Multiple aircraft lost in Bowling Green Ohio pics

Tim Hancock · 06-23-2006, 08:12 AM

A very close friend lost his Oshkosh award winning Piper PA 12 Super Cruiser restoration in a straight line wind incident Weds night. All of the aircraft in his hangar are probably totaled and the many aircraft in the next hangar were also badly damaged.

He has insurance, however the 4 years he spent restoring it to show quality with his dad (who is now in a nursing home) can never be replaced. His teenage son who is starting college this fall to become a commercial pilot, had just soloed this airplane two days prior at my grass runway. This whole thing just sickens me to the core!

widgeon13 · 06-23-2006, 08:18 AM

Beautiful aircraft, very unfortunate. I hate to see that happen to the old ones, it's like losing a good friend. Hope they decide to bring it back to life.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Oh that picture makes me so sad. . .

I hope they can rebuild those airplanes. Ugh.

Tim Hancock · 06-23-2006, 08:33 AM

One of the aircraft lost was a new loaded Cirrus (in the 400K range). I spoke with the doctor who owned it and he said pretty much "oh well, that is what insurance is for". At the other end of the spectrum is my friend who basically just lost a work of art that he used his own hands to create. Crazy as it sounds, it is "almost" like losing a member of his family.

Tim Hancock · 06-23-2006, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by john_cramer
Tim, you can tell that's a Grand Champion even in that sorry state.

Hell, in Alaska that would be a "minor repair."

He asked if he could store the wreckage in my hangar as he will most likely buy the wreckage back with the intent of rebuilding someday. He being an engineer, has already surveyed the damage and has a pretty good idea how to attack it (one wing will need spars, but other the rest of the repair ends up being similar to any restoration type work on old airplanes). The structural damage repair is pretty straight forward, however the show quality fabric/finish work takes an unbelievable amount of time and perseverence. He is presently 75% finshed with the restoration of a probable award winning C170 and once flying he intended to pull the wings off the Piper and store it until his boys were grown, then pass it on to them (kind of like a family heirloom).

PorschePilot · 06-23-2006, 08:45 AM

I have flown a PA 12 out of a grass strip and man that is real flying. It's really sad to see what happened to it. Nobody can put a price on the blood, sweat and tears that went into that airplane.

That was one heck of a wind storm.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

What is a "straight line wind incident"

Seahawk · 06-23-2006, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
Crazy as it sounds, it is "almost" like losing a member of his family.

Not crazy at all...I have been to Oshkosh and the love and care put into those airplanes is humbling.

What where the winds clocked at?

BlueSideUp · 06-23-2006, 08:54 AM

Wow that was a beautiful airplane. I love the Super Cruiser, I only have ten hours or so in one but the bigger back seat is nice.

It sounds like your friend will be able to get a plan together and get her back in the air.

Tim Hancock · 06-23-2006, 09:14 AM

We had anywhere from 3"-10" of rain with the storms that rolled thru that evening! The local news channels stayed on all night updating and watching for tornados. Some winds were reported at 80mph in some areas and multiple funnel sightings were reported. No-one knows for sure whether it was a tornado or "straight line winds" (a local weather term which means a short period of very high speed wind traveling in a straight path as opposed to swirling tornadic type of winds). The city of Toledo had widespread flash flooding (not stream or river related) with cars stalled out all over. It was a very bizarre night with torrential rains, hail and high winds for an entended length of time over a fairly large area. (The mayor called it a "100 year" storm, not that it means anything)

svandamme · svandamme's Garage

ehm that hangar looks relatively new
how come it caved from a 80mph wind ?!!?

i mean, 80 mph is not what i would consider extraordinary at least not for a short period/gusts...
we get those regulary and sustained from northwestern storms in the north sea... sure you loose some roofing on old sheds and stuff, a plate or rooftile here and there... maybe a tree that goes down...

but new airplane hangers ought to cope with those right??

widgeon13 · 06-23-2006, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
One of the aircraft lost was a new loaded Cirrus (in the 400K range). I spoke with the doctor who owned it and he said pretty much "oh well, that is what insurance is for".

Doctors can be very hard on aircraft, perhaps it is a subliminial way of dealing with other frustrations of the job, frankly, they scare the shlt out of me in the air. I think they should have special tail numbers so you could know when they are in the vacinity. 400k is a lot of cash but a Cirrus is on a par with a Corvette in my book. Ol Doc probably wouldn't even be able to taxi out in that PA 12, as soon as the tail went up he'd be headed for the weeds.

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

"ehm that hangar looks relatively new
how come it caved from a 80mph wind ?!!?"

Exactly! I can almost guarantee a design flaw - looks like an 'unusual' truss layout to say the least. Hopefully one of the insurance companies involved will call my company to investigate - this is what we do.

svandamme · svandamme's Garage

looks like to much weight from all that timber, on supports that look like they are strenth calculated for an alloy roofspan...the wind just was just the last drop...

note to self: "stop watching discovery channel"

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Not sure what the building codes call for in that area, but you can bet there's going to be some serious scrutiny of the structural calcs and inspection reports. . .

Stuff like that simply shouldn't happen - especially to airplanes like that.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
Not sure what the building codes call for in that area, but you can bet there's going to be some serious scrutiny of the structural calcs and inspection reports. . .

Like those truss joiner plates. I don't think you'd get away with that in Kalifornia...

Tim Hancock · 06-23-2006, 10:10 AM

The building that went down was an old building I am told that had been repaired a couple years ago after some wind damage in a prior storm. The other two buildings were newer and I believe they were of a slightly different design.

I do not know any more details than that about the buildings. I also do not know exactly how high the windspeed actually was (no one I talked to knows for sure). The 80mph figure is the highest figure that the local news had reported in a nearby town earlier in the evening. The guys at the airport said it looked like the wind gust came from the south and blew this first building into the second two buildings.

As far as I know, many aircraft storage hangars in our locale do not have "renters" insurance. The aircraft owner typically needs to obtain their own hull coverage insurance.

singpilot · 06-23-2006, 10:12 AM

I went around those tops Wednesday evening on the way into NYC. They were nasty. Was in and out of Chicago yesterday, was nasty there too. Is thunderstorm season.

Is always so sorry to see classics gone that way. I know I have seen that one in Oshkosh.

Am always glad to be able to climb above most of it, but lately, even 45000 feet is not enough to top the majority of them. This time of year the autopilot spends a lot of time in HeaDinG mode.

Tim Hancock · 06-23-2006, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by singpilot
[B

Is always so sorry to see classics gone that way. I know I have seen that one in Oshkosh.

[/B]

As a past champion he had special parking reserved every year. For most of the last 10 years it could be found near the Antique classic Red Barn out front in the past champions row.

I found a couple pics of George and his boy in the plane from last fall (i think) when they stopped in for a visit. I am sure he will be glad to know I have these pics.

singpilot · 06-23-2006, 10:33 AM

Even tho I am in the commercial end of things (a whole 'nother world), that's what aviation is all about. A fabric covered wing with wheel pants on a grass strip with your son in the front seat.