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I'm not sure what happened here, but I snapped these a couple of days ago and thought I'd share. I noticed the nose wheel issue when I drove by, but once I stopped, I noticed the prop damage as well.



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Is that nosewheel free castoring? Will it turn 360 degrees? Kinda looks like it was turned backwards and the prop hit the faring.
 
If I'm following you correctly, the yellow marking you see in the picture is a T shaped parking stall marker.
 
Grass stuck in the nosewheel fairing, nosewheel bent, prop splintered.

Landed nosewheel first short of the runway ?
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Is that nosewheel free castoring? Will it turn 360 degrees? Kinda looks like it was turned backwards and the prop hit the faring.
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Yes, free castering, No will not turn 360. Front end of a DA20 is stout, that's a HARD hit.
 
Shoot, as long as we're guessing... I'll play. Hard nosewheel landing pushes the nosewheel forward and turning the fairing to a position it's not accustomed to, and in the path of the rapidly approaching prop?
 
I'm going to guess either a nose landing or a hard porpoise bounce resulting in a prop strike. It drove the tire through the top of the nosewheel fairing. The nosewheel is at an angle is just from ground maneuvering.
 
Could the nosewheel fairing have been pinched between the tire and the gear strut?
 
good thing it's a wooden prop.

that won't happen in a conventional gear aircraft.
 
Tom-D said:
good thing it's a wooden prop.

that won't happen in a conventional gear aircraft.
Click to expand...

You are right, they scratch up the wingtip and twist off the tail instead.
 
Matthew said:
Could the nosewheel fairing have been pinched between the tire and the gear strut?
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Hit it hard enough and anythings posible, the nose fork that we can't see is a pair of heavy aluminum I beams with an axle at the back and a big round casting at the front that also serves as the steering pivot. That fork probably won't bend, but it might crack.
 
Really? This thread is more than 4 hours old and nobody said: "That'll buff out"?
 
Sure, just sand down those edges, it'll be fine.
 
Buffing isn't enough. I think we're in to duct tape.
 
The prop is easy to fix... all you need is a good saw. There's even lines painted on it, to show you where to cut. :D
 
dmccormack said:
Gee, I wonder how bad that bounce was?

:eek:

Good lesson for nosewheel pilots -- it's a short distance between that prop tip and the ground.
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For the tire to do that to the fairing? I'd it was a two poo bounce...
 
Hard hit, the nose wheel damage is not from the prop. It's from the tire pushing up into the fairing. Prop strike will (should) require an engine teardown inspection.
Inspect the nose wheel strut and attach points.

Any bets the last renter did not report it?
 
BillTIZ said:
Hard hit, the nose wheel damage is not from the prop. It's from the tire pushing up into the fairing. Prop strike will (should) require an engine teardown inspection.
Inspect the nose wheel strut and attach points.

Any bets the last renter did not report it?
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Not familiar with that requirement for a Continental, besides, that's one of the good things about a wood prop, it's sacrificial.
 
TCM SB96-11.

"Following any propeller strike a complete engine disassembly and inspection is mandatory and must be accomplished prior to further operation ..."
 
Henning said:
Nah, this one is gonna take some Bondo...
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Actually the Sensenech repair instructions...:rofl: (really, but not for THAT damage)

And the fairing probably will need some (assuming they don't just replace it)
 
denverpilot said:
TCM SB96-11.

"Following any propeller strike a complete engine disassembly and inspection is mandatory and must be accomplished prior to further operation ..."
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should be but not must as SBs for 91 operators...


But that's what insurance is for, and I'd want it inspected if only for peace of mind.
 
Henning said:
Not familiar with that requirement for a Continental, besides, that's one of the good things about a wood prop, it's sacrificial.
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Wood prop actually worries me here as it looks like more is missing on the blade in the right of the picture than the left, if it continued to run with an imbalance like that...
 
Dan Thomas said:
If it's a Lycoming, AD 2004-10-14 mandates it:
http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_G...e5f8683a0a4686256e9b004bc295/$FILE/041014.pdf

Dan
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IIRC, the DA20 has a Continental and the DA40 has a Lycoming. For the Continental, it's just an SB and is thus optional for the average Part 91 operator; for the Lycoming, the FAA made the SB mandatory for everyone by AD.

That said, even if it's a Continental, if I were to fly the plane after that damage, I think I'd want a fairly thorough investigation of the engine.
 
It looks like the passenger step is bent. That's impressive. This will require an inspection of the structure of the airplane.
 
I went by the airport this morning for Instrument training and noticed this airplane was now gone. I talked to the airport manager who spoke with the pilot, but did not see the incident. The story according to her was that the pilot said he was landing with a tailwind and in addition, he had the airplane trimmed incorrectly, so when he (the student pilot) eased off the yoke, the nose drove down into the runway.
 
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Ron Levy said:
IIRC, the DA20 has a Continental and the DA40 has a Lycoming. For the Continental, it's just an SB and is thus optional for the average Part 91 operator; for the Lycoming, the FAA made the SB mandatory for everyone by AD.

That said, even if it's a Continental, if I were to fly the plane after that damage, I think I'd want a fairly thorough investigation of the engine.
Click to expand...

TCM IO-240B, so just an SB

but just like you I'd want a tear down inspection on this one.
 
Airport manager says they worked on it for half a day and flew it off the field.
 
Nope, I think they patched it up and flew the plane..I'll try to verify that when I go over to the airport today though.
 
Skylane81E said:
TCM IO-240B, so just an SB

but just like you I'd want a tear down inspection on this one.
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Wooden props won't hurt the engine when hit, like a metal one will.
 
Tom-D said:
Wooden props won't hurt the engine when hit, like a metal one will.
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Perhaps but I still say that this is why we pay for insurance. And it still looks like one blade lost more tip than the other, that would be some wicked vibrations.
 
Skylane81E said:
Perhaps but I still say that this is why we pay for insurance. And it still looks like one blade lost more tip than the other, that would be some wicked vibrations.
Click to expand...
My understanding is that it isn't that bad once you have pulled the power back back to near idle - I recall one person claiming that the pilot didn't notice until the engine was shut down after a wheel landing gone bad (did the "jab" the stick forward method).
 
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