The 182 that I almost purchased

[dkalwishky]

I know this is not 170 related but it shows what can do wrong when purchasing a plane.

Saturday, January 14th 2006
9:00am
Today is the day we are heading down to Fort Worth, Texas to inspect and hopefully purchase a Cessna 182. Marc and I have been looking for a plane for 4 months now, the first two that we wanted sold within days of being advertised.

9:35am
Today Brant will be flying me, my wife Terri and daughter Allison down to get the plane. We will be staying with Terri’s cousin Bev and her family. We departed Ankeny, IA (IKV) at 9:35am for the flight down. The 182 climbed up to 10,000’ where we had clear skies and calm air all the way there. Allison slept for most of the trip while Terri played a hand held video game. We landed at 4:10pm, 4 hours and 35 minutes after we left for an average speed of 141 mph. The temperature in Iowa when we left was 25 degrees, Texas was at 78 degrees and it felt good!

2:35pm
Once out of the plane I called Frank (one of the three owners) to let him know we were on the ground in Arlington. He told me that the plane was at the Grand Prairie airport which is only a 10 minute drive. The plane is there so we could do a compression check; the hangar at Arlington has no power due to some hangar fires from a month ago.

Bev picked us up and drove us to Grand Prairie and we looked at the plane. The cowling was off so we could get a good look at the engine. Once satisfied we put the cowling on and went flying. Brant was in the back seat with me in the pilots’ seat and another partner Rusty in the co-pilots seat. We flew around for about 25 minutes; little did we know at this time that I would be the last pilot to log time in the airplane.

Once back on the ground we did a compression check of the engine and it was ok. We talked about the plans for tomorrow and the owners agreed to let Brant and I take the logbooks to study that evening. We’d be meeting at Arlington tomorrow at 10am.

8:00pm
This evening Brant and I spent many hours on the log books, we had a number of questions about some of the entries we read but those will have to wait until tomorrow.

Sunday, January 15th 2006
9:00am
I called the mechanic this morning and told him to stand by with regard to starting his inspection on the plane. We talked for quite a while on some “concerns” that I had with the log books. Some of his answers did not make sense to me so I told him that I wanted to call back up home and talk to my mechanic and run some of the things by him. After talking with my mechanic he confirmed what the mechanic in Texas told me. There still remained 4 things that were not in the log books that needed to be. I informed the mechanic and seller that these needed to be fixed at his cost before I would buy the plane. I may be on the anal side when it comes to the records but if I am buying a plane, I want, no I demand, that they be in as perfect order as they can be.

They agreed to this so I told the mechanic to go ahead and start the inspection and we would be there in a bit. It’s a 40 minute drive, minimum from Bev’s house to the Arlington airport.

3:00pm
After the inspection was done we transacted the business of finding a Kinko’s where we could FedEx the funds to the bank that held on lien on the plane. I put in my money with a note to the bank and we sent the package for overnight delivery.

4:30pm
As the day drew to a close we decided to move Brant’s airplane to Meacham (KFTW) airport. This is only a 20 minute drive from Bev’s house so I figured this would be easier and more convenient for her as Brant is leaving for home in the morning.

I was seriously considering moving the plane to Meacham as well but I realized that I did not have my pilots’ license and medical on me plus I would not be able to bind the insurance until tomorrow morning. The decision was made to leave our 182 at Arlington in its hangar.

Now remember at this time we have not signed a bill of sale for the plane, one of the three owners was not able to make it out so we would take care of that business on Tuesday when we leave.

Monday, January 16th 2006
9:00am
We took Brant to Meacham field so he could depart. We knew that there could be some questionable weather in Des Moines so I told him that if he was not comfortable with it to land somewhere and spend the night, Marc and I would pick up the tab for that.

Today is a day to relax for me, it’s been a LONG four months in the search for that perfect 182 and I believe we have found it here. I had a couple of problems at work so I spent some time on the phone talking to them and getting some things resolved.

4:00pm
I did get a call from Brant later in the day; he had made it home safely. It took him 4 hours and 10 minutes to get home.

Tuesday, January 17th 2006
8:00am
The day has come, we need to go to the airport and sign the bill of sale and depart for home. I checked the weather and found that I would be able to get as far as Kansas City with clear skies. Terri has a sister that lives in Kansas so if we made it that far we’d have a place to stay for a day or two.

Des Moines was showing possible snow and low ceilings which did not really bother me as long as there was no ice in the clouds. I figured I would get an updated weather brief as we approached Kansas and decide at that point what to do.

This plane does not have the long range fuel tanks so I filed an IFR flight plan to Independence, KS which is the half way point in the trip. With the flight plan filed and everyone dressed and ready to go we left 30 minutes ahead of schedule for the airport.

As we left Bev’s house I called Frank, he was going to meet us there to finalize the paperwork and to pull the plane out of the hangar and up to the FBO so the tanks could be topped off.

8:50am
Once at the airport the wind was already howling out of the north at 20 kts. I thought to myself that it would be a long flight home but one I was ready to make.

