Posted: 4/10/2008 4:51:24 AM EDT
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Or why you don't land downwind. He overshot the runway and busted up a 2004 Cessna 172 with the G1000 panel. Idiot. 9A0 is not for the inexperienced.   
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Yes. D stands for Germany. I worked over there for a small repair station. (More pics here: www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=147&t=692296&page=2) The plane in the photo belonged to the fields flying school. The incident happened on a Saturday. The pilot claimed he lost elec pwr on approach, panicked, cut the engine and bellied in. On Sunday I was walking around the beer fest in town when my boss saw me and called me over to his fest table. He told me Monday morning he would have a surprise for me at work and to get ready for another Mooney eng change. Camera in hand, I came in to work early Monday morning to find the Mooney there in the grass in front of the hanger. After the guy bellied in, the club members on the field that day, wrapped a rope around the prop. Then, using an old VW they pulled the plane over to our hanger. 
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This happened about 10 years ago, so my memory of the plane is not that great. But, if I remember correctly this Mooney was a early-mid 1960’s model that originally had the pump down gear which was later converted to a DC hyd pump. (Correct me if I'm wrong. I remember my boss telling me it had some type of gear extension mod.) The Lycoming Eng I remember had a DC Gen verses the typical AC. Don’t know why the guy didn’t use emergency extension.  ETA: Another thing I remember about the A/C was it had wood skinned wings. |
I don't know, and I'm no GA expert (that's my cousin, with his grizzly Adams beard and idiot savant knowledge of GA aircraft). I can imagine wood spars and cloth skin, but I've never heard of wood skin before. I just don't see how it would flex being that thin. |
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I could very well be wrong relying on my memory. But I remember my boss making a big deal about this Mooney, comparing it to newer Mooneys, he told me: - The wing was wood. - The gear extension had been modified from original. He was a Mooney owner, and a big Mooney freak. And for a German, he knew just about everything under the sun about Mooneys. I do know for a fact that the engine had a DC Gen. I did the engine and prop R&R. Dug out my engine removal list just now. I have listed the following about this A/C: - Mooney M20F 1967 Model (Lycoming IO-360A1A) |
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Someone landed on our strip thinking they would land with the wind because they didnt want to taxi all the way back to the house....and there is a forest on one end of the runway. Guess what happened next.  He didnt get hurt, but the plane (some kind of tiny kitplane) was a total loss.
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There are tons of all wood wings around. Early Mooney M20's, Mites, Culvers, Vikings and their predecessors, gliders, and others. The quiet of wood airplanes is wonderful. The engine noise or taxi noise is still there, but the harshness is reduced. Plus, you won't hear buckling or oil canning as in a metal airplane. That Mooney may also have welded steel tube empennage. I kept a steel coffee can with a cup of Skydrol inside next to my desk for over a year while I soaked some sandwich laminates. The Skydrol crawled out of the cup, up the insides of the can and down the outside, making the whole thing slimy. I kept important anatomy away. |
 In this industry for as long as I have been, I’ve learned to wash my hands before and after I take a piss. After a day of working with Skydrol and washing my hands numerous times throughout the day, the only thing I can think of is some Skydrol was left under my fingernails. Or maybe a bit of it on my coveralls that ended up on my hands after I washed them and then went to take a piss. But working the line, and driving golf carts or company vehicles, it’s easy for your buddy to set you up if he doesn’t wash his hands of all traces of Skydrol before driving. I’ve rubbed my eyes during the day having never worked with a drop of Skydrol, and ended up with burning eyes. It sure doesn’t take much. |
Cool! Thanks for the info. I do love how rag and wood airplanes fly. A Mooney M20 has been a "wish list" airplane for awhile. I'm only 5'6", so it would work for me. |
I know this thread has gone so far off course Im not sure I even want to ring it back but here is my picture. He saw he was coming up wa too fast and tried to ground loop it but it was wet and just slid off the runway into the trees. 
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Yup, no one hurt at all, thankfully. That Maule makes me sad.
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When I was working on my Instrument rating I was on about a 10 mile final following a Bonanza that had been cleared to land. A few minutes later I hear the Bonanza pilot go: "XXXX Tower, you better close the field. I forgot to put my gear down." The tone and embarassment in the guy's voice was priceless. Mike F |