PPRuNe Forums - Ramp mummies.

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Here are some ramp mummies I've come across over the years on my US travels. Seems like every airport has a few. Please add any photos you might have.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/7.jpg
Here's a rotting Aerostar at Corona (KAJO). Probably beyond saving at this point. She'd been dragged to this spot on flat tires when they relocated her for an event...

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/2.jpg
Extra sad to see as an Aerostar owner myself.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/3.jpg
If I didn't know it was made out of aluminium, I'd say that looked like rust...

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/4.jpg
A tell tale sign of lost hydraulic pressure on the Aerostars is when the gear doors start sagging.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/5.jpg
Mold and rot on the glare shield.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/1.jpg
Birds have no regard for their own.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/bonanza.jpg
Here's a Bonanza at Twentynine Palms.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/520-3.jpg
Here is an Aero Commander 520 that despite still being shiny after the previous owner polished her...

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/520-4.jpg
...hasn't flown in years. The whole interior is torn out.

More mummies….

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/heron2.jpg
A De Havilland…..

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/heron1.jpg
…Dove outside of….

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/heron3.jpg
….Lubbock, TX.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/heron4.jpg
Interior of Dove.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/morava1.jpg
Here's yours truly with a very rare bird. A beautiful Czech Let L-200 Morava light twin from the 50's stored outside of London on a farm. I wanted to restore this one, but it was just too much work and the price was way too high.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/morava2.jpg
The Morava was well ahead of its time and a great performer. This one was on the UK register and I think a few made it there. You still see a few around Europe at fly-ins. They were powered by Walther M337 engines and had Avia props. Please Google them - they are very pretty birds.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/aerostar1.jpg
Here's another Aerostar, a 601P rotting away at Hawthorne (KHHR). The usual story - father dies and the kids fight over who should get the money from the sale….

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/aerostar2.jpg
….whilst the years pass and it rots away all value. This one has so much corrosion now it will never fly again. What a waste. People are stupid.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/alticruiser.jpg
Now this is a rare bird. An Aero Commander 720 Alticruiser. One of only 12 built, I think. It was the first pressurised GA twin to ever come to the market in the late 50's. Ahead of it's time. This has been rotting away at Torrance airport for decades. Last I heard someone was trying to save it.

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/520-1.jpg
This old 520 Commander was sitting at Sedona, AZ for about ten years. Owner took off and one engine failed, he managed to get it back down, but never did repair it….

http://adamfrisch.com/images/abandoned/520-2.jpg
…finally the airport sold it for scrap to cover the unpaid tie down fees. I managed to buy the flaps and some ailerons off of this bird for my 520.

I have always thought that there should be a "Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Airplanes". It would have the power to take neglected airplanes away from their unworthy owners and give them to owners who would love and cherish them.

There's a dead DC3 at just about every airport in the third world. And lots of ex Soviet bloc heavy metal in countries whose politics once leant in that direction!

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This thread has reminded me of the Miles that was living (or should that be quietly rotting away?) in a corner of the black hangar at White Waltham ten or so years ago. The rumour was the owner refused point blank to sell it to anyone. It was a sad, sorry sight.
Does anyone know what became of it?

There are two Eclipse 500's at Schiphol airport. They've been sitting there for years, apparently because their CofA was revoked when the certificate holder went bankrupt. The owners left them as best they could, with engine covers on and so forth, but after years of sitting there, they're a sorry sight to see.

Plenty of pictures of them on the internet, as they can easily be seen from the parking lot near the K-apron. This is one of them:

Photos: Eclipse 500 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

According to a friend of mine who works the ramp, their state is such that they're not even allowed to move them anymore, not even by hand. And it's going to cost serious money to bring them back to airworthy condition, assuming a new type certificate holder eventually pops up in the first place.

I hate to think what the accumulated parking charges are by now. It's not like they've been tucked away in a far off corner of the airport. Rather, they're occupying some real money-generating parking spots at the GA apron.

Got these 2 at North Weald...

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/...rt/final12.jpg

and

http://www.airport-data.com/images/a...027/027366.jpg

Don't know the status of them, but they've been there ever since I can remember....

I have never heard the words Ramp Mummies ?
I have head Big Mammas referring to thunderstorms but not Ramp Mummies referring to abandoned aircraft ?
The two Eclipses look in good nick in the pictures ! It would be extremely sad if those fairly new Eclipses were not bought up and turned into super Eclipses to again grace the skies! They are not worn out 50 yr old aircraft

Pace

Well there is that 747 that's been turned into a hotel at Stockholm.

