Soooo.... prop strike....

jaybee

jaybee

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jaybee
How hard of a hit would you take to your prop before you shut down and took a look ?

So I was getting back in to leave KEYW yesterday, could see the people next to us rushing to pre-flight to beat us out - which is even funnier because we were in no hurry at all. I heard them pick up their IFR clearance on the radio. The ramper was flagging for us to come forward and the 182 next to us pulled forward and sent a traffic cone about 50' past us (glad it didn't hit us !). He paused for a second, then taxied out and left.

Kind of reminded me of that video where the guy geared up and took back off.

KeyWest1.jpg

In any event beautiful day to fly in yesterday.
 
If I knew something other than a small pebble hit it, I'm shutting down to inspect. Same as rotor blades. I see something man made fly up into the rotor, or a bird gets pulverized, I'm shutting down to inspect for damage.
 
jaybee said:
How hard of a hit would you take to your prop before you shut down and took a look ?

So I was getting back in to leave KEYW yesterday, could see the people next to us rushing to pre-flight to beat us out - which is even funnier because we were in no hurry at all. I heard them pick up their IFR clearance on the radio. The ramper was flagging for us to come forward and the 182 next to us pulled forward and sent a traffic cone about 50' past us (glad it didn't hit us !). He paused for a second, then taxied out and left.

Kind of reminded me of that video where the guy geared up and took back off.

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In any event beautiful day to fly in yesterday.
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Hehe...that's pretty funny actually. Even more so because that guy was rushing AND picked up an IFR plan while he was at it..

KEYW is a beautiful place to land at. I've been there once with the family and it was super fun. The line staff and the facilities are nice as well. The only thing I DON'T like about that place is the $7 / gallon AVgas...:eek:
 
Caramon13 said:
Hehe...that's pretty funny actually. Even more so because that guy was rushing AND picked up an IFR plan while he was at it..

KEYW is a beautiful place to land at. I've been there once with the family and it was super fun. The line staff and the facilities are nice as well. The only thing I DON'T like about that place is the $7 / gallon AVgas...:eek:
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Yes, because you could tell he was rushing to beat us out and we were in absolutely no hurry at all (full bellies from the pier :D).
 
jaybee said:
Yes, because you could tell he was rushing to beat us out and we were in absolutely no hurry at all (full bellies from the pier :D).
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Why would ANYONE be in a hurry to leave key west? I mean other than being chased by the police or something...heh
 
I worked as line service at KEGE this past winter and heard a story from the year prior.

With all the hearsay and such this is what I got:
Some guy in his turboprop single was in a hurry and creamed one of our hefty at night with his prop. Instead of shutting down, he tried to leave. The tip of his propeller broke off then shook his engine right out of the mounts.

So, yeah, I'd stop if I hit a cone.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
 
Hit something... STOP! those cones have some weight to them.

Odd part, that's a towered airport. They were in some huge rush to hear "hold short, working on your release"? If you were going VFR you'd probably still be waiving at them as you were cleared for takeoff.

Now, on a non-towered airport I can understand being in a hurry to beat a clearance void time. But I'd still stop if I hit something.
 
rolivi said:
Hit something... STOP! those cones have some weight to them.

Odd part, that's a towered airport. They were in some huge rush to hear "hold short, working on your release"? If you were going VFR you'd probably still be waiving at them as you were cleared for takeoff.

Now, on a non-towered airport I can understand being in a hurry to beat a clearance void time. But I'd still stop if I hit something.
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Yea, it was a big cone too, probably good 10 lbs or so, it made a heck of thump noise, could hear it inside my cockpit with engine running and lightspeeds on
 
Did you tell him he hit a cone? He might have been oblivious, wondered what that sound was he heard, and then continued. I would have keyed up and said "Tower, the cessna 182 just hit a cone with his prop in case he doesn't know".
 
If I thought someone went through my prop and I was on the ground why not just shut her down a take a quick look?
 
Shepherd said:
It doesn't count if it was a rental.
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Not sure I understand this. If I hit something with the prop while I'm on the ground, I'm going to check that prop immediately. And if I think I hit something with the prop in the air I'm going to land at the nearest airport and check it out.

The plane may be rental. But my worthless arse, while not rented, is kind of precious to me.
 
rolivi said:
But my worthless arse, while not rented, is kind of precious to me.
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Ding Ding winner winner chicken dinner

Whatever reason the guy took off scared of repercussions, etc, etc I at the very least care about my own arse, that's what blew our minds.

He knew he hit it, no doubt about that. He stopped looked at where the cone landed, looked at us, looked at the ramper and hightailed it out of there
 
Out of curiousity I googled the N number it looks like its a Non Profit flying club plane, wonder if I should email the president and tell him what happened before anyone else flies it...
 
rolivi said:
Not sure I understand this. If I hit something with the prop while I'm on the ground, I'm going to check that prop immediately. And if I think I hit something with the prop in the air I'm going to land at the nearest airport and check it out.

The plane may be rental. But my worthless arse, while not rented, is kind of precious to me.
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Sorry, I forgot to use the required sarcasm emoji.
 
it probably had a 3 blade prop since it was a 182. worst case, it'll still have 2 good blades so I don't see a problem. :D
 
jaybee said:
Out of curiousity I googled the N number it looks like its a Non Profit flying club plane, wonder if I should email the president and tell him what happened before anyone else flies it...
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I would. Someone should at least check it out before someone else flies it.
 
A plastic traffic cone will bend the prop blade a little even at idle power. I have seen this.
 
Dan Thomas said:
A plastic traffic cone will bend the prop blade a little even at idle power. I have seen this.
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It's probably more likely to bend it at idle than at high power... I think...
 
jaybee said:
Out of curiousity I googled the N number it looks like its a Non Profit flying club plane, wonder if I should email the president and tell him what happened before anyone else flies it...
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I'm glad you said that, I've got a friend that's been down there this week and he owns a 182! I'm not sure if he flew it down or not, but it's good to know it wasn't him! :)
 
jaybee said:
Out of curiousity I googled the N number it looks like its a Non Profit flying club plane, wonder if I should email the president and tell him what happened before anyone else flies it...
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As a freedom-lover, I'd say no. As an aircraft owner / flight instructor - I'd REALLY, really want to know if someone did that with my plane. So despite my inclinations the answer is yes, definitely talk to the president of the club.
 
Heck... Wouldn't it be painfully obvious on pre flight?
 
Dan Thomas said:
A plastic traffic cone will bend the prop blade a little even at idle power. I have seen this.
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He launched a 10 - 12 pound cone at least 50 feet, he was to our right and the cone landed to the left of our wing. We all heard it with our engine running and headsets on.
 
jaybee said:
Out of curiousity I googled the N number it looks like its a Non Profit flying club plane, wonder if I should email the president and tell him what happened before anyone else flies it...
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I remember reading about a CRJ having a very hard landing at ROA around 7-10 years ago. End of the day so crew goes to the hotel telling no one. Next morning a different crew takes the plane and their first flight had them flying back to their hub. They swapped planes and another crew found very extensive damage from the hard landing during their preflight. Don't remember exactly what it was but remember it being bad enough to ground the jet.

So yes, call.
 
RyanShort1 said:
As a freedom-lover, I'd say no. As an aircraft owner / flight instructor - I'd REALLY, really want to know if someone did that with my plane. So despite my inclinations the answer is yes, definitely talk to the president of the club.
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What if the president of the club is the perpetrator? That could get awkward.
 
Depending on the engine of the 182 it would be a mandatory engine teardown/inspection for any prop strike. Holy buckets.
 
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