Story: Propeller found miles from crash scene

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...-regional-wire

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...1014oct14,0,74
34473.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

MADISON, Conn. -- The propeller from the plane that crashed into a house on
Lovers Lane Monday night has been found a few miles away in Killingworth.

Police Chief Paul Jakubson said police received a call Wednesday from a
resident of Maple Hill Road in Killingworth, which is 2 to 3 miles from the
crash site.

So...did it pop off and zing all that way ahead of the crash scene...or drop
off before they dropped out of the air?

A founding member of the Compuserve Aviation Special Interest Group, who is
regrettably no longer with us, lost the prop on his GlasAir and watched as
it flew off into the distance....there's a heck of a lot of pressure on the
back side of the propeller disk. He survived the landing.

Bob Gardner

"StellaStar" wrote in message
...


http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...1014oct14,0,74
34473.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

MADISON, Conn. -- The propeller from the plane that crashed into a house
on
Lovers Lane Monday night has been found a few miles away in Killingworth.

Police Chief Paul Jakubson said police received a call Wednesday from a
resident of Maple Hill Road in Killingworth, which is 2 to 3 miles from
the
crash site.

So...did it pop off and zing all that way ahead of the crash scene...or
drop
off before they dropped out of the air?

"Bob Gardner" wrote in message
...
A founding member of the Compuserve Aviation Special Interest Group, who
is
regrettably no longer with us, lost the prop on his GlasAir and watched as
it flew off into the distance....there's a heck of a lot of pressure on
the
back side of the propeller disk. He survived the landing.

Bob Gardner

Yes, but not 2 to 3 miles.

I have been passed by a hubcap, but passed it again pretty soon.
--
Jim in NC


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I have been passed by a hubcap, but passed it again pretty soon.
--

I have been passed by my right rear tyre in a kombi one night many moons
ago.

Before I lurched to a stop, I tried to decide if it was real, or a result of
all those nasty things I used to do to my body!
;)
Peter

Bushy wrote:

I have been passed by a hubcap, but passed it again pretty soon.
--


I have been passed by my right rear tyre in a kombi one night many moons
ago.

Friend of mine got passed by the nosewheel of his 206 while landing.
Never did catch up to it again.

"Morgans",

Actually, two or three miles is not at all unusual if a prop is flung
at altitude. The event is not nearly as common as it used to be (prop
design is better, so it usually is an indication of serious
maintenance neglect). If you go back into the historical record props
came off of hubs with a distressing regularity prior to WWII, but
continued from time to time since then. Depending on the altitude of
the airplane when the prop departs and the direction the pilot turns
in gliding to a landing (assuming no major damage to the airframe
caused by the departing prop, and the airplane is controllable), the
distance between propeller and airplane can be several miles.

There is a good discussion of the topic in the era between the World
Wars in _The Eighth Sea_ by the late British test pilot, Frank T.
Courtney. Very good and interesting book.

Friend of mine flung the prop off of a Grumman Ag-Cat he was flying.
As he pulled up off of a spray pass, having just shut off the
chemical, the engine rpm went up radically and the airplane
decelerated sharply. He was at about 50 feet agl, stuffed the nose
down, but still stalled a few feet above the ground, hit hard and
flipped. He was unhurt. After he got out, wondering what in the
world had happened (he didn't see the prop go), he walked around the
airplane a few times before he realized the prop was missing. It was
never found.

All the best,
Rick

"Morgans" wrote in message ...
"Bob Gardner" wrote in message
...
A founding member of the Compuserve Aviation Special Interest Group, who
is
regrettably no longer with us, lost the prop on his GlasAir and watched as
it flew off into the distance....there's a heck of a lot of pressure on
the
back side of the propeller disk. He survived the landing.

Bob Gardner

Yes, but not 2 to 3 miles.

I have been passed by a hubcap, but passed it again pretty soon.

On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 21:45:39 -0700, "Bob Gardner"
wrote:

A founding member of the Compuserve Aviation Special Interest Group, who is
regrettably no longer with us, lost the prop on his GlasAir and watched as
it flew off into the distance....there's a heck of a lot of pressure on the
back side of the propeller disk. He survived the landing.

I would guess this is not a typical failure though. I'd think a
partial blade separation such as the Lancair 320, or 360 suffered near
Appleton a few years back. You lose part of a blade and it can
literally tear the engine right out of the airplane. This really
ruins the CG.


Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Bob Gardner

"StellaStar" wrote in message
...


http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...1014oct14,0,74
34473.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

MADISON, Conn. -- The propeller from the plane that crashed into a house
on
Lovers Lane Monday night has been found a few miles away in Killingworth.

Police Chief Paul Jakubson said police received a call Wednesday from a
resident of Maple Hill Road in Killingworth, which is 2 to 3 miles from
the
crash site.

So...did it pop off and zing all that way ahead of the crash scene...or
drop
off before they dropped out of the air?

He was returning the plane to the Danbury Flight School at DXR from
Nantucket (ACK). Drawing a straight line on a map from Nantucket to Danbury,
Madison and Killingworth are on the same line and Killingworth is 2-3 miles
closer to Danbury.

Griswold Airport (MPE) is in the same town where he went down
(Madison).Wonder how (specifically) the dislodged prop affected the
aerodynamics of the Warrior and his chances for a controllable glide.
(Student here, please be be kind!)

"StellaStar" wrote in message
...
So...did it pop off and zing all that way ahead of the crash scene...or
drop
off before they dropped out of the air?


http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...1014oct14,0,74
34473.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

MADISON, Conn. -- The propeller from the plane that crashed into a house
on
Lovers Lane Monday night has been found a few miles away in Killingworth.

Police Chief Paul Jakubson said police received a call Wednesday from a
resident of Maple Hill Road in Killingworth, which is 2 to 3 miles from
the
crash site.

(added
The 1978 Piper Warrior smashed through tree branches before crashing into
the roof of a house.

Hanlon and Johnson, who were co-workers at the U.S. Post Office in
Brookfield, were flying from Nantucket to Danbury when Hanlon
radioed in a "mayday" shortly before 6 p.m. to report that the
engine had stopped working.

"H.P." wrote in message
om...
He was returning the plane to the Danbury Flight School at DXR from
Nantucket (ACK). Drawing a straight line on a map from Nantucket to
Danbury,
Madison and Killingworth are on the same line and Killingworth is 2-3
miles
closer to Danbury.

Griswold Airport (MPE) is in the same town where he went down
(Madison).Wonder how (specifically) the dislodged prop affected the
aerodynamics of the Warrior and his chances for a controllable glide.
(Student here, please be be kind!)

"

An account of an aerobatic Pitts losing a prop said that the pilot used full
forward stick and the aircraft still flared with nose up just before the
pilot got it on terra firma. If he hadn't gotten it down it would have
gone into a flat spin. I remember reading about it in the nineties. Of
course, a part of the crankshaft departed with the propeller.

To me, losing a prop on a single-engine tractor aircraft means instant loss
of power, an aft CG outside of the envelope, and a life-threatening
encounter with the earth's gravitational pull.