Mooney Soft field takeoff on FailArmy at 4:53

[ilovecornfields]

[Shadrach]

That’s an oldie but a goodie. I think that’s a clear case of the down lock either failing for the J bar not being fully seated. 
 

The full video showcases some excellent teamwork. About 10 men divided between the nose, tail and wings pick it up and extend the gear.

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, Shadrach said:

That’s an oldie but a goodie. I think that’s a clear case of the down lock either failing for the J bar not being fully seated. 
 

The full video showcases some excellent teamwork. About 10 men divided between the nose, tail and wings pick it up and extend the gear.

Yup, here's the whole thing.   Somewhere I saw that it was likely due to the misrigging.   You can see the nose gear gets bounced hard a couple times and then folds up first, pulling the mains up with it.
 

 

[Shadrach]

1 hour ago, EricJ said:

Yup, here's the whole thing.   Somewhere I saw that it was likely due to the misrigging.   You can see the nose gear gets bounced hard a couple times and then folds up first, pulling the mains up with it.
 

 

Seems odd that it would be operable after such an event. Something would have to bend/break.

[EricJ]

8 hours ago, Shadrach said:

Seems odd that it would be operable after such an event. Something would have to bend/break.

You can see that they had to pull on the mains to get them to lock.   They didn't lock just from the Johnson bar, apparently.    I suspect the rods were bent a bit.

[kerry]

Now all they need is for the 10 men to bend the propeller back to it normal shape and the Mooney can fly away.