Darwin award : Mooney hitting a tree

[swh]

Anyone got the photos of the Mooney that flew under the thunderstorm 40 nm from Newman (WA), that allegedly got stuck in a downdraft hit a tree, took 2 ft of the wing off and then flew it on to Newman

:}:\

[the wizard of auz]

If it was from that big club.......... sounds about right. :rolleyes:

Makes you wonder why they bothered sticking an extra couple of feet on em if they fly alright without it. :p

[Capt L]

Was this recently?

[swh]

Capt L,

Yes last week

:(

[Snapper_head]

I have seen the Mooney and am trying to track down digital photos. It is still in Newman. I think the guy was lucky to have been able to fly it back to Newman.

[Bevan666]

Oh yes, I think we all need to see some photos.. if you need somewhere to host them, PM me.


Bevan..

[Toodogs]

I have photos.

How do I post them?

[the wizard of auz]

email em to me and I will size them so they fit nice and host em and post em.

[Bevan666]

http://www.bja.com.au/~bevan/Imgp0325.jpg

http://www.bja.com.au/~bevan/Imgp0326.jpg

http://www.bja.com.au/~bevan/Imgp0327.jpg

(Photos care of Blue Sky Baron)

[the wizard of auz]

HMMMMMMMM, downdraft huh?. sounds like a likely story. strange how the lowest parts of the aircraft , like fuse and prop dont have any damage at all. looks more like a slight misjudgement of distance whilst low flying. Maybe a sign post during take off from a road or something? ;)
(ducks for cover)

[Not_Another_Pot]

And he flew it like that!:sad: :sad:

[the wizard of auz]

almost as dangerous as flying a trinidad. :}

[Bevan666]

I bet the pilot needed a change of undies... if it had been me I would :}

I would have been a tad concerned about the rest of the wing departing ... ouch.

[Capt Fathom]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Mooneys have a one piece spar that goes from tip to tip. That's why they fly them out rather than put them in containers. (Did I make this up? I haven't flown a Mooney, but I must of read it somewhere...maybe!)

[itchybum]

He re-gained a handful of airmanship points for taking the time to install sun-shields and lock the ailerons
like a good pro-pilot. :ok:
he flew it like that Well more importantly, he continued to fly it like that. Well done to the man for keeping his **** in a pile after the event.

Judging by the nav-lights and tip section, obviously the wing-tip was only bashed in instead of actually "removed". Not quite as bad as "2 feet" being removed.

But if it hit a tree then where's all the dirt, tree gum, leaves stuck in folds and general filth you'd associate with a "tree-strike"? How do you hit a tree and stave in one section of the leading edge without a pile of other impacts all over the wing from the other branches, limbs, etc? Interesting.

Maybe he had a "sign-strike"... whatever it was hit in a nicely vertically-aligned manner. Maybe a wire-strike during a "knife-edge" pass???

Tree-strike? Yeah I'd have said something like that too in view of pucker-factor, and slowly-fading view of career/ premature life-ending / general pant-****ting event.

Welcome to the club...

Newman's looking green...

[VH-BIG]

Think you're right about a single spar in mooney wings. Obviously nice and strong!

[cloudcover]

Ive never had a close look at a mooney but the right
aileron looks :mad: up!
That would have been a real handful!!

[swh]

Any mooney drivers like to comment about the current flap setting ?

[White Wagon]

yeah the mooney does have a single spar.

i met the old fella who flies MZX before this stuff happened. he has a few thousand hours in that plane and it only flies private ops so youd think he trust it to stay together, but fu*k it would be a long flight home staring at that wing the whole way.

i dont think hed hafta worry about career ramifications, more so finding parts for mooneys. i heard since mooney went broke the cost of repairs became pretty steep.

[itchybum]

Good to hear he isn't worried about his day job then.

And in that case.... how about it, Mr. MXZ how about telling the story...........

[Toodogs]

Geez,

I email a few mates with me happy snaps and before you know it, someone else is taking the credit!

I want my 2 seconds of fame...:{

There is a very clean ding pushed in by a cylinder shaped object about 4" in diametre. A little along the leading edge is another small ding. The trailing edge forward of the flap has a buckle in it...

The old mate's an insurance assessor :p

[Towering Q]

Off on a tangent, that fence in the background of the first shot is the one I scaled recently after forgetting to jot down the secret anti-terrorist code on the security gate. Osama only has to walk 25 metres north to avoid that annoying, inpenetrable barbed wire barrier.

