Always sobering when you lose a pilot from your field and see a plane that you've seen many times lawn darted into a hillside in a news article. I wanted to wait a few days to post this until things cooled down a bit. The pilot was just on a 15 minute hop to the field next door to us and wasn't doing anything crazy. Makes me want to go uncover my wings and struts before I fly again. Condolensces to the family.

http://www.thereporter.com/ci_22589351/ ... ar-winters

Very sad. That was a tough night for everyone locally. A good man.

Very sad

If you are flying with in the design limits, is there ever an acceptable reason for a wing to come off? I have not been around flying as long as some of you. I was always told wings just don't fall off.

???

It's certainly unusual for a wing to just depart, unless the airplane has been over-stressed. Of course, it can be over-stressed on an earlier occasion and then finally come apart on a later occasion. Even most home-builts, if they were constructed according to the instructions of the kits or plans with proper parts, are pretty solid.

Very sad, for his family.

Cary

sorry to hear of this... condolences to all who new or were related to him... as usual the news media hasn't a clue... "Stall and restart their engines" ??????? does anyone really do that?? and of course the airport didn't require him to file a flight plan...

iceman wrote:sorry to hear of this... condolences to all who new or were related to him... as usual the news media hasn't a clue... "Stall and restart their engines" ??????? does anyone really do that?? and of course the airport didn't require him to file a flight plan...

Yeah I read that too.... FFS..... some reporters aren't worth their pen and paper... do they even go to school anymore?
"No flight plan was filed" - it was a 15 minute flight...


Very sobering Re: wing departing. That is my worst fear, I like to think you can fly your way out of most in-flight emergencies, but losing a wing is a deal-breaker, fatal every time.
I've just been reinforcing the wing attachment brackets on my kitset, extra weld metal, doubling plates etc. and I am still nervous about it.

I believe don Sheldon lost a wing in flight and limped away... Not that I'm recommending it.
My condolences to the family.