what you see in the first picture following this post.

As I look I see that while the vast majority actually missed the plane, it appears that some of the drywall hit the prop. You can see that in pics two and three.

It did turn the prop about 1/8th of a turn counter rotation wise, but that was it. I checked the prop and it is not loose, nor is there any leaks at the hub, and the prop turns freely in the direction of rotation.

Should I have it checked by an A&P? Even if I did, how would one "check" things besides opening up the engine and prop?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated, and yes, this really sucks (we also had some leakage at a set of upstairs French doors that leaked down the inside wall of the house....ugh).

 

[Geico266]

No "prop strike" here, in the conventional sense of the term anyway. I would not worry about it. Fire up the plane and see if there is any vibration. Props are tought.

 

[Trapper John]

I don't think this meets the definition of prop strike, so I wouldn't worry about it.

http://www.tcmlink.com/fiddefault.aspx?cgroup=MATTITUCK&cpagename=SS


Trapper John

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

if you still have concerns you could track the blades, real easy and revealing.

 

[tdager]

Thanks all....I did have a good A&P friend come over and his thoughts where inline with those here. He was more concerned about the cowling....which fortunately did not get touched except for the falling "snow".

 

[nyoung]

I had to re-read your original post and look at the picture a few times. It did not make sense to me... a storm, Atlanta, and a lot of snow in the hangar. Huh, what?

Finally, the light went on, and I discerned that the snow was insulation. I love this kind of stuff - it is a powerful reminder how much our own experiences color our ability to perceive. (I had just been out to my hangar earlier this week, and found a bit of snow that had leaked inside the rotating turbine vent).

Good news about your plane and the A&P's blessing.

Thanks all....I did have a good A&P friend come over and his thoughts where inline with those here. He was more concerned about the cowling....which fortunately did not get touched except for the falling "snow".

 

[ScottM]

I don't see a true prop strike. IMHO if your prop was actually damaged then I would be concerned, But a little bit of wet-drywall did not do real damage.

 

[Dan Thomas]

Lycoming's definition of a prop strike:

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.

(2) Any incident during engine operation in which the propeller impacts a solid object that causes a drop in revolutions per minute (RPM) and also requires structural repair of the propeller (incidents requiring only paint touch-up are not included). This is not restricted to propeller strikes against the ground.

(3) A sudden RPM drop while impacting water, tall grass, or similar yielding medium, where propeller damage is not normally incurred.

(j) The preceding definitions include situations where an aircraft is stationary and the landing gear collapses causing one or more blades to be substantially bent, or where a hanger door (or other object) strikes the propeller blade. These cases should be handled as sudden stoppages because of potentially severe side loading on the crankshaft flange, front bearing, and seal.


From http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library%5CrgAD.nsf/0/9FA5E5F8683A0A4686256E9B004BC295?OpenDocument

Dan

 

[PilotAlan]

If the prop was completely undamaged, I would tend to think it's good.
Ultimately, though, trust your A&P more than my uneducated opinions.