(Well, it's actually nearly as far west as you can go in mainland North America, but that's not what I mean exactly...)

I just learned today that my first plane got balled up by wind in Bethel, Alaska last January. Good thing was it got destroyed on the ground, with no one hurt. Bad news, I hear it cartwheeled over three other planes. A friend of mine confirmed it's totaled- he found the twisted fuselage and broken wings out in the weeds, under a tarp.

29873 served a lot of students, owners, and even the U.S. military quite well since 1941. The logs went back to when it left service as a military trainer sometime around '45. I used to enjoy just looking over all those old entries in the careful script of the day, recording the countless diligent oil changes, fabric work, bearing repacking, and so on.

That was the plane I bought to get my license in, and the plane I soloed in. I flew it round-trip from Alaska to Rhode Island with around 30 hours of PIC time when I set out. It graced MTVs ramp at Crookston, MN on that trip, and a whole lot of other fantastic, sleepy little airports and a couple of farm fields along the way.

Here's to 29873. I think I'll go hand prop something for old times' sake

-DP

Like loosing your first love

Rats

Good story, bummer ending. Thanks for sharing. Photos were a nice touch...I'd save those.

+++vibes+++++ brother.

i see it everytime i went to visit a friend, its sitting in the backyard of the guy who owns it, doubtful he will ever fix it

Airplanes like that become part of the family. Thanks for the pictures.

Wow that's sad to hear. I just found out not long ago the Champ I got my TW endorsement in is in the Pacific Ocean. Strange when you hear a plane you used to fly got totaled. Maybe you could buy it real cheap and rebuild it someday down the road. I ran into the guy that originally built my experimental here on this forum by pure chance. He had not seen or heard of the plane since the day he sold it some 16 years ago. He was pretty excited to find out it was still in one piece and would be flying soon. We talk regulary now via email. I don't think I'll ever forget the rental 172 I first soloed in. Neat how some airplanes really leave a mark in the ol memory.

im going to bethel tomorrow to pick up a 206, i will be sure to take a picture of her for you

88144 goes east, at least. I did start to make progress again on the scout, but after 9 years in my shop, it was time for a new "eager" builder.

Denali, I loved your story and pictures.

a friend stopped by and did it for me

Great story and wonderful pictures.....

Memories from past airplanes that take us through life are the fabric of life itself. Thanks for sharing your inner thoughts.

Tailwinds.

Ben,

d

with the guy who owns it, i think it comes down to good old green...his no longer employed as a pilot, while he was flying for a certain company, he smashed up their Cherokee 6 and 172, on top of crashing his own 4 seater Cherokee on route from anchorage to bethel one winter.

As long as the data plate isn't damaged too bad, anything can be rebuilt. Been many an airplane rebuilt from a data plate only. Of course, a set of logbooks help too. But it's probably not too hard to put $50K into rebuilding an airplane that's worth $35K when you're done, esp in today's airplane market.

Sorry to hear about the loss of 29873. My first two airplanes were '46 BC-12D T-Crafts. The first I wore out suddenly one day in a mid-air collision. The second is still out there showing young pilots what to do and what not to do. They were the best thing that could ever happen to a new green private pilot. They taught me about crosswinds, off airport landings, dead stick landings, and much more. Hopefully '873 is rebuildable. From the pictures it looks as if it may be. I hope so, as we need to keep as many of these great birds going as we can. Tail winds.