11/26/2002: Plane cut to ribbons

Undertoad · 11-26-2002, 11:00 AM

Thanks to wolf for sending along this beaut, and she tells the story well too:

<i>This plane is owned by a flight instructor.

He had a female student.

One thing led to another, and well, I think it is safe to say that the lady involved got over her "fear of flying".

Unfortunately her husband found out.

And owned a high quality chainsaw.</i>

Ouch.

MaggieL · 11-26-2002, 12:35 PM

Wow....on first glance I would think that kind of fusilage damage was due to a prop strike from a taxiing aircraft. Looks like impact damage to the fusilage cargo door as well as baggage compartment in the back of the right nacelle...and the right wing flap is mushed in in a way I wouldn't attribute to an enraged hubby...unless he also ran his pickup truck into the plane. The tailcone carries lettering that says something like "University of South Australia".

Any more details or URLs on this? I really could beleive this was collision damage.

Cam · 11-26-2002, 12:39 PM

I can't imagine a chainsaw being able to cut through that much metal. You would think the chain would go dull after about the 10th slice through the tail. Then again I havn't tried to cut metal with a chainsaw so maybe it didn't have any problem.

and yeah I agree with Maggie, I think he probably ran into that plane with a truck or something. Some pretty major collision damage went with those slices.

MaggieL · 11-26-2002, 12:46 PM

"No more calls, we have a winner." Somehow having a picture makes an urban legend easier to believe.

<blockquote>
When Good Airplanes Go Bad
...it's usually the owner's fault. This is not the way to make headlines at AVweb, folks. A pilot who hand-propped a Piper Saratoga at Adelaide's Parafield Airport apparently failed to make sure the aircraft was adequately restrained either by chocks or brakes. Shortly after developing power, the Piper started taxiing without the pilot and made a beeline for some of its kindred aircraft parked nearby on the ramp. The Saratoga ploughed through four Piper Warriors before a twin-engine Piper Seminole finally stopped the offending relative by mere bulk. No humans were injured in the accident, but damage from the resulting slice and dice is estimated at $1.5 million. (The Seminole looks like a Chinese paper yo-yo.) All but the marauding aircraft belonged to the University of South Australia's flying school. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is investigating. In an unrelated incident the same day, a Piper Arrow landed safely at the airport but overran the end of the runway and ended up in the mud. Maybe it was just bad karma for Pipers at Parafield.
http://www.avweb.com/newswire/news0135b.html
</blockquote>

Hand-propping a Saratoga...it boggles the mind.

wolf · 11-26-2002, 06:16 PM

Well ... the chain saw version was what was told to me ... are we sure the prop strike story isn't what he wanted his insurance company to believe?

We've been looking at this pic in work ... my boss flies and he's the one who passed it around, with the story I reported to Toad (so it's the boss' fault!) The shearing looked too precise for a prop-strike ... wouldn't that have chewed the fuselage all to hell?

My bad ... I didn't check out the story before I sent it to Undertoad.

But it's still a cool picture.

MaggieL · 11-26-2002, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wolf

We've been looking at this pic in work ... my boss flies and he's the one who passed it around, with the story I reported to Toad (so it's the boss' fault!) The shearing looked too precise for a prop-strike ... wouldn't that have chewed the fuselage all to hell?
.

That's what originally clued me that the chainsaw story was implausible...I doubt an enraged male on a testosterone high would be so precise...the precision was mechanical, like cutting screws on a lathe--it's typical of prop-strike damage.

The strike was only with the very tip of the prop cutting only the sheet alumininum skin (which is actually quite soft; it's the underlying steel alloy framing members that are rigid), spinning at full power. Hand-propping is done at full throttle--especially when the cockpit is unoccupied--which is why it must be done with the aircraft*very* well-chocked or preferably tied down.

I think we can be confident that the insurance people investigated the incident very well, since the same insurance company not only took the hit for this plane (which is clearly totalled, probably to the tune of about a half million US$) but also *four* other airplanes.

None of the five aircraft belonged to an instructor personally--they all belonged to the University flying school.

Torrere · 11-26-2002, 09:37 PM

I am certain that I have seen this image here before.

(and yeah, that does not look like it was done with a chainsaw)

jaguar · 11-29-2002, 03:44 AM

entertaining... As for chainsaws...

A live with a guy that used to be in the British Intel corps, amongst other things they were responsible for building security, and they had a bunch of ex-cons who they'd use to test out various security measures, those guys are incredible. Anyway, they were testing secure structures for sorting weapons, gave the guys a week to come up with a way of getting though it, no noise limits. One buy turns up with a chainsaw with a diamond tipped custom made belt, cuts straight though reinforced concrete......
I would expect a wood blade to rip up metal that thin more than that if it happened.

bartman · 11-29-2002, 10:48 AM

Most props aren't wooden anymore, Jag.

There was a special on Hartzell's new milling process in this month's Flying. Pretty cool if you ask me.

jaguar · 11-29-2002, 03:53 PM

I meant a chainsaw blade for wood.

quzah · 11-30-2002, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jaguar
One buy turns up with a chainsaw with a diamond tipped custom made belt, cuts straight though reinforced concrete......
I would expect a wood blade to rip up metal that thin more than that if it happened.

Sounds like the guy had a few too many GI Joes as a kid. Buzzer specificly... (read the file card) Although, being a collector myself, I don't think you can really ever have too many...

