Would this plane have flown?

Not with me in it.

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
http://www.thegaryhouse.com/aircraftdamage/

I was down in a remote area of Mexico this last weekend and a truck
backed into my aileron. I was lucky that the driver had a sat phone and
I was able to call an A&P to come down to Mexico and swap it for me.
However, all the local pilots, and the A&P who came down seemed to
think it would have flown ok as was. From a simply academic point of
view I"m curious what you guys think.

-Robert

Well, at that point the insurance company owns the plane. Do you want
to do them a favor that badly?

That's easy to say sitting here but not so easy when you're there. The
concequences of that are 1) You may never see your bird again and 2)
Rather than a 2 hour flight back to the states you are looking at 2
days of Mexican dirt roads blowing chunks the entire way.

-Robert

You would also want to contact your insurance company because most aircraft
insurance policies are restricted to "when a valid standard
airworthiness certificate" is on the airplane.

The insurance co's attitude was "spend what you have to, do what ever
you have to" to get the plane out of Mexico. If a pilot leaves a plane
in Mexico it can take months to get it back. The Mexican gov't has a
real hard time with pilots exiting that are not the pilot who flew the
plane in. Also, they know there is money in fixing airplanes and they
want to make real sure they get a piece of that. Everything in Mexico
requires lots of paperwork and every paper needs lots and lots of
stamps

-Robert

That may all be true, but the FAA does have the ferry permit
to allow damaged airplanes to be flown, solo or required
crew only. Your insurance company has a contract to insure
your airplane if you operate it in accordance with the FAA
regulations.



"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
| You would also want to contact your insurance company
because most aircraft
| insurance policies are restricted to "when a valid
standard
| airworthiness certificate" is on the airplane.
|
| The insurance co's attitude was "spend what you have to,
do what ever
| you have to" to get the plane out of Mexico. If a pilot
leaves a plane
| in Mexico it can take months to get it back. The Mexican
gov't has a
| real hard time with pilots exiting that are not the pilot
who flew the
| plane in. Also, they know there is money in fixing
airplanes and they
| want to make real sure they get a piece of that.
Everything in Mexico
| requires lots of paperwork and every paper needs lots and
lots of
| stamps
|
| -Robert
|

Purely from an academic standpoint, I'm curious why people go into remote
areas of a foreign country (particularly one like Mexico) without some way
of calling for help if they get stuck, not having made arrangements/contacts
with a local mechanic in case there were some kind of problem, etc. People
who can afford having an A&P come down to Mexico to fix a problem ought to
be able to afford a little planning ahead for eventualities just like this
one. Academically speaking, of course.

Juan

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
http://www.thegaryhouse.com/aircraftdamage/

I was down in a remote area of Mexico this last weekend and a truck
backed into my aileron. I was lucky that the driver had a sat phone and
I was able to call an A&P to come down to Mexico and swap it for me.
However, all the local pilots, and the A&P who came down seemed to
think it would have flown ok as was. From a simply academic point of
view I"m curious what you guys think.

-Robert



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I don't call ahead and make arrangements for a mechanic at every airport I
land at. If something goes wrong, I'll deal with the problem.

"Juan Jimenez" wrote in message
om...
Purely from an academic standpoint, I'm curious why people go into remote
areas of a foreign country (particularly one like Mexico) without some way
of calling for help if they get stuck, not having made
arrangements/contacts
with a local mechanic in case there were some kind of problem, etc. People
who can afford having an A&P come down to Mexico to fix a problem ought to
be able to afford a little planning ahead for eventualities just like this
one. Academically speaking, of course.

Juan

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
http://www.thegaryhouse.com/aircraftdamage/

I was down in a remote area of Mexico this last weekend and a truck
backed into my aileron. I was lucky that the driver had a sat phone and
I was able to call an A&P to come down to Mexico and swap it for me.
However, all the local pilots, and the A&P who came down seemed to
think it would have flown ok as was. From a simply academic point of
view I"m curious what you guys think.

-Robert



*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from
http://www.SecureIX.com ***

Yes, i think she would have flown, but the aerodynamics may be a bit
off until u got it repaired.

Your insurance company has a contract to insure
your airplane if you operate it in accordance with the FAA regulations.

The insurance co was pretty clear that they did not want me to wait
around for the paperwork process and wanted me to get it back to the
U.S.. The longer you wait around, the more likely the Mexicans will
notice the plane is damaged.

-Robert

ditto


"Juan Jimenez" wrote in message
om...
| Purely from an academic standpoint, I'm curious why people
go into remote
| areas of a foreign country (particularly one like Mexico)
without some way
| of calling for help if they get stuck, not having made
arrangements/contacts
| with a local mechanic in case there were some kind of
problem, etc. People
| who can afford having an A&P come down to Mexico to fix a
problem ought to
| be able to afford a little planning ahead for
eventualities just like this
| one. Academically speaking, of course.
|
| Juan
|
| "Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
|
oups.com...
| http://www.thegaryhouse.com/aircraftdamage/
|
| I was down in a remote area of Mexico this last weekend
and a truck
| backed into my aileron. I was lucky that the driver had
a sat phone and
| I was able to call an A&P to come down to Mexico and
swap it for me.
| However, all the local pilots, and the A&P who came down
seemed to
| think it would have flown ok as was. From a simply
academic point of
| view I"m curious what you guys think.
|
| -Robert
|
|
|
| *** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
| *** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account
from http://www.SecureIX.com ***

Montblack

Nope.

1. Couldn't see any popped rivets in photo's.
2. Gap between aileron and wing was equal full length of aileron in
photo's.
3. I'd have got in cockpit and ran ailerons full right and left to
feel for any drag.
4. Then would have taken a hammer and stone or block of wood and taken
most of the 'curl' out of aileron.
5. Got in and fired up and landed next in the States to clear customs.
7. Then flew to home base to get repaired.

As I said prior. I would not have tried to do rolls and loops on way
home but birds have a lot of strength beyond plackard limits so lots
of safety built in even damaged birds.

And a good day to you and all.

Big John
`````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``````

On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 00:13:51 -0600, "Montblack"
wrote:

("Big John" wrote)
[snip]
Enough said. Mark me in the column as flying home.


Would you have removed the damaged aileron before flight?


Montblack