I paid the fuel bill and Frank and I headed out to the plane with my baggage. We loaded it into the plane and Frank wanted to show me some basics of the Apollo GPS that was in the plane. We spent maybe 10 minutes out there and it was time to finish the paperwork, sign the bill of sale, load up the family and head for home.

I was standing in the pilots door looking at something in the panel, Frank had just started to step away from the plane when we heard a tug coming. Neither of us thought too much about it as we are used to being on ramps and hearing them. Something caught Frank’s ear though and as he looked up and out of the rear window of the plane he saw the tug hit his 182 from the right rear at full speed.

The impact shoved the plane forward 8 feet and drug Frank and I with it. Once the plane stopped moving I stepped away in a daze as to what happened. It took me a minute to fully comprehend what had just happened. Frank and I checked to make sure that we were ok and I had some soreness on the backside of my leg where the landing gear had hit and drug me.

The two linemen on the tug were just as dumbfounded as we were. They backed the tug up which was pulling a Cherokee of some kind and disappeared. I quickly thought to myself that I should take pictures of what had happened so I went into the FBO to get my camera. Terri and Bev saw the whole thing happen but did not realize the extent of the damage, I did. I knew we would not be flying home today in that plane.

A gentleman had come out when he heard the impact and looked at Terri and said “something bad just happened didn’t it”.

I went out and took some pictures to document the damage, the gentleman came out to us and for a minute thought he was the owner of the Cherokee, turns out his name is Nathan and he is the FBO manager. He asked if we were alright and said he wanted to move the plane into the big hangar to get it off the ramp.

I went back into the FBO and looked at the plane before they moved it and a tear came to my eye, it was a very depressing site. We were so close to owning my next plane but now so far away. Nathan came around the corner just then and asked me some questions and I snapped out of it.

Once the plane was in the hangar I informed Frank that I no longer wanted to purchase his plane and he agreed. He called MBNA bank and told them that when the package with our checks showed up to send it back to us and he explained what had happened.

Nathan had called a mechanic from Van Bortel to come over and look at things, his initial reaction was that the tail from the rear windows back would have to be replaced and the plane repainted so it would all match. We were feeling a little bit better about the damage thinking maybe it was not as serious as it first looked.

Upon further inspection we noticed the following damage to the plane:

*The right elevator was smashed downward while the left one was still in the proper position. This means that the steel rod that connects the two had been broken.
*The entire empennage is canted about 20 – 30 degrees to the right.
*There was a wrinkle in the fuselage all the way from the tail to the firewall.
*The cowling no longer fit onto the airframe properly, it was cocked to the side.
*The cowing had bends in it where the top and bottom pieces came together.
*There were small cracks in the cowling that were not there before.
*The nose strut was somewhat compressed. We figured that when we were hit the nose came up and then slammed down thus partially blowing out some seals.
*The nose wheel pant has a cover on the top that was not bent and not laying down properly.
*The left wing was leaking fuel from the quick drain area.
*The plastic wing strut cuffs had cracks and chips in them.
*There was fuel leaking from the fuselage just behind the pilot’s door.
*The pilot’s door no longer fit the fuselage properly, it was ajar.
*The left brake assembly was leaking fluid into the hangar floor.
*The baggage door no longer closes properly.
*The autopilot servos for the elevator are in the tail where it was hit so they most likely sustained some damage.
*As we looked down into the tail we could see all the control cables laying on the bottom of the fuselage, they should be tight.

Looking at our baby and the leaks we lamented the fact that she was slowly bleeding to death in the hangar. It was a very depressing moment in my life.

I went back into the FBO to let the linemen know that she was leaking and they needed to do something to contain the fuel. The said they’d go take care of it. While they were doing this the receptionist said that she was going to get us airline tickets home so I worked with her to get the tickets. My only stipulation was that I would NOT fly on a regional jet as they are very small and I’m very big and would not fit very well in the seats.

While she was doing this I talked to Terri about what was going on and she said the linemen felt horribly about what happened. One of them is working there to earn money to continue his flight training, this incident made him tear up and cry.

She assured him that we did not hold him responsible, it was a mistake and they happen. The important thing was that everyone was alright. We were told that 20 minutes before this a Citation jet was parked next to us. He said he’d rather have hit it instead. When Terri asked him why he said because it belonged to a company and not a couple of regular people like us, he felt horrible.

They had told us that the reason it got hit was one guy was driving the tug and could not see behind very well, the second guy (the spotter) was facing forward but had his head down because it was cold and windy. The temperature this morning was 60 – 65 degrees with a 20 knot wind out of the north and they were headed right into it so he put his head down for a moment because he was cold. I told him that when we left Iowa it was only 25 degrees and this weather was like a heat wave.

Frank and I went to a camera store not too far away to get the pictures on my camera copied to a CD so they would have them. Nathan told us to get lunch while we were out so we did, meanwhile Terri, Allison and Bev went to a restaurant on the field and the FBO picked up the tab for them as well.

