"Dick" wrote in message . com...
Nosegear failed during taxi and had a wooden prop strike on pavement. prop
is toast but wondering about the old C-85. consensus is leaning towards
everything okay if no vibration and tracks true upon startup of new,
balanced prop.

comments appreciated, Dick


A few years ago I met a guy loading a Champ (with a C-85) onto a
truck at a backcountry strip. He told me an amazing tale of his
crankshaft snapping in flight over some seriously rought terrain
(Great Bear Wilderness Area near 8U4). As it turns out, he had just
enough altitude to glide to the strip and made a safe landing.

I asked him if he knew why the crankshaft snapped and he had no
idea. While I was looking over the plane, I noticed that the metal
nosebowl had a small dent and asked about it. He told me that he'd
taxied into a snowbank several months earlier. When I asked if he'd
torn the engine down he replied that he'd hit the snow bank slowly at
idle, and was sure that the engine wasn't damaged. Supporting his
assumption was the fact that the plane had flown a whole 20 hrs.
without a problem since the prop strike.

Spontaneous crankshaft breakage doesn't happen very often. You be
the judge.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)