As a few of you know and a few others may have deduced, my epic journey from NY to LA did not pan out nearly like I had hoped. Your support was phenomenal and now that the dust has settled, reports filed, insurance claim resolved its time to tell the rest of the story.

On very short final into Meadville, we encountered a gust from the left which turned everything cattywampus and I poured on full power for a go around. At about 25' AGL, as quickly as it started, the gust quit so with 4500' of runway remaining I quickly made the decision to re-establish the landing. A stable, smooth 3 point landing followed with lots of runway remaining. Power came to idle, speed coming down thru 40 MPH and as I was feeling pretty good about salvaging that mess, I began to apply some brakes.

In my mind's eye I can still clearly see the wind sock at my 10 o'clock in my peripheral as it straightened completely out perpendicular to the runway. My left wing began to lift which I immediately countered with aileron into it. Full right rudder was applied to keep the whole show going straight down the runway. The best I can figure is given the slow speed, there wasn't enough wind going over the aileron for it to be effective as the wing lifting progressed. A mild swerve to the left was now firmly established and though no full blown ground loop ever occurred, we were headed for the weeds. "this isn't working" I thought as I instinctively crammed the throttle attempting to again get airborne. Here's where that slow speed which caused my aileron to be impotent again struck. I'm now slow enough that a quick shot of power is insufficient to regain flight and as the prop tries in vain to pull us skyward we depart the runway. With all of the plane's weight on the now skidding right main, the first piece of uneven ground catches the right main collapsing the gear and pitching the plane forward ultimately coming to rest still upright. After I performed what I can only describe as a hissy fit my copilot brought me back to reality and we egressed the wreckage. No fire ensued and no injuries were sustained save for a pea sized rug burn on the copilot's elbow from the upholstery on the door. I unequivocally attribute the lack of cranial/facial injury to the fact that the previous owner had installed shoulder harnesses. Thanks Gary.
A couple of hours later with the help of the airport manager, a kindly bystander and the local A&P the plane was on a flat bed trailer and parked next to said A&P's hangar.

I called all the people I hoped to never call and the next day we boarded a commercial flight home.

After a harrowing month, the insurance company decided in my favor and payed out my claim. The FAA said that given the circumstances of the accident I was not required to do a 709 ride, only to get two hours of instruction to be on the up and up.
I'm still on the hunt for non-owner insurance and also some quotes for an owner policy so I can see which plane I can afford to insure once I buy again. I've heard repeatedly that Stinson 108's are easy on insurance but would welcome input on other easily insured taildraggers. Also if anyone has been through similar and can recommend an insurance company please PM me.

I thank God that it wasn't any worse. After as much of a process as it was to buy a plane long distance, I'll be hunting for one on the west coast. This severely limits my options and slows my hunt way down. I'm pretty frustrated with it all but will persist.

Thanks again for all of the support guys and gals.
Zack

Zack, it takes a lot of guts to hang your dirty laundry for the rest of us to learn from. Major
props, from one who has bent a little metal over the years hisownself (there are few things more depressing than loading a plane on a flatbed when you didn't wake up that morning intending to do so).

The good news is that you'll probably learn as much or more from this single experience as anything in your flying career. The even better news is that you're still here to enjoy the benefit of the lesson.

Glad to hear insurance coughed up the payment, and glad to hear you're not letting it get you down too much. I know it's not ideal, and not what you were dreaming about, but you'll realize many dreams to come, all with the benefit of this lesson under your belt.

Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up. This will only make your successes all the sweeter. You've got a ride waiting here anytime you make it to Wyoming.

Thanks Darin, I'll surely get in touch if I find myself in the land of the big wind.

I'm in talks with a recommended insurance co at the moment so hopefully will be able to get airborne at least in a rental before long. Thankfully I have a wife who was encouraging me to "get back on the horse" before the wreckage was even cold.

SD

Straydog wrote:Thanks Darin, I'll surely get in touch if I find myself in the land of the big wind.

I'm in talks with a recommended insurance co at the moment so hopefully will be able to get airborne at least in a rental before long. Thankfully I have a wife who was encouraging me to "get back on the horse" before the wreckage was even cold.

SD

Zack,

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Like RP said, it takes guts to put it out there for the world to see. I was sorry that we didn't get to meet up on your way through. I was super stoked for you and your new purchase.

I kind of had something similar happen to me while looking at an airplane to purchase. Lucky for me it all happened during the pre buy. I was able to lean on my friends here and it turned out to be just another bump in the road on my journey. It was hard to travel a long distance to look at an airplane and then have something happen to throw you off.

Just remember there is a reason for everything!

Finally just ready this. Sorry to hear about your misfortune, Zack. Every single one of us tailwheel pilots has been in that exact same situation and escaped by luck alone. I have taken excursions through the weeds, lucky to miss runway lights and lucky there was no ditch. Lessons in humility...

Aside from encouraging you to not give up on ownership once the sting subsides, try to find a situation where you can keep current in taildraggers in the meantime.

Glad you're unhurt! Everything else is just money and pride.

Z

Zack,

Sorry to hear about your adventure, glad no one was hurt.

Give this guy a call, he's great at finding the best insurance, accident or not.

Rukavina Aircraft Insurance
Tony Rukavina
+1 (866) 296-9665

Evan- I couldn't agree more with that statement. I'm one step closer to the pilot's dream of having a strip on your own property due to having that bit of liquid cash back in the account at the right time. More to follow eventually on that. Not quite the made to order deal you found but close enough for me

Z- thanks for the reassurance that I'm not a lone oaf who is unique in the situation. It helps the psyche a lot to hear that. I plan to get and keep current as soon as I nail down some insurance.

Phil- Thanks for the referral, I'll give Tony a call and see what we can work out.

All of your reassurance and kind words are what make this community such a treasure. Thanks again for providing it Z.

SD