What happens when you have a prop strike or gear-up in a place with no facilities?

Mooney_Driver wrote:

From an insurance point of view, quite a few such airplanes may end up totalled as the recovery cost alone would blow the total value.

Indeed. This winter one of my club’s 172 was damaged at the ice strip at Femunden. Not that severely damaged, but enough to write it off. There was also the cost of removing it from the lake. Depending on the plane I guess and the actual damage, but if the value of the plane is less than €50k (maybe a even bit more), it’s a write off. A couple of years ago I managed to puncture the main wheel on that lake. My first thought was I was going to stay there for the next 14 days. But there was a compressor there. Filled it up, took off immediately and landed with a flat tire back home

Probably coincidence/superstition/Murphy, but it seems like if something odd is going to happen, it happens at odd places.

Timothy wrote:

The damage to my aircraft in the Scillies was actually not huge. Nosewheel collapse and one engine stopped by grass at idle.

Had it happened at Biggin, I would probably have been flying again within a month.

But with no facilities at Scilly, we would have needed to charter a ship, which completely precluded doing anything but write it off.

The insurance company was superb.

So obviously there are very good reasons (otherwise you would have done it) but why can’t tools/parts/jacks be brought in, the nose gear repaired/replaced in the open air and a new prop fitted before obtaining a one-off permit and flying out of there?

Presumably even with a write-off the aircraft eventually needs to be removed from the islands for disposal? Or is it taken to pieces first?

Or is it taken to pieces first?

Very small pieces, in my case.

if something odd is going to happen, it happens at odd places.

Ah. You heard about my starter motor failure at Eureka (on the North Canadian coast, with no sea or public transport access of any description) on a Sunday, in mid-winter, at -40°, then?

A few years ago (make that 25 odd years ago) I had to recover a Piper Cadet that some halfwit tried to use for drug running from a field in France. They landed in a plowed field, went through a fence and got nicked by the French Police. Prop strike and wings damaged. Took off wings and prop and put everything on a trailer. Took it back to the UK and fixed it there. Little over a mornings work to get it apart.

Shouldn’t have to do much in the way of cutting of pipes or wiring. My present employer has taken the wings off Gulfstream’s and loaded them onto an Antanov on several occasions and repaired them at the factory. Very little cutting involved. Know of a few BAe 125’s that have had the same treatment.

146fixer wrote:

Prop strike and wings damaged. Took off wings and prop and put everything on a trailer.

I’ve seen that twice in the last year, coincidently in both cases about 800 miles from home. In the most recent case the plane was home and repairs underway in two weeks. There was some insurance support but I don’t know the details. The plane would’ve been brought home quickly regardless.

Yep, Cirrus are often shipped like that, wet wing systems included.

While I cannot compete with @Thimothy’s starter motor failure, I once had a mag failure in, of all places Birdsville, central Australia. To boot, the day before the famous horse race. Snagged the last seats on the only CAT that day and they had to fly a mechanic and spares in from Townsville a week or so later. For those unfamiliar, I suggest to Google the above places.

On a different note (and a word of warning): an airport doesn’t have to be remote to be challenging for mx. Just last week one of our clubs 172s had a minor problem at KLAS, Las Vegas McCarran. Now, you would think there’s all the mx in the world at a big international airport and you would be right – but only for jets. No piston shop on the field (it was an engine issue). Of course organizing a mechanic to drive over from KHND was no issue in this case, but travel time (and cost) ended up exceeding the actual work time.

@Peter, 30min later after your post I know that shit just happened somewhere in a no man’s land (I have another EuroGA witness but allmost sorted now thankfully), you can add weekends, closures and ppr to the bad luck element…

A side question, can one ferry a 4 seater aircraft by road without folding wings in the UK?