Well, there was an interesting photo in the Anchorage Daily News the other day. Pictured was a 172 off the side of a runway that appeared to have suffered a collapsed nose wheel and possible prop strike. The caption said that the plane had suffered a ground loop at Merrill Field (PAMR) due to a crosswind.

I was talking to my IA this afternoon and he suggested I go and take a close look at the bird as he thought it to be one of the more amazing ground loops he's ever seen......seems that it was ground looped so bad the the only thing left straight on it is the flaps, the left elevator, and the vertical. Supposedly, the the prop strike was strong enough that one of the blades broke off about a 1 1/2 feet from the hub. Both wing tips and ailerons were hit also, as well as the wings tweaked. He also told me that the fuselage was even tweaked and the right door won't open because it hits the right fuel drain and bottom of the wing.....holy smokes!!! Apparently the right main gear is bent toward the belly of the bird from direct side load too......

Guess what I'm gonna go look at tomorrow afternoon if it's still there? I also heard that the bird wasn't the property of a local flight school either. Apparently it was a pretty good example of total or almost total loss of control, and how to try going 6 different directions at once. Apparently the pilot was not injured. No worry whether it was reported as the event took place at a towered airport and class C airspace infront of everyone to see .

Here's the picture!

How do you ground loop a nosedragger?

I always wondered that myself. All those years and hours flying my PA 22 I never even came close to ground looping, but I guess it can be done...

Talent and Perseverance.....

MTV

alaskadrifter wrote:How do you ground loop a nosedragger?

By trying to do high-speed grease-it-on 737 type of landings. I call these "wheel-barrow" landings, because the fully-extended nose wheel is the first to touch, setting up a ground-loop in a crosswind because the aircraft pivots about the nose wheel as the tail is blown downwind.

A full-stall, nose-wheel high, on-the-mains landing minimizes this tendency.

I'm based at a field where we have the typical Ponzi-scheme flight school, were 250 hour "instructors" teach other aspiring carrier wannbes the same crap that was taught to them by the previous batch of wannbes. They just perpetuate the same bad habits to the next batch...

Yea, and I watched the guy lose it in Johnson Creek the other day, by porposing, then the nose wheel folded back, at which time there was no more steering, and he then made a pretty quick uncontrolled turn to the right.

alaskadrifter wrote:How do you ground loop a nosedragger?

Although it can be done, ground looping a trike isn't easy. There are usually a bunch of other stuff going on that helps. I plan to go to Merril this afternoon and look at it if it's still there. I hear he got both wings too. I would hate to be in for the 709 checkride he will have coming.....whew!!!!!

alaskadrifter wrote:How do you ground loop a nosedragger?

He is truly the master! I stand in awe.

Well, I went by Merrill Field this afternoon and looked at what is left of the 172. He did a very thorough job. The entire cowling is toast. The engine is twisted on it's horizontal axis about 25 degrees and a prop blade is broken in half at the mid point from the hub to the tip. The other prop blade is bent like an S cuz it obviously hit under power. The carb is broken off of the case. The firewall is wrinkled and the area in front of the windshield is buckled in about 2 inches with the trim strip being pulled down the same amount. Both gear legs are tweaked. There is no nose gear. The doors are probably good, along with the interior. The fuselage is tweaked behind the cabin (with a subtle twist to the side and an apparent tweak upward - looking at the fuselage vertical rivet lines is real interesting and telling.) and the vertical and rudder look ok and the flaps are ok. One aileron looks ok. Man o man, it's a mess. For those in Anchorage that want to look at it, it's outside by the door of the Take Flight Alaska hanger right by the fence.

The word is that it was a go around at full flaps and an 0300 with a subsequent stall in a cross wind gone terribly bad. It looks like it first hit in a nose down attitude and a significant drift to the right side (a hard slip??)

Coyote Ugly wrote:Yea, and I watched the guy lose it in Johnson Creek the other day, by porposing, then the nose wheel folded back, at which time there was no more steering, and he then made a pretty quick uncontrolled turn to the right.

So was this another one at JC or are you talking about the one during the BCP fly in. If it was the BCP fly in it was a month ago. You in one of those alcohol induced stupors again????

You guys oughta come out to Byron some time. We usually have one or two bent airplanes on the ramp. Recently there were a batch of Cessnas - a 120, a 140 and a 195 (that's still out there getting repaired in one of the hangars) There was a Seneca with a busted off main gear that sat on a couple of pallets for a few months while the FAA investigation went on (that one was the fault of the aircraft) Then a few weeks ago there were TWO 172's that both had busted off nosegears (both from the same flight school too)

I remember watching a P-51 coming in one day. He got caught by a 'gust' or something, the right wing went up and I swear the left wing came within inches of the runway before he poured on the coals and went around - well actually he didn't go 'around' he just left and hasn't ever come back.

I guess those clusters of windmills on the hill sides should at least give you a clue.

FWIW just about all of those incidents were caused by a pilot doing something dumb. I know the 120 was caused by the owner stomping on the brakes a little too hard and I was there when the 195 guy was practicing x-wind landings on 30 with the winds 200@17G24. Everyone else there was using rwy 23.

Now as for the two 172's I'm not exactly sure what happened there but they were both students.

silvaire wrote:You guys oughta come out to Byron some time.
.

So are you a funny farm flyer?

iceman wrote:I always wondered that myself. All those years and hours flying my PA 22 I never even came close to ground looping, but I guess it can be done...

A buddy in AZ ground looped his Tripacer a few years ago. I believe he honked on the brake handle and kicked a little too much rudder trying to get off the runway too quick and it sort of "tri-podded" hitting the wingtip and prop.

Not sure if I want to fly into Byron or not; is that the one in Central Ca???