And Coventry airport is full of them.

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I managed to buy the flaps and some ailerons off of this bird for my 520.
http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...er_offline.gif http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...ons/report.gif http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...eply_small.gif

Some ailerons?! Exactly how many ailerons did it have?:)

Most small airports now seem to have a "Corrosion Corner" full of light aircraft slowly mouldering away. The North side of my home airport is like that. My informal estimate is that 40% of the aircraft tied down there have not flown in the last 5 years. :ugh:

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There are two Eclipse 500's at Schiphol airport. They've been sitting there for years, apparently because their CofA was revoked when the certificate holder went bankrupt.

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it's going to cost serious money to bring them back to airworthy condition, assuming a new type certificate holder eventually pops up in the first place.

They are N-registered, no? If so, and FWIW, I don't believe a linkage between manufacturer status and the FAA Airworthiness Certificate can legally exist. Anyway, here the Type Certificate Data Sheet, updated in December 2013.

TCDS A00002AC Rev 12 Eclipse Aerospace, Inc.

I've heard of Hangar Queens which could mean two very different things!

Is the Beagle Pup still at Barton?

SGC

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I have always thought that there should be a "Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Airplanes". It would have the power to take neglected airplanes away from their unworthy owners and give them to owners who would love and cherish them.

I second that!
Cheers, Dan

Dan,
Did you see Adam's Dove pics?

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I've heard of Hangar Queens which could mean two very different things!

You could also call most of these MILF'S.....Mummies I'd Like to Fly!!!! :E

is there many MILF's in Perth UA?

Are you talking of the flying variety or another type there MJ?!?! ;)

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The two Eclipses look in good nick in the pictures !

There is bits missing off the front one in the pic, makes you wonder what else has been snaffled off them whilst they've sat there

EASA revoked the type certificate for the Eclipse 500, if I recall correctly. But it's still valid in FAA land. And these being N-regs, they should be able to fly again. Here's an explanation from an owner from a US forum about the problems with these older 500's:

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Regrettably, it's not as simple as that. This plane has several significant issues.

This is an Avidyne Eclipse, non-ETT, one of the very small number of planes remaining in the category (most of the 38 built like this have been upgraded). Eclipse Aerospace (who took over the assets of bankrupt Eclipse Aviation) stopped supporting these planes as of March 31, 2013. You can still get them worked on, but there are some parts unique to these planes that are no longer available.

As you noted, it's not FIKI. It also has no GPS for navigation (the ad says it has GPS, but you can't navigate with it), and it's limited by AD to 30,000 feet.

You can fix the 30,000 foot limitation, but you can't just pay a little money to make the plane FIKI. It can only become FIKI through a major upgrade that would entail adding new tip tanks and other structural modifications as well as removing the avionics and replacing them with all new ones. I believe they're not offering that upgrade any more (though maybe they'd do a special deal for it). When it was last offered, as I recall it was over $1 million because it is such a big upgrade.

The Eclipse is a great plane, but the fleet suffers from having several different versions, and that makes it tough for a potential buyer to know what he's getting without assistance from somebody that really knows these planes. This is a bit of a "gotcha" plane in that regard.

All that said, these early un-upgraded Eclipse 500's represent an amazing value for the right buyer who can understand and work around the limitations of an un-upgraded Eclipse. Where else can you get a personal jet with just 100 hours on it that burns about as much fuel mile per mile as a twin Cessna and pay only a half million for it?

Ken

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The plane in question--the $550 K Eclipse--can fly up to 41,000 feet if it gets a little work. It would need RVSM approval (the plane's got group approval already, so it's mostly a paperwork exercise). And it would likely need new engine liners to get over the 30,000 foot AD limitation.

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OTOH, this jet, like others, is intended to be a traveling machine, and you can't travel very far in it if you stay below 18,000 feet. Also, one of the big draws of a jet is the ability to top weather. I wouldn't worry a whole lot about the lack of FIKI in this plane (it will limit you, but not that much) UNLESS you also say that you can't fly it high. The combination of no-FIKI and no high flight would mean very little winter flying.

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That early Eclipse was delivered with two very nice GPS sensors that do absolutely nothing but generate synthetic DME. The FMS "frontend" that was supposed to integrate them (so you could navigate by them) was never finished.

Some owners have installed an after-market Garmin 400W; that works nicely but can't be integrated into the PFD without a major upgrade that isn't offered any more. But you could easily mount a CDI and you're good to go. There are some regulatory hurdles in installing a GPS that you wouldn't have with most other planes, but it's been done by a number of owners and makes for a very usable aircraft platform.