Quzah.

jaguar · 11-30-2002, 06:18 AM

hehehehe...
those guys were incredible, it'd take them a mater of days to defeat unclimbable fences, security systems, unclimbable walls, locks, door, everything. But yea the chainsaw thing kidna took the cake i think.

MaggieL · 11-30-2002, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jaguar
But yea the chainsaw thing kidna took the cake i think.

Guy was probably an ex-volunteer firefighter, these gadgets are not unusual:
http://www.lawnmowerclinic.co.za/pro...l%20rescue.htm

http://www.emc4rescue.com/rescue/saws/K1200.htm

11-26-2002, 11:00 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	11/26/2002: Plane cut to ribbons Thanks to wolf for sending along this beaut, and she tells the story well too: <i>This plane is owned by a flight instructor. He had a female student. One thing led to another, and well, I think it is safe to say that the lady involved got over her "fear of flying". Unfortunately her husband found out. And owned a high quality chainsaw.</i> Ouch.

11-26-2002, 12:35 PM	#2
MaggieL in the Hour of Scampering Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Jeffersonville PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia) Posts: 4,060	Wow....on first glance I would think that kind of fusilage damage was due to a prop strike from a taxiing aircraft. Looks like impact damage to the fusilage cargo door as well as baggage compartment in the back of the right nacelle...and the right wing flap is mushed in in a way I wouldn't attribute to an enraged hubby...unless he also ran his pickup truck into the plane. The tailcone carries lettering that says something like "University of South Australia". Any more details or URLs on this? I really could beleive this was collision damage. __________________ "Neither can his Mind be thought to be in Tune,whose words do jarre; nor his reason In frame, whose sentence is preposterous..."

11-26-2002, 12:39 PM	#3
Cam dripping with ignorance Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Grand Forks ND Posts: 642	I can't imagine a chainsaw being able to cut through that much metal. You would think the chain would go dull after about the 10th slice through the tail. Then again I havn't tried to cut metal with a chainsaw so maybe it didn't have any problem. and yeah I agree with Maggie, I think he probably ran into that plane with a truck or something. Some pretty major collision damage went with those slices. __________________ After the seventh beer I generally try and stay away from the keyboard, I apologize for what happens when I fail.

11-26-2002, 12:46 PM	#4
MaggieL in the Hour of Scampering Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Jeffersonville PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia) Posts: 4,060	"No more calls, we have a winner." Somehow having a picture makes an urban legend easier to believe. <blockquote> When Good Airplanes Go Bad ...it's usually the owner's fault. This is not the way to make headlines at AVweb, folks. A pilot who hand-propped a Piper Saratoga at Adelaide's Parafield Airport apparently failed to make sure the aircraft was adequately restrained either by chocks or brakes. Shortly after developing power, the Piper started taxiing without the pilot and made a beeline for some of its kindred aircraft parked nearby on the ramp. The Saratoga ploughed through four Piper Warriors before a twin-engine Piper Seminole finally stopped the offending relative by mere bulk. No humans were injured in the accident, but damage from the resulting slice and dice is estimated at $1.5 million. (The Seminole looks like a Chinese paper yo-yo.) All but the marauding aircraft belonged to the University of South Australia's flying school. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is investigating. In an unrelated incident the same day, a Piper Arrow landed safely at the airport but overran the end of the runway and ended up in the mud. Maybe it was just bad karma for Pipers at Parafield. http://www.avweb.com/newswire/news0135b.html </blockquote> Hand-propping a Saratoga...it boggles the mind. __________________ "Neither can his Mind be thought to be in Tune,whose words do jarre; nor his reason In frame, whose sentence is preposterous..."

11-26-2002, 06:16 PM	#5
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Well ... the chain saw version was what was told to me ... are we sure the prop strike story isn't what he wanted his insurance company to believe? We've been looking at this pic in work ... my boss flies and he's the one who passed it around, with the story I reported to Toad (so it's the boss' fault!) The shearing looked too precise for a prop-strike ... wouldn't that have chewed the fuselage all to hell? My bad ... I didn't check out the story before I sent it to Undertoad. But it's still a cool picture. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

11-26-2002, 09:37 PM	#7
Torrere a real smartass Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Kirkland, WA Posts: 1,121	I am certain that I have seen this image here before. (and yeah, that does not look like it was done with a chainsaw)

11-29-2002, 03:44 AM	#8
jaguar whig Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 5,075	entertaining... As for chainsaws... A live with a guy that used to be in the British Intel corps, amongst other things they were responsible for building security, and they had a bunch of ex-cons who they'd use to test out various security measures, those guys are incredible. Anyway, they were testing secure structures for sorting weapons, gave the guys a week to come up with a way of getting though it, no noise limits. One buy turns up with a chainsaw with a diamond tipped custom made belt, cuts straight though reinforced concrete...... I would expect a wood blade to rip up metal that thin more than that if it happened. __________________ Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Twain

11-29-2002, 10:48 AM	#9
bartman not really bart Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 67	Most props aren't wooden anymore, Jag. There was a special on Hartzell's new milling process in this month's Flying. Pretty cool if you ask me.

11-29-2002, 03:53 PM	#10
jaguar whig Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 5,075	I meant a chainsaw blade for wood. __________________ Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Twain

11-30-2002, 06:18 AM	#12
jaguar whig Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 5,075	hehehehe... those guys were incredible, it'd take them a mater of days to defeat unclimbable fences, security systems, unclimbable walls, locks, door, everything. But yea the chainsaw thing kidna took the cake i think. __________________ Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Twain

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