While we were gone Terri repacked all of our luggage so we could check our clothing but carry on my airplane headsets, map bag, portable GPS and my flight bag.

1:10pm
With all this done it was time to head for home, we got to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport and arrived at 1:10pm for our 2:30pm flight. We would be going to Chicago’s O’Hare for a three and a half hour layover and then home.

We called Terri’s sister Julie who lives in Des Moines just a few miles from the airport and explain to her what has happened and she agrees to pick us up from the airport and take us to the Ankeny airport where my truck is.

2:30pm
Someone came on the PA system and informed us that we would be delayed a half an hour due to a traffic backup in Chicago because of the weather. Seems that the cross winds were bad enough that they were not using the normal runways and had to go to some different ones. This meant that the capacity of O’Hare was down. I told Terri I’m glad they decided to do this now instead of waiting until we got onto the plane and make us wait there.

3:00pm
We finally board the plane 30 minutes late; I take my seat by the window, pull out the headphones and tune to channel 9. United Airlines make the cockpit communications available on channel 9 which is why I like to fly with them.

While listening to the chatter, the headphones go dead. I figure they are getting ready for the pushback and to start the engines but after a few minutes the pilot comes on and says there will be an additional 30 minute delay due to the traffic in O’Hare.

3:30pm
We are finally cleared for the push back and we are on our way. The flight was fine to Chicago but I did notice that every time we had a heading change the pilot seemed to overshoot it. After leveling off he would turn the opposite direction for a number of degrees before leveling the plane. He did this quite a few times, I thought to myself that maybe I should go up to the cockpit and help him with his turns.

6:10pm
We land in Chicago and quickly find our next gate. We have a two and a half hour wait now for a flight that is going to take only 50 minutes.

8:40pm
We board our next plane for the final leg home. This will be a short flight, only 50 minutes. We should arrive in Des Moines at 9:30pm.

9:24pm
We land about 10 minutes early and head to the baggage claim area. We waited for our baggage to come on the carousel but it never did. We realized that our baggage had made an earlier flight so it was already there waiting for us.

Julie is there and takes us to Ankeny so I can get my truck out of the hangar; we then go to Village Inn for a late supper and then home.

11:00pm
Finally home, what a day this has been. I guess it’s time to start looking for another 182 all over again.

Here is a link to the pictures of the plane before it was hit.
http://www.eaachapter135.org/images/photo_albums/n3208u

Here is a link to the pictures I took of the plane after it was hit.
http://www.eaachapter135.org/images/photo_albums/n3208u-destroyed


Dave

[1SeventyZ]

What a heartbreaker. I get nervous when I have to park my truck in a public parking lot, but I tend to feel like the airport ramp is a safe place where everybody is paying special attention to every move.

Sorry for your loss, at least it happened before you took posession of the aircraft.

[cessna170bdriver]

It's odd that this accident doesn't show up in either the FAA or NTSB databases. I would think the level of damage would qualify as an accident rather than incident and would be reportable.

Miles

[CraigH]

You'd be surprised what doesn't get reported.

[N3243A]

It's odd that this accident doesn't show up in either the FAA or NTSB databases. I would think the level of damage would qualify as an accident rather than incident and would be reportable.

Miles

Miles, I think it's because they hadn't boarded the aircraft with the intention of flight. They were merely reviewing the avionics before completing the sale. A reportable accident according to the NTSB is: "An accident is defined as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft that takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage."
Bruce

[cessna170bdriver]

So I guess that if you ever taxi into a parked airplane on the way to the runway, or nose over while doing a run-up, you're better off just to say that you had no intention to fly. Just claim you were ops checking the brakes or engine. That way your record stays clean.

Also, does bailing out count as disembarking? In other words, does the fact that there is no one on board when the airplane crashes make it not an accident? (Tongue only sightly in cheek.) This same question might apply to a few stories I've read where an airplane gets away from the person propping it and goes flying on its own. See http://www.reddingemployment.com/newsar ... o053.shtml and http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... ST0515.DTL for examples.

Miles

[GAHorn]

Whether or not the aircraft was in motion for the purposes of flight...or for a run up after maintenance, etc., can also make a big difference in the insurance deductible. Example: A buddy started his enging to test a newly installed Ammeter gauge. After the start, the prop-thrust pulled the nose down, compressing the nose gear oleo strut on his Debonair. The prop struck the still-attached tow-bar.
Because the airplane was not being started for a flight... it was considered as a not in motion event, and the new engine, propellor, spinner, etc. was zero-deductible on his insurance claim.
His subsequent landing on a street (having mistaken it for a narrow runway) and wiping the nose gear out on the curbing was a different matter. He had to pay his $1K deductible. (Still got a new engine, prop, and nose gear, this time.)
First event was non reportable. Second was.

[Dave Clark]

Gee George, is your buddy still flying??

[GAHorn]

Last I heard. We aren't really "buddies". I should have said "someone I know of."