Warbird Information Exchange

Thanks all for the kind PM's, thx Jack, Beachy, etc .... you all too need professional help ... haha, I'll try to stick around ...

Question, who here has caused accidental damage to someone's warbird? Whether a large accident or a small slip-up. Who here has done a "bad thing" to someone's airplane? ... Me? ... I was about 12 years old and my dad's friend, who owned a bonanza, hired me for a summer job to help sand his airplane for a new paint job. Well I didn't understand what was needed to sand the plane to the state to be ready to paint. I spent one full day sanding all the way to the bare metal ... oops!!! I remember thinking at this pace I would need a year to get all the paint off. haha This sanding was done by hand, I didn't know I only needed to rough up the areas to be painted. I actually sanded a portion of the aluminum away as well. Very stupid move on my part ... I lasted one day ... This other slip up was not done by me but a girlfriend in Santa Barbara at a small airshow. She punctured a hole in a stearmans rudder. Nails were too sharp and she stuck her finger right through. I paid the owner for the accident. But I learned a lesson which was to always keep an eye on people who don't seem to understand NOT to touch other peoples property, no matter what.

That brings up another question, what's the consensus here from WIX on just what is appropriate for TOUCHING someone's warbird? Is it fine to touch a wing or prop or tire? What would you think if you owned a warbird and saw someone touch it meaning no harm. Is there a limit to what you would allow? ... maybe "touching" is not the right word to use .... I'm sure we have a few members still on parole for "touching" .... haha, joking

M

I got blamed for poking a hole in the belly of a certain bomber a couple of years ago while working on it. I DIDN'T DO IT, but it did set off an "interesting" weekend for the few people who were working around the two of us. (Sorry Ballard ) I still got a lot of work done even though I should have just packed my crap and left. Everything turned out fine, though--I'm still blamed for the incident and the airplane got fixed.

As far as touching my stuff, if I invite someone to crawl up on the wingwalk, or inside, it's fine, but I don't appreciate people just taking it upon themselves to poke around on our equipment. My pet peeve is out-of-control kids with parents that encourage their actions.

Scott

Well, accidents happen to everyone. We all make mistakes and sometimes that ends up making damage to these ol' clunkers. The important thing is that if you do damage something, that you fess up to it, OR you at least tell someone that you know where some damage is, so they can address it.

Oh, and Scott, check your e-mail......nobody is "still blaming you" for anything. Period.

Gary

Just having some fun with history, Gary.

OOPS!!! ... did I open up a can of worms? .... I hope not ... Gary, I still want a piece of that Hellcat wing .... even if it's not "old 70222" ... I'll pay for it as well to keep your "Austin Acres" afloat .... Speaking of "old 70222" .. I offered a good sum to the folks at the CAF SoCal wing to bring their Hellcat outside for a photo shoot. I even hired a prof. photo. to shoot a few shots. I hope to hear from someone soon. My money is still on the CAF's hellcat being a bit of 70222 .... and yes I have touched that hellcat several times. I probably shouldn't have, but I promise I didn't break anything ....

No, everything is fine, Mark. That is just a little "behind the scenes" background noise from long, long ago that I was referring to earlier. All is well.

Scott

Round engine guys will love this one. I got blamed for bending a connecting rod on the number nine cylinder on a C-45 due to liquid lock because I left the fuel selector valve open. I DID screw up a Staggerwing while putting the side panel back on the plane after an annual and poked a small hole in the fabric with the corner of the panel. Fixed it up the next day though. I've seen a few wingwalkers not paying attention allow the person on the tug to prang some planes. That seems to be the most common one.

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The more I learn about aircraft, the more I realize I still have to learn.

Does taxiing an L-2 into a perfectly spaced pair of hidden gopher holes count? Was trying to clear the runway for another L-bird and put both main gear smack dab into them - causing the aircraft to nose over. That was a serious ouch on the wallet - which wasn't too thick to begin with.

I think aircraft like our L-birds, Stearmans, N3Ns, etc... are more susceptible to damage. I don't mind people touching gently, but when they start to thump on the fabric and yank the ailerons and rudder around I get disgruntled pretty quickly. Usually I point out to them that when they are moving the ailerons around they may be knocking someone on the head on the other side... and that's not very polite, followed up by some comments about wanting to get home in one piece. Worst I think I've personally seen was a group trying to sit on the elevator! I told them off pretty severely. Whenever the aircraft goes in public it gets an extra thorough pre-flight that may take 30-45 minutes.

Ryan

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

I pulled out a spark plug on an 1820 and let out a quart of oil, I thought he was gonna be pissed!

In 2007 we watched a family walk around the 909 and the kids were using the tail guns as chin up bars, when they were bored with that, the elevators and flaps were next. Their parents said nothing to them, and the kids got mad when Shannon spoke up.

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"Hindsight is usually 20% off!"

Now that is embarassing Ryan, you should have known better ... haha, what happened when you " endowed" what was the procedure? time? money? etc ....

does losing my cap in a puddle of oil inside the #4 Nacelle of Sentimental Journey or having my fingernail crushed by a oil cooler by Maid in The Shade count ? I am sure I have damage some warbird with blood stains.

Not a warbird,
but if you have ever done a oil change on a Cessna 210, you will know where this is going......
A mechanic I used to work with had finished a oil change and went to close the nose gear doors, he turned on the master and selected gear up, turned out the squat switch was bad and the nose gear unlocked, and the plane promptly fell on its face, taking out the doors and 2 prop blades. He was real lucky in that had the plane been another 2 ft or so back, the tail would have gone into the floor of the upstairs storage deck.

He said he had a brain fart................

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Matt Gunsch, A&P, IA, Warbird maint and restorations
Jack, You have Debauched my sloth !!!!!!
We tried voting with the Ballot box, When do we start voting from the Ammo box, and am I allowed only one vote ?
Check out the Ercoupe Discussion Group on facebook

Well, I had just landed and was about halfway down the runway when another guy called short final. I could see him just over the trees at the end of the runway and made a snap judgment that I didn't want to stay where I was. Turned off into an area that I would NEVER want to go in with what I know now. Anyway, I'd gotten about 180 degrees and about 30 feet off the runway when it happened. Had a propstrike and had to tear down the engine. The other guy went around and we haven't seen him at the field since, to my knowledge. That 3k would've gone a long way for the flight training I was doing and am hoping to finish up soon. On the balance side, I think it helped my reputation at the field being willing to pay for it.

Ryan

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

What flight traning Ryan are you in the process of?

I am *hopefully* about 5-10 hours out from a CFI checkride. I'm trying to do the whole thing debt free, so I'm going to be waiting a few more weeks.

Ryan

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

Good for you Ryan, .... have you met Paul (T33driver)? ... there's several great folks here who would be happy to help you in your path. Don't be afraid to ask for help ... Me as well ...