I was once tasked by a certain civil aviation department to take them to a newly constructed major airport (not yet open) to find and recover an entire inboard flap that had fallen off a passing Boeing 747 the previous night. We found it (slap bang on the numbers of the main runway) in an intact condition. It was far too long to fit lengthways in the aircraft so CAD, who sent a couple of investigators along, wanted me to under-sling it in a net. I point blank refused because there was no way of predicting how it would travel, although I had a good inkling that it would behave exactly as the designer intended - i.e. it would fly)!
I got my crewman to lash it down laterally across the cabin floor, upside down and backwards, leaving both doors open and each end sticking out in the airflow. I flew it back like that at 50 kts, without any drama (just wish I had a photo to show for it).