Ask piper painter

Awe man, that sux! I hope his insurance covered that one.

They shoulda all got together and bent the prop back straight ya that sucks

Did he have the gear lever up? I've heard of that technique, counting on the squat switches.

I guess that's why Mooneys should stick to asphalt! Haha j/k Bryan!

Years ago when I was still instructing, I had many events in which BFR clients would grab for the gear lever before they had a positive rate of climb and a couple hundred feet of altitude. Whenever I saw that, we'd go around and land, and we'd have a discussion about it. I don't think any of them really had given it much thought, just automatically included it in their post-rotation procedures. I don't recall any who actually pulled the lever up while still on the ground, but several were darned close.

Good bet that the pilot had the lever up early--and it might have been up when he first cranked up, due to a sloppy pre-flight. To counter that, my personal method was before I'd do the exterior part of the pre-flight, I'd reach in and make sure the lever was down as the very first step, before touching anything else.

Cary

Didn't look like much of the fuse was damaged too badly! Pity about the engine / prop.

Another win for NZ.

Oooh! Breaks my heart. There's an AD out for the overcenter mechanism on the gear. I'm really not sure how he did that though. Somehow not firmly in the down lock? When they had it lifted up it looks like he had a bit of trouble getting it back in lock. On the bright side, after the prop strike inspection ($8K or so) it looks like the rest of the damage was minimal.


EB

How about the old man at the tail lifting with the elevator and rudder...that plane will need a thorough inspection after it was lifted by all those hands in places not designed to support weight.

Couldn't resist...