Mooney Caravan XXII Update

[Dave Piehler]

Folks, I see that there hasn't been a report from the North 40.  Here's a brief one.  EAA and FAA were super in finding us a spot on the field that was dry on Sunday morning, figuring out how we could taxi to it, and getting us from Madison to the field.  We wound up on the north side of 9-27, near Friar Tuck's.  Events went off smashingly.  The Fish Fry Sunday night, breakfasts on Monday and Tuesday, the Mooneyspace Social on Monday, and the Barbecue on Tuesday were all great, and seem to be getting better every year.  The weather in the lee of the cold front that hit Saturday was some of the best in years, and things on the grounds were pretty darn good, too.  Wish I were still there, but the office beckoned and I had to respond.  So....

</Pilot Hat><Lawyer Hat>

There was a small problem on the flight this year, categorized as an incident under NTSB and FAA criteria.  It involved minor sheet metal damage, no injuries or serious damage.  Attached is a statement relating to that.  To say more at this point, as a former U.S. President was known to say,  "wouldn't be prudent."

</Lawyer Hat><Pilot Hat>

Dave Piehler

Statement Relating to Incident During Mooney Caravan to Oshkosh XXII.pdf

[HRM]

Good grief already. Did wingtips <allegedly> touch? That's all we want to know.

Glad to see that there was only bent aluminum and no injuries!

[carusoam]

David,

Thanks for sharing the write up.

Transparency and speed of the topic is important.

Thanks for sharing it.

Best regards,

-a- 

[Dave Piehler]

There's a brief update on the progress in the investigation of the incident on the Mooney Caravan web site.

Dave Piehler

[HRM]

Here's the jist:

As many of you know, we had an incident during Mooney Caravan 2019.  During the en route portion of the flight, a slowdown occurred during a rejoin to fingertip maneuver.  During this same time period, an en route course change also occurred in the direction of the rejoining wingmen. As such, an overrun occurred and both pilots took corrective action. After landing it was noted that contact had occurred.  No other elements of the formation were placed in danger by the incident.

Sh*t happens, especially in aviation--I say "No harm, no foul".

[KSMooniac]

Sh*t happens, especially in aviation--I say "No harm, no foul".

I would not say that in this case...something happened, it is being investigated, and any necessary changes in procedures or qualifications will be made and implemented in the training clinics and the Caravan operation.

All of us active in formation flying can learn from this. Thankfully both pilots are able to provide their perspectives so at the end of the process we'll know exactly how it happened, and how to improve.

Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

[HRM]

Well guys, it can happen to the best, browse here.

 

[gsxrpilot]

Did anyone else see their brief appearance at Oshkosh this year? They flew across show center West to East at what seemed like Tower altitude, on Monday morning. Tight formation, going fast, flew through and disappeared.

There are few things quite as impressive as the Blue Angels.

[81X]

On 8/20/2019 at 5:36 PM, gsxrpilot said:

Did anyone else see their brief appearance at Oshkosh this year? They flew across show center West to East at what seemed like Tower altitude, on Monday morning. Tight formation, going fast, flew through and disappeared.

There are few things quite as impressive as the Blue Angels.

Yup. Text alerts came up BIG for seeing the brief appearance of the elusive Blue Angels.