Friends C-120 Damaged When He Was Earing Lunch.:(

AKBill

AKBill

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AKBill
A friend of mine flew to a nearby town to visit friends and have lunch. When he got back to the field he noticed his wing tip was bent up. Plane is a C-120, wing tip was bent up about 2 feet inboard of the tip.

Very sad to know that someone would damage an aircraft without leaving any notice or contact information. He is going to have to pull the wings and barge the plane back to town to make repairs.

He showed me pictures, whoever damaged his plane had to know they did it...:(

All he wants is the person responsible for the damage to fess up and pay for the repairs. I told him to give me a call and I would help with the repairs.
 
Wow - that really sucks...

I assume he checked around for witnesses and/or security cameras? Is the thesis that it was hit by a plane or car or other?

I have had 3 different hit and run incidents with my cars while they were parked but thankfully no airplane damage to date (knock on wood).

Sometimes people suck.
 
How the heck does something like that happen? A vehicle on the ramp?
 
I'm guessing it was the same one posted on reddit's /r/flying subreddit under the title "No more honor on the airport". However I don't ever post so I'm not allowed to post links...
 
WOW! That’s awful!

If it was another aircraft that did that, I don’t think it’s likely that aircraft would be leaving the field as the damage to the other person’s aircraft would be pretty bad as well.

Given the height and being hit from below, I’m wondering if it’s someone’s SUV, lifted truck, or is there an FBO and do they have a fuel truck that might have collided with the wing?
 
rtk11 said:
If it was another aircraft that did that, I don’t think it’s likely that aircraft would be leaving the field as the damage to the other person’s aircraft would be pretty bad as well.
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You’d be surprised.

We had a very similar situation recently on the ramp at the local avionics shop.

Guy in a Baron flew his plane in and dropped it off. While he was parking on the ramp, his wingtip apparently made contact with the nose of a Tripacer. No one saw it happen.

Baron driver hands the keys to the shop and leaves apparently being absolutely clueless that he hit another airplane.

The shop noticed it an hour later when putting the Tripacer back in the hangar. Nose bowl was completely stove-in. The only thing noticeable on the wingtip of the Baron was a scrape and paint chips from the Piper cowling.
 
RyanShort1 said:
What airport and when?
Gustavis, AK (PAGS), I think it was Wednesday.

kyleb said:
How the heck does something like that happen? A vehicle on the ramp?
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Best he can figure it was a vehicle, no roads to Gustavis heck they don't even have license plates on their vehicles there. If they do have a license plate it was on the vehicle when they barged it there. I've see plates dated in the 70's, or earlier.

Zeldman said:
Will your friend allow pictures on the net.??
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I'm sure he would, I'll ask him next time I see him. He stopped by the hanger I was working in and was pretty bummed out. He said he thinks his plane is cursed. Last year he spent 6 months putting new fabric on the wings. Had about 15 hours on it when the unthinkable happened. He as in a hanger doing some work and decided to take a short flight. Hanger door was open and they fueled the plane in the hanger. After the fuel truck left the started his propane pre heater. The vapors from the fuel must have collected at ground level, they erupted in a big ball of fire and caught his right wing on fire. Right fuel tank caught fire, he acted quickly and got the fire out. Wing was destroyed, bought a wing and installed it I think in March 2018.
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C120.jpg
 

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The torn fabric on the bottom looks more like a ground vehicle than a plane to me...


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AKBill said:
Don't think there are cameras at the airport. I think his insurance will cover repairs, but he will not be flying for 6 months..:(
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No security cams at Gustavus, but it's a small community. The truth will come out eventually. That damage wasn't done by an airplane and Gustavus has maybe 200 cars in town. No roads in or out. Just the ferry or barge for vehicles. There are security gates at the airport that take a card to get through. Someone will figure it out and let the owner know.
 
