Damage history in the fleet

[Shadrach]

This poll is for aircraft owners of machines = to or >20yrs old.

Damage history should include gear ups, gear collapse, birdstrikes, hangar/taxi rash, hail/weather related. Basically anything that resulted, or should have resulted in a repair. 

I'm just curious as to what percentage of the more aged fleet has been involved in a mishap.

[Ned Gravel]

Oops.

I said NDH, but I forgot about my own little hanger rash incident.  So put me down for the second option.  "Yes but well repaired and logged."

 

[Shadrach]

 

Ned, you screwed the pooch and my poll. right out of the gate...

Our plane is 45yrs old and has had a few rash incidents over the years. It's never been on it's belly (There but by the grace of God go I)..., but it's essentially a one partnership machine. Maybe 7 or 8 people have flown it in its whole life. 

 

[rbridges]

My '65 C had a gear up in '66.  I figure any problems would have surfaced in the last 45 years.

[Ned Gravel]

Quote: Shadrach

Ned, you screwed the pooch and my poll. right out of the gate...

Our plane is 45yrs old and has had a few rash incidents over the years. It's never been on it's belly (There but by the grace of God go I)..., but it's essentially a one partnership machine. Maybe 7 or 8 people have flown it in its whole life. 

 

[Shadrach]

Quote: JimR

Do mid airs count?  In over 10,000 hours, my 201 has never been on it's belly, but it's vertical stabilizer and rudder did have a very up close and personal encounter with a C-152's nose gear back in the 80s.  A leading MSC replaced one skin on the horizonal stabilizer and "bolted on" a factory new vertical stabilizer and rudder.  All properly logged and a 337 filed, of course.  I consider the whole thing to be a non-issue.  As a result my 201 has modern blade antennas on the vertical stabilizer and not the factory towel bars.

Jim

Oh, both aircraft landed safely and with no injuries.

[John Pleisse]

I have two hangar rash indidents, non moving. Couple of skins. No MDH.

I think the bigger question is, are Mooneys as impervious to gear ups and tail strikes as many in the Mooney community beleive? Are they really built that much tougher that we can all patt ourselves on the back because a gear up in a Mooney is supoosedly less "damaging" than a Piper or Beech?

I feel tail strikes on long bodies are much more serious than a gear up on any other Mooney, but still.

[DaV8or]

Unfortunately, your poll needs to allow multiple responses for me. My plane has damage repair that was logged and damage repair that wasn't logged. One is a gear up and the other is a dinged wing tip when the plane hit a tree on a golf course during roll out after a forced landing. For whatever reason, they didn't log the wing tip repair.

[DaV8or]

Quote: N4352H

I think the bigger question is, are Mooneys as impervious to gear ups and tail strikes as many in the Mooney community beleive? Are they really built that much tougher that we can all patt ourselves on the back because a gear up in a Mooney is supoosedly less "damaging" than a Piper or Beech?

[John Pleisse]

Quote: DaV8or

Multiple reputable MCSs that have done lots of these repairs have told me that it's usually not that big of a deal. I wasn't trying to hire them to do this kind of work, so none of them had any reason to lie to me. I trust them because they all have been in Mooneys for decades and have done the work so often and seen and flown the results after. It can't be all that bad, because many gear up victims are actually flown to the shop for repair with a loaner prop and ferry permit.

[N601RX]

My right aerilon has been reskinned.  Not all damage history is the same.  In many cases the damaged parts are removed, and new parts are bolted on.  Usually the plane is in better shape afterwards than before (New engine, prop, cowl and belly skin). There are numerous shops that are capable of fixing this kind of damage. If the damage requires extensive skin replacement, rib, spar or other heavy structural work, then I would approach it with much more caution.  There are only a handfull of shops I would want doing this kind of work.

[lahso]

My C had a gear up in the 90's by a previous owner, and repaired by Don Maxwell. Knowing Maxwell did the repairs was a big consideration in the purchase.

[201er]

Mine has had a gear up and a few prop strikes in its history. Some of it was properly logged and documented while others they tried to cover up. I accept that it may be tough to resell but as far as I'm concerned I got a midtime engine that's pratically been overhauled in the recent repairs. My mechanic said the logs leave much to be desired but the work is good and that's where it really counts. She's reliable and flies great. If it weren't for the documents or a very skilled eye, who'd know?

[Parker_Woodruff]

2 prop strikes. Due to falling in soft grass in Europe. 

[fantom]

Several stall strips broken off elevators...I finally took them totally off both elevators. That's it. :-)

[Hank]

Going entirely by memory, doesn't Jimmy put a gear-up disclaimer in his periodic valuation reports in the MAPA LOG? Something with a percentage discount for a recent event, but gear-ups ten or more years in the past carry no price reduction if properly repaired and logged?

[Shadrach]

Quote: fantom

Several stall strips broken off elevators...I finally took them totally off both elevators. That's it. :-)

[fantom]

Quote: Shadrach

Hey buddy, you're not flying a 20yr old bird (not for 2 more years)... this poll is becoming more and more tainted...

[PilotDerek]

My plane has no damage history or unlogged repairs. When I was shopping I looked at a 76 M20C that had apparent repairs to the wing tip, roof top and tail. He claimed he had no idea and the logbook had nothing in it. The skins were a completely different shade and the roof repair was not done with the proper rivets according to my A&P.

[Shadrach]

Quote: PilotDerek

My plane shows no evidence of damage history or unlogged repairs. When I was shopping I looked at a 76 M20C that had apparent repairs to the wing tip, roof top and tail. He claimed he had no idea and the logbook had nothing in it. The skins were a completely different shade and the roof repair was not done with the proper rivets according to my A&P.

 

[PilotDerek]

Quote: Shadrach

Fixed that for you!!!

[Shadrach]

My fuselage is zinc-chromated from the passenge compartment bulk head to the tip off the tail (done at the factory)... There are repairs that you just could not no about. My take is that if there so good that they can't be seen, then I need not lay awake worring about it.  I'm skeptical of NDH logs on older planes, but I'm sure there are quite a few undamaged vintage models flying. Congrats on finding one!!!

[PilotDerek]

I was lucky to find a great owner who had the plane for 30 years and could tell me the two people who owner it before him. He even still had the buisness card of the man that owned it before him. Great guy that only sold it because his wife passed and she was one of the main reasons he flew. He offered to buy it back at any time if for some reason I could no longer afford it or had to deploy and had no where to store it or anyone to look after it. Hard not to believe a man like that.

[skyking]

I spent a long time looking before i bought my 50 year old Mooney. When i bought it there was no damage history ever.

And i have the log books back to day 1.

Within a month some idiot jumped on my wing and busted through right at the tip of the "do not walk" area. It was well documented and repaired at a cost of 12K Canadian. ( dont forget mine is a wood wing)