Back to the Mooney...on first appearance I would have thought it was the result of a careless refueler...but Newman has bowsers.

[the wizard of auz]

Certainly would have been a long, wide eyed flight from whereever to touchdown I imagine. then a sticky walk to the impenitrable fence. certainly would have been uncomfortable climbing the fence with them full undies I reckon. :} :p

[itchybum]

Not to mention with the sucked-up pilot's seat hanging out of his still-puckering arse.

nope... tryin' to climb that fence sure wouldn't be easy.



Reminds me of something that happened many moons ago...

[Richo]

swh

The flap setting appears!! to be the take off position, which for those unfamiliar with the Mooney is second of three positions marked on the indicator (UP, Takeoff & Down).

This is the standard position for the flap to be set after landing, and I am ASSUMING that this is the reason for it. Again for the non-mooney rated you do this so it is easier to step off the wing walkway and not stand on the rear of the flap at the same time. It really does make a difference if you forget.

So this is a normal thing to see on a Mooney after landing and as he remembered the chocks, ropes and window screens, I think it may be safe to say that he remembered the flap setting after landing.

Yes the mooney does have a one piece wing and spar, from tip to tip and I think that is what may have saved this one. The flap is interconected with a single torque tube and the motor in the centre of the aircraft. So if one comes down so will the other, unless the torque tube is broken, which apperas not to be the case here. In fact the wing looks fine from about 2/3 the way in.

Obviously the photos can be deceptive and apperances can be misleading without the whole wing to look at over a length of time. As for the lack of foliage in the photos, it may well have come off during the flight to NWN as even 60kt is quite a bit of flow. And the trees around NWN don't usually have that much on them. I would wait for the Insurance or ATSB report before I went that far.

The luck was with him that day.

As for the security at NWN, well boys you will be trying very hard with your best jokes to make me laugh as much as that does.

PS Wizz, I bet you were disapointed it was not a "Big club aircraft", an appology in order maybe.

[Charlie Foxtrot India]

Looks like it could quite easily be a bird strike to me.

:ugh:

[DirectAnywhere]

What, an emu!!!:D

[swh]

Kiwi or Dodo :}

[itchybum]

yeah... get serious guys... only Big Bird off Sesame Street could do that kinda damage and we all know he can't even fly!!

I don't see any yellow feathers.

[Highbypasss]

I have a feeling that the pilot must have read Chuck Yeagers biography. Hasn't anyone read Chuck Yeagers book? The chopping down the tree with the Mustang wing tip incident immediately comes to mind.

Scarey, though. Well done getting it back on the ground.

........................................................H.:c ool:

[DirectAnywhere]

The fact an emu, kiwi or dodo can't fly is kinda the point...geddit?!?!!:D

[compressor stall]

Just a question - are there any light poles or radio antennae in teh NWM area bent at unusual angles?

Almost certainly something long skinny and man made.

What sort of tree in the newman area has a SINGLE branch thick enough to cause that damage? Tops of trees are relatively soft.

Bird definitely not - no feathers and blood. They stain, especially something of that size.

CS

[Charlie Foxtrot India]

Reminds me of the Gary Larson cartoon where one pilot asks the other:
"Say, what's that mountain goat doing in this cloud?"

The look on the goat's face is priceless!:p

[the wizard of auz]

Not disapointed..........suprised!.
and you want me to appolagize for sugesting it was possibly one of the big clubs planes?..... gosh, lets see, big club owns 95% of the mooney's in WA. Big club has more prangs in Mooneys than anyone else in Australia.......... why would I possibly imagine it was one of theirs. I didn't say it was one of theirs, I said IF it was one of theirs, I wouldn't be shocked!
End result is the same........ no one died. good job. (not a good job for getting into that position in the first place, but good job for dealing with it and getting it on the ground in more or less one piece) ;)

[scud_runner]

If this is the bloke who I think he is a, he's private pilot with around 10000 flown around WA. Quite a nice bloke actually! I think it is his, or his company's Mooney.

Not to sure how accurate this hitting the tree story is though!:hmm:

[White Wagon]

i recon he flew too low over jiggalong and someone threw a beer can at him

[Capt Fathom]

It is possibly a bird strike, but the bird was sitting on a pole at the time!:E