Originally Posted by
Global Aviator
Those in the NT at the time will remember the Anindiyakwa Conquest that flew into a Thunderie.
A testament to a well built aircraft.
It shows what a Thunderie can do to an aircraft. Every leading edge looked like it had been hit with an ice pick, any fibre glass fairing gone. Now I maybe wrong on this part but the tail/empanage twisted.
Again memory could be wrong but Cessna didn’t write it off but rebuilt it, showing how tonka tough it was.
Now put a Cessna 210 into that same Thunderie…
The conquest pilot got into a situation he shouldn’t have been in and got away with it, a lesser built aircraft?
What’s my point?
I never saw that 441 but heard about it and Gary was indeed a great person and operator - 2 classes above any other.
But comparing the structural ability of a C210 to a C441 (single 300HP to a pressurised 1200+HP) is like comparing a Camry to a Sahara.
Note that Cessna soon after put a structural life on the C441 - grounding many (but you can get an EO to get around that!)
P.S Cessna stopped production of the Conquest in 1986 the same year they stopped the C210 production
Only 1 Sheety would have done that repair - lucky he was in Darwin & Cessna knew him well.