Mystery Paint Damage

[Arthur]

On a flight from KCQX to KRMI 10,000 ft. At some point my wife asked did I hear a noise. I hadn’t. Landed at Rocky Mount and left the plane to be refueled.. on returning to the plane I noticed this damage just aft of the door. Black smudges that would not rub off and a chip of paint gone. There is no physical damage to the hull. I cannot say if the damage happened during the flight or on the ground during refueling. Opinion of a couple of people is tha this might be caused by some type of electric discharge. Any thoughts?

https://share.icloud.com/photos/030Fay8B0Yc8R99gqewODjSmw

[N201MKTurbo]

I would say it was something hanging out the door spinning real fast in the wind.

[cbarry]

That sure looks the glancing blow and shape of a bird strike.  The missing paint could very well be where the beak hit.

[Hank]

Just now, cbarry said:

That sure looks the shape of  like a bird strike.  The missing paint could very well be where the beak hit.

That was my first thought, but the picture looks more like the paint was worn off. Seatbelt strap out the door, maybe, flapping wildly in the slipstream?

[Arthur]

20 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

I would say it was something hanging out the door spinning real fast in the wind.

Absolutely correct. My wife’s grey light weight jacket was caught in the lower corner of the door during the flight. In never crossed my mind when she told me the jacket was caught in the door. Thanks

[cbarry]

7 minutes ago, Hank said:

That was my first thought, but the picture looks more like the paint was worn off. Seatbelt strap out the door, maybe, flapping wildly in the slipstream?

That makes more sense…

[Arthur]

3 minutes ago, Arthur said:

Absolutely correct. My wife’s grey light weight jacket was caught in the lower corner of the door during the flight. In never crossed my mind when she told me the jacket was caught in the door. Thanks

 

[Hank]

3 minutes ago, Arthur said:

Absolutely correct. My wife’s grey light weight jacket was caught in the lower corner of the door during the flight. In never crossed my mind when she told me the jacket was caught in the door. Thanks

See if it will buff out. Buy a bottle of California Gold, purple not green, and buff by hand with microfiber. Or good old fashioned Turtle wax.

[Arthur]

Just now, Arthur said:

 

Examining the light jacket the zipper metal end is gone and the teeth are apart at the same distance as the marks on the hull. The jacket is so light that it didn’t stop the door from closing or create any excessive noise. She just mentioned to me when she opened the door. Thanks again

[Aerodon]

7 hours ago, Arthur said:

Absolutely correct. My wife’s grey light weight jacket was caught in the lower corner of the door during the flight. In never crossed my mind when she told me the jacket was caught in the door. Thanks

Tragic, your wife damaged your airplane - now you have to trade it in on a newer, faster more expensive replacement.

 

Aerodon

 

 

[Ragsf15e]

2 hours ago, Aerodon said:

Tragic, your wife damaged your airplane - now you have to trade it in on a newer, faster more expensive replacement.

 

Aerodon

 

 

Which one is being traded?

[MikeOH]

16 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

Which one is being traded?

Sorry, only an utter financial  fool would trade the wife in on a "newer, faster more expensive model"

[Bartman]

That happened to me once.  I could not believe it, and it was my fault too because I did not verify belts latched, but a passenger left the seat belt strap hanging out the door.  After we leveled off and gained speed we heard the clunking noise and realized what happened.  It was a short flight, so I had him pull the strap and it pulled the buckle up tightly to the airframe.  Opening the door was discussed, but we decided it was not worth adding another complication.  It left a couple of scratches that buffed out, but it hurt my pride more than anything.

The worst part of all, it was not just any passenger.  It was another Mooney owner operator who was flying right-seat as my safety pilot.  

We fly and we learn.

[skydvrboy]

Twice I've had to abort a takeoff because of a seatbelt flapping in the wind.  Both times I asked the passenger if their seatbelt was fastened and both times they verbally confirmed it was.  One of the two I will never let fly in my plane again, unfortunately, the other was my dad who owns half the plane.  At least he's never made that mistake again!

[RLCarter]

1 minute ago, skydvrboy said:

Twice I've had to abort a takeoff because of a seatbelt flapping in the wind.  Both times I asked the passenger if their seatbelt was fastened and both times they verbally confirmed it was.  One of the two I will never let fly in my plane again, unfortunately, the other was my dad who owns half the plane.  At least he's never made that mistake again!

Seems a little harsh to ban them from the aircraft 

[MikeOH]

42 minutes ago, RLCarter said:

Seems a little harsh to ban them from the aircraft 

Yeah, that was my reaction, too!  Especially if the passenger wasn't a pilot.

[good2eat]

13 hours ago, MikeOH said:

Yeah, that was my reaction, too!  Especially if the passenger wasn't a pilot.

I’m guessing there’s more to that story….