My mooney is toast

[usafhaynes1]

Landed at kjyl, taxi to parking, refuel, taxi back out and my nose gear collapsed as I turned onto the runway. The plane is totaled. I'm stuck. No rental car!

No injuries. Was taxi at like 2 kits when it collapsed. Prop is done, engine shot. I'm expecting insurance check. Probable cause is nose gear link broke causing collapse.

[HopePilot]

I'm so sorry to hear that. Best of luck finding a new ride.

[jnisley]

Yikes, what a bummer!

[John Pleisse]

Hang in there, Buddy. I hope your insurance claim allows you to move on in good spirits.

[201er]

That's awful. Sounds like you had a real gem of a C model there! Won't be easy to replace. Hope you insured it for what it is worth to you.

[jetdriven]

How did the nose gear link break? That part looks pretty strong.

[scottfromiowa]

Why would a taxi incident total your plane? New prop. Engine tear-down. New gear doors. Been there done that. Do not get why unless you under-insured and they are totaling cuz cheaper to part out...

[KSMooniac]

Damn, that is awful.  Try to work with the insurance company before scrapping the plane... since you weren't making a lot of power the engine might check out OK without requiring a lot of parts.

[Seth]

I'm sorry to hear about your plane.  Good luck with the hopeful repair, and if not repairable, then with your search for a new to you Mooney (or other aircraft).

 

-Seth

[fantom]

What bad luck....

 

I'm sure you've got a lot on your plate right now, so when you have some spare time, there must be lots more to your sad story.

 

Hang in there!

[Oscar Avalle]

Sorry to hear that. But it should not be a total loss...

[Jeev]

Really sorry to hear that... We all put so much time, money and effort into our aircraft its truly heartbreaking when something like this happens.  Good luck with everything and hopefully you can get your bird back in the air.

[Piloto]

Some insurance do not cover mechanical failures but only accidents. Like if while taxing you hit a ditch and the gear collapses because of it. So may be you hit a ditch.

 

José

[bnicolette]

Some insurance do not cover mechanical failures but only accidents. Like if while taxing you hit a ditch and the gear collapses because of it. So may be you hit a ditch.

 

José

 

In that kind of case wouldn't the insurance just refuse to cover the nose gear but pick up the incidentals?  Or am I living in dreamland?

[triple8s]

One thing to think about as these machines get totalled, there are no new ones coming out of the plant. if they are repairable hopefully someone will repair them.

[DonMuncy]

"Total" has little to do with damage and all to do with economics. If the cost to repair is fairly close to insured value, the insurance carrier can give you a check and the salvage belongs to them. The flip side of that is, if you negotiate with them, you might be able to take the insured value minus what they think they can get for the salvage. Not having to fool with disposing of the salvage (and the costs involved with removing it, etc.) is worth something to them.

Naturally, I have no idea about the insured value, the effort and cost to repair, or the salvage value.  

But it might merit consideration.

[Piloto]

In that kind of case wouldn't the insurance just refuse to cover the nose gear but pick up the incidentals?  Or am I living in dreamland?

I don't know. Each insurance policy is different. I had broken connecting rod on a C421 and managed to land safely at an airport. The whole engine was destroyed. The insurance company only paid for the 800 number call I did. They claim I had no accident but engine malfunction. On the other hand a friend of mine had elevator damage while towing his plane into the hangar. The insurance covered a new elevator and labor. My understanding is that aviation and auto insurance companies do not cover malfunctions but accidents

 

José

[Marauder]

What's your insurance hull value?

[BigTex]

That's awful... Didn't you just buy this plane last month?

[usafhaynes1]

I just bought the plane last month. I insured it for 25k, the amount I paid for it. I bought ground and air insurance. The plane is covered. The nose collapsed, then the left main went down and the left wing had enough damge that some fuel was leaking.

At first I thought I'd hit some bump until I saw the nose collapse. I immediately shut off fuel and turned everything off. Me and my dog climbed out with no injuries.

I'm sad my plane is dead. With a 7k prop and 15k engine rebuild, rebuild landing gear, front vowel, front gear doors, left wing, that will cost more than 25k or 70% of 25k so insurance is probably going to total the plane. I had to pay 160 to shop help to drive me to savannah, rent a car, drove for two hours and still have 5 hours to drive tomorrow that was a one hour flight away. I miss my plane.

The questions? Yes, it was a jbar, yes I checked it twice on landing. I taxied to parking, refueled, backed up plane, did 360 turn back to runway. I was at 1k rpm, announced takeoff runway 23, shut my side vent, checked my mixture, prop, elevator trim and went post hold line, pushed right rudder and as I turned onto runway, gear collapsed. Ironic that today was my bday.

[scottfromiowa]

I almost lost my son (moped)/car accident on my birthday anniversary...sorry this happened to you...wonder what difference in premium to $50k hull value would have cost? Major bummer...

[yvesg]

Every year on my birthday I treat myself. with a local flight... perhaps I shall change this? Last september, I went to the airport for that and there was a Mooney in the airport perimeter fence. This aircraft attempted to abort a take off. The airport was NOTAM closed.

Maybe someone w ants to tell us something!

Yves

[usafhaynes1]

Only the left main collapsed. Right main was down and locked

[rob]

Did you have an annual / prebuy done? I am not a mechanic but it seems like there must have been something pretty seriously wrong with the gear for this to have happened in the manner described.

[usafhaynes1]

Annual done last June. I had 30 hours in the plane with no issues.