This is very sad to hear, Nimbusgb.
Silvaire above (post #58) is spot on, however.
The real issue here is that – I am speculating, reading partly between the lines – you are screwed by local politics and cannot grab the bull by the horns and sort it out yourself. When I had my prop strike in 2002, I was also screwed by politics (the hangar owner was a maintenance company and demanded they do all the maintenance, including 50hr checks at £500+V each) but at least I was able to deal with the insurer directly and then with the shock load inspection outfit directly. So the maintenance company charged about 2k for engine removal and reinstallation and they didn’t get a 30% margin on the engine job. A bunch of people made money on the supply of a new prop though, at £11k (US list price with an 8130-3 was $9k i.e. about £6k back then) but the insurance company was happy to pay the whole of that, so I wasn’t bothered.
How much is your plane worth, disregarding the current damage?
A UK insurer will write a thing off if the repair reaches 50% of MV, usually.
Someone knowingly damaged the prop and gif not own up….I’m not a lawyer but I would have thought that a criminal act….the police should be involved….find the person….then you or your insurance company can sue him and/or his employer….after the criminal charges are dealt with… somewhere there is a red tow bar with incriminating evidence.,.,
Purchased for 14k. Engine had about 600 hours left on it so I was happy to run it for a couple of hundred and then decide what I did next. Even getting a hundred hours on it it would have been cheap.
Labour, a new prop, etc and we are well past the 50% mark.
The assessors are pretty adamant that the prop was damaged with engine going so they have dropped the idea that it was ground based. Close examination and they recon the red colouring is brick or stone dust. The tips are pristine so very, very unlikely that there was a taxi/tarmac incident. There are questions about the state of the prop considering the annual was done 4 hours ago. It’s had a bloody hard life but at annual it would/should have been dressed and possibly the back paint touched up and if not why not. If they were then the past 4 hours have been ‘interesting’.
The delivery flight and a leg before it have not been logged so trying to get those documented.
May look around for a similar condition high time lump to see if there’s and value in keeping her flying if it goes that way.
I will be in the USA next week, is shipping back a used unit from there even worth thinking about?
Just a wild idea.
Have you checked that the damaged prop (serial #) is actually the one that belongs to your aircraft?
Someone could have exchanged their damaged one for yours which was perfectly okay.
Someone could have exchanged their damaged one for yours which was perfectly okay.
What an absolutely brilliant idea!
is shipping back a used unit from there even worth thinking about?
Not at this price level. Probably somewhere in the 50k-100k range it becomes worth doing, for a common type of aircraft.
What quotes have you had for a shock load, a new prop, and labour? PM if you prefer.
Have you had a chat with any of the local aircraft owners to find out where they would get this work done? As Peter has suggested, don’t let the maintenance company do it. The same work will be done and probably by the same people but you will pay 30% more for it.
Quotes from all over.
Dorset company about £8k for shockload and replacement of shock loaded parts.
That’s already 75% of nominal value.
No quotes on doing the work, shipping to and from etc.
The aircraft can’t be moved so getting someone in from elsewhere to remove and replace is going to add cost not save it.
Prop is the one that has been on the aircraft all the time ( well for about 25 years )
How much will the insurance pay?
We haven’t got that far yet.
One option is to treat it as vandalism and make a claim under ground damage. You will AFAIK have to make a police report (whether they care or not is irrelevant). The risk is that this route may upset the locals if the police come round…
I can’t see how it could be airborne or even during taxi. There are no airborne bricks, nor are there bricks floating a few inches above the ground.
Most people don’t insure the hull but many do have hull cover for vandalism / hangar burning down / maintenance damage etc.
