Damn Kevin! I can buff / beat most stuff out but that one...well....

Always sucks when one gets bent for any reason. Hope she's back in the air soon Kevin.

Mike

GumpAir wrote:Shit happens! Fix it and carry on.

Gump

What he said ^^^^

Kevin-

Did you walk the field and find the offending 'thing'..... it really looks like it was something more than a rock... perhaps a runway light or other large metal bit.... it had quite a bit of weight to it.

Sorry to hear that happened to you.... good reaction though! Good luck fixing it!

gunny

I think you'll lose more than a knot or 2 with that one....

I'd have guessed more like a deer or large dog, but, man, I think you should save that rock in your hangar. It would encourage other pilot's to tell their "wierd shit happens" stories!

Sorry, man. That kinda thing is frustrating, but "what Gump says"....

lc

wow! It's amazing how much kinetic energy small objects have when thrown about by a tire. Good lesson!

Gee , I wonder what it would have flown like if you got airborne? I bet it would have flown ok. Maybe some trim issues , some weird vibration maybe. Good job aborting that takeoff buddy!

Scolopax wrote:Holy Crap Glad that you played it safe and aborted your takeoff!

Was it a bowling ball size rock?

What he said ^ !!!!


Ps. Those mud guards look butt-ugly to me, you can get ones that sit in-trail which I personally think look a lot better and more streamlined.

Eg.

Again. -

GumpAir wrote:Shit happens! Fix it and carry on.

Gump

nothing more, nothing less.

Instead of "mud flaps", maybe a set of Maule wheel spats? Better looking and (maybe) streamlined to boot.

Way ahead of you guys, been flying with fenders for some time, especially nice when landing where cattle have been.

Bummer Kevin, but stuff happens as we all know, still better then staying home. Last year I had a rock go through my hor stab leaving a hole top and bottom that you could pass a cantalope through, but it had missed the chrome moly frame and the stainless brace struts and did no damage a little (OK, a lot) of tape wouldn't fix good enough to get me off the 8700' mt top. Good thing you caught your damage when you did, damn that really tore it up.

I hope they are strong enough to sit on!! Best thing about big tires
Although I guess your struts dont give much headroom given the smaller size of the gear.

I am with the "that was no rock" group. Have any airport maintenance workers or equipment gone missing? In 40 years of off airport operations in a lot of narly big-rock places, I have never seen rock damage like that. I just can't believe at infield area of an airport would have a rock that could throw from a tire that high to cause damage like that. Taxiway sign, or light, or ?? It was solid, and all of the aircraft energy was "all in" on the impact. Too bad though for the plane, was a heck of hit.

Fix it and move on. But the curiosity factor is high.

(BTW, I ferried brand new 1 hr on tach N7565H from Cessna Pompano Beach factory to Anchorage in 1977, its one serial number higher than yours, so must of seen yours on the line at the factory when I picked it up)

I really like the fuller fenders that CourierGuy has install on his airplane. Positive evolutionary design for off airport. Cleaning mud from the bottom of wings is no fun

I'm still waiting on my mudflaps install, I am having a little trouble finding a downsized version of these:http://www.westcoastoffroad.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=377

For the neigh-sayer...it was a piece of concrete, triangle in shape, about 11 inches long and 7 inches wide and was obviously thrown into the in field from construction around the hangers. Yeah, 20 years of flying and I have never seem anything like this either. Now you can say you have.

All parts removed and ready for new. Hoping it arrives today.

AKT

Hey Kev, while you got that tail apart you might think about putting in the bulkhead beef up like they do for the kenmore gross weight increase in the newer models. We don't get the increase on our older more badass birds , but it really strengthens the tail area. Not a bad deal for offroaders. It's pretty much just a doubler on the back bulkhead. Put the good bushings in while your in there to.
Good luck buddy. Hope you get her back up soon.

Wow, that makes more sense than a rock. Tail spar beef a good idea too.

How's it look Kevin?

How much did it weigh? How did it get bounced in the air to impact the stabilzer?

This nuts - perhaps one of those jumpin' rocks we've all heard about - you know the ones that are kin to the sailing rocks from Death Valley:

aktahoe1 wrote:For the neigh-sayer...it was a piece of concrete, triangle in shape, about 11 inches long and 7 inches wide and was obviously thrown into the in field from construction around the hangers. Yeah, 20 years of flying and I have never seem anything like this either. Now you can say you have.

All parts removed and ready for new. Hoping it arrives today.

AKT