Information from MT CEO:
That Aerostar had MT props – and they are sure that’s the reason it could fly… the blades were just a bit shorter. They wrote that it is with MT USA now for repair.
Information from MT CEO:
That Aerostar had MT props – and they are sure that’s the reason it could fly… the blades were just a bit shorter. They wrote that it is with MT USA now for repair.
That is a misunderstanding and incorrect. Here’s the image of the prop after landing. A MT prop would not have bent that way. Plus the MT prop for the Aerostar is 4-blade, not 3 blade like this. This is a Hartzell metal prop.
Thanks!
Of course the MT would just break… they probably mixed something up
Maybe the bend at the end created a sort of winglet which increased the efficiency of the prop?
This looks like the plane from the paint job – looks like metal props to me…
There’s a thread about this on /r/flying on Reddit right now…
http://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/339wjh/crash_and_go_aerostar_aftermath/
…and apparently the plane is for sale. “Needs props” says the ad in Trade-a-Plane:
http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/aircraft/Multi+Engine+Piston/1970/Aerostar/601/2076612.html
No mention of the engine shock load inspection that’s also needed…
If you can’t see the Facebook video of the incident, there’s a copy of the video here. Ouch. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b41_1429465294
That’s probably a $ 150.000 repair, if not more. (The last Cirrus SR22 at my field that had a prop strike cost € 80.000 to repair, prop, shockloading inspection etc. …)
$150k on an SR22… must have been very substantial airframe damage, or the owner was taken to the cleaners.
An IO540 (IO550 can’t be that different) shock load is about GBP 8k (that’s not a cowboy job, which can be done for much less), a 3B Hartzell prop is about 10-12k…
But this piston twin “runway resurfacing project” will be more than just a shock load inspection – assuming they want a CofA afterwards Most old piston twins are worth only the value of the engines. Actually that seems to be true for a lot of King Airs too…