Htaylor said:
No security cams at Gustavus, but it's a small community. The truth will come out eventually. That damage wasn't done by an airplane and Gustavus has maybe 200 cars in town. No roads in or out. Just the ferry or barge for vehicles. There are security gates at the airport that take a card to get through. Someone will figure it out and let the owner know.
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I sure hope he can figure out who damaged his plane. He doesn't what to press charges just get his plane fixed.
 
GRG55 said:
Yes, I saw that. But I was trying to understand how a collision would ignite it?
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No fire after collision. Fire was last winter happened after fueling and started to pre heat engine. He thinks his plane is cursed.
 
The same plane that caught fire last year......

If it weren't for bad luck he'd have no luck at all....

Gustavis....small, isolated town. Not everyone likes everyone there, someone will rat the culprit out sooner or later. Lot of people stuck in the '70s there.
 
That fabric is burned off, not torn off, and the aft spar's top cap is eaten away. Something fishy here.
 
Zeldman said:
The same plane that caught fire last year......
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Yah same plane. Told him he could buy my Sport, it's run good for me for over 22 years. He hung his head down and said "I'm going to go get a drink"..:)
 
Check all the golf carts on the field for red paint transfer.
 
Witmo said:
Check all the golf carts on the field for red paint transfer.
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When I was there there wasn't much of anything on the field, including airplanes and vehicles. The only ways out of town are by boat or airplane. I'm surprised this happened in Gustavus.
 
Everskyward said:
When I was there there wasn't much of anything on the field, including airplanes and vehicles. The only ways out of town are by boat or airplane. I'm surprised this happened in Gustavus.
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I could not believe it, like you said, small town. I sure hope I find out "the rest of the story".
 
Dan Thomas said:
That fabric is burned off, not torn off, and the aft spar's top cap is eaten away. Something fishy here.
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You have to expand the quote to see the narrative -
last year, it got lit up after fueling in the hangar
this year, it got crunched sitting on the ramp.
 
I remember you showing me that airplane on the ramp in Juneau!
 
Katamarino said:
I remember you showing me that airplane on the ramp in Juneau!
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Got the Scout on floats and modified his hydraulic system for the float plane trailer yesterday. Busy weekend for me heated pito for the Sport this afternoon..:)
 
Sad to think that someone in the aviation community,would do that damage and not report it. Hopefully the airplane owner will find out what caused the damage.
 
Going to end up eventually finding who did it, they’ll be broke, and you can’t get blood from a turnip. So then what?
 
Everskyward said:
If it's someone who lives in the town, everyone will know what an ass they are, if they didn't know it already.
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I’m sure that’ll fix the airplane. Who cares?

Do Cessnas get magic repairs when the collective disapproves of someone’s behavior? LOL.
 
Everskyward said:
I would want to know, even if it wasn't my airplane, especially if I had to live in a small town with the person.
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I don’t find knowing who the broke, terrified, complete idiots are, makes anything any better...

Usually when they’re outed in a small town, nobody is particularly surprised, they already know who the destructive village idiots are.
 
There is a chance the driver (if done by a vehicle) didn't feel or hear it. . .Shoot, I was backing my Jeep out of a parking spot, and a bonehead tearing through the lot at 40+ skidded to a halt, jumped out and yelled at me for hitting him. And I had - my spare tire mount contacted his car, and I didn't feel or hear it. The other guy was of the opinion it didn't matter how fast he was going, it was all on me. Couple pedestrian witnesses hung around, since he had scared the poop out of them - City cop saw it more my way, after talking to the nice people who had waited, and hearing the other guy repeat he was going fast, but that didn't matter.
 
denverpilot said:
I’m sure that’ll fix the airplane. Who cares?

Do Cessnas get magic repairs when the collective disapproves of someone’s behavior? LOL.
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Probably not, but might be able to get some work out of them in trade (on the plane, at home, etc.). This coming from someone that lived in a town of about 550 and has seen it. Small towns can get much lonelier when you’re singled out and shut out for being a f- up.
 
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