I heard thru the grapevine that Dave Wiley was down in a T-Cart crash. Any of you Portland guys have details????

Gump

To answer my own question:

http://vb.taylorcraft.org/showthread.php?p=31344

Fuck. This really sucks.

It also sends shivers down my spine, as I was going to take some float dual with Dave soon and write an article about it for this site. That could have been me with him.

RIP Dave.

Here is a link with some video just before the crash.

http://www.kptv.com/news/13776009/detail.html

I too have flown w/ Dave in that T'craft.

David was one of the best instructors I have ever had the pleasure to fly with and we all are poorer with him gone.

If this can happen to someone of Dave's experience and skill, then we all need to be extra careful out there.

Dominus vobiscum

Dave was a great guy, and a knowledgeable floatplane instructor who demanded the best from his students. The aviation community and in particular the seaplane community is poorer today as a result of his absence.

Dave and I always had great fun poking at each other's knowledge regarding aviation. I doubt that I ever got the best of him, but we called it a draw a few times. All in good fun, and a great test of one's knowledge.

It appears the wing departed this aircraft, for reasons that are yet to be determined. Old airplanes have old parts, though. I hope that everyone here will take this as a clue to be very careful in your preflight inspections, and hold your airplane and your maintenance professionals to the highest standards. It's your life that rides on those wing struts and spars.

Dave, may your flight west be peaceful and smooth. Tailwinds and blue skies.

MTV

I read this in AVWeb yesterday (Link to article):

Mary Grady at AVWeb wrote:The FAA proposed an Airworthiness Directive this week that would require owners of more than 3,000 Taylorcraft airplanes to inspect the wing strut attach fittings and check for cracks or corrosion. The proposal follows the investigation of a fatal crash in Oregon last July, in which it was found that the wing fabric was wrapped around the lugs of the wing strut attach fitting, and the fitting was corroded. "This condition, if not corrected, could result in failure of the wing strut attach fittings and lead to wing separation and loss of control," the FAA says. The inspections are expected to cost about $160, and new fittings, if needed, would be about $200. The FAA issued an AD last year requiring inspections of wing struts on some Taylorcraft models. Type clubs, EAA and AOPA lobbied for alternative means of compliance, which were accepted by the FAA.

Although the official probable cause hasn't been released yet, it appears that they are placing the blame on corrosion. I'm sure that many of us suspected as much.

There was a lengthy thread on this crash over on the Taylorcraft owners board, complete with pictures of the fitting, and it was definately a corrosion issue. The fitting was found over 70% corroded. Why anyone ever signed a condition inspection off on this aircraft is beyond me. The corrosion was very obvious! Pretty sad, and now the rest of us get to pay the price.
John



http://vb.taylorcraft.org/showthread.ph ... ut+fitting

Dave Wiley was also an IA. I assume he did his own maintenance.

MTV

Then he should've known better.....
John

Just out of curiosity, if an IA misses something of this nature, are there any professional consequences he faces? I mean outside of law suits, etc. Is there any sort of review that can impact his IA ticket?

Skystrider wrote:Just out of curiosity, if an IA misses something of this nature, are there any professional consequences he faces? I mean outside of law suits, etc. Is there any sort of review that can impact his IA ticket?

Yep, I've seen revocation of both IA and A&P.

I was reading an old magazine dated back to the 1960s and it said that for aircraft stationed along the coast or in humid areas, one must always check the wings for corrosion, especially in light planes.