A Mooney Mystery. A Moonystery.

clearly this one didn't have a johnson bar
 
Don't let Ted see this or he will think about making this into a car to tow behind the RV...
 
Yeah, but even without wings, it could carry you, 3 buddies, clothes and golf bags on a trip to Cabo.
I heard Al Mooney was 6'7"
 
Mystery solved. I talked to the ops guys this morning. I also found the wings. They are in the hangar. Apparently the guy bought the plane with the intention of flying it. They unloaded it, put the wings in the hangar, and discovered that the fuse was to tall to clear the door on the cart, so they did the obvious thing and just left it sitting there :rolleyes:

Crash one was the prop strike. Of course again rather than securing it in any way, they just left it sitting there.

Crash two flipped it on it's back. Today ops picked it up with an endloader & a forklift and helped the guy get it into the hangar.

When they told me the story, I was tempted to say "hope they had insurance", but I didn't because that would be a lie. I don't want to have any part in paying for that stupidity.
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Way to ruin a good airplane. I'd not worry about the prop strike, engine wasn't running. I'd worry about all the sheet metal damage from getting blown around. Dumbassery if even I've seen it.
 
What is the hangar door clearance, Mooney wings are 36’+ and tail is 8’ high?
 
What is the hangar door clearance, Mooney wings are 36’+ and tail is 8’ high?
I'm not sure..I have sliding doors on my hangar. They sure look low though. I'd guess 9'. The last picture shows the door fully open. The problem was that cart is quite a bit taller than the plane on its own gear. If they had tipped the tail down to get past the door it would've fit inside. The door is a good 2' lower than the ceiling trusses.
 
I can't believe Ops let it sit out unsecured like that. It'd be in another county or slammed up against someone's hangar after a night like tonight!
 
I can't believe Ops let it sit out unsecured like that. It'd be in another county or slammed up against someone's hangar after a night like tonight!
Id guess tonight's wind forecast might have been the reason they finally took action.
 
Mystery solved. I talked to the ops guys this morning. I also found the wings. They are in the hangar. Apparently the guy bought the plane with the intention of flying it. They unloaded it, put the wings in the hangar, and discovered that the fuse was to tall to clear the door on the cart, so they did the obvious thing and just left it sitting there :rolleyes:

Crash one was the prop strike. Of course again rather than securing it in any way, they just left it sitting there.

Crash two flipped it on it's back. Today ops picked it up with an endloader & a forklift and helped the guy get it into the hangar.

When they told me the story, I was tempted to say "hope they had insurance", but I didn't because that would be a lie. I don't want to have any part in paying for that stupidity.
View attachment 102781
And then they screwed up again by using a Deere...
 
Was the owner involved in the decision to abandon, or just the local field operations folks?
 
What insurance policy covers a destroyed fuse from falling off a large wooden crate?
 
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