A Very, Very, Very Bad Day...

[RickH]

Got a call this morning at 8 AM while we were still up at the cabin in northern MN from our house sitter telling us of the storm damage in Vinton, closely followed by a call from a pilot friend who'd gone out to the airport. The Redbird is mortally wounded, as are two other planes and at least one hangar building itself. My hangar door was partially blown in and the door behind me was totally blown out. The plane was picked up and shoved backwards and upwards. The tail feathers, including the vertical stabilizer dorsal are damaged beyond repair, both wingtips smashed, the lower cowling badly dented and the right main possibly bent - the right tire was rolled off the rim. I spent part of the 8-hour drive home on the phone with Falcon Insurance getting a claim started. She could be rebuilt, but I suspect the repair estimates will be at or above the hull insurance as we're probably looking at a complete recover in addition to the repairs, all of which are way beyond my ability. Don't know what we'll end up doing...it's just so very, very sad.

No power in Vinton tonight and probably none for the next 2 or 3 days. We're camping out at my MIL's place in Cedar Rapids tonight. We'll be headed back home in the morning with gas for the generator to try to save the freezer full of beef. Just to add insult to injury, the battery on the Blackberry is dying too...

Rick
Chief NC86196

[kyleb]

Sorry to hear about your airplane. I hope you and your underwriter get things worked out to your satisfaction.

Regarding a potential rebuild, I honestly believe most people can work on these old airplanes with a little help from their friends in aviation. If your dorsal is damaged, that may be the hardest thing to fix yourself. A good welder could probably repair it relatively quickly. The rest of the tail feathers are available on the secondary and new markets - same for wingtips and cowling parts.

Fabric covering? Lots of people have done it before. No reason you can't do it and have the satisfaction when you're done of saying "Look what I did..."

Think hard before you punt!

[WWhunter]

Rick,
Sorry to hear about the damage. Heavy heart I am sure. Thankfully no one was injured.
If the insurance settles quickly now is the time to buy a replacement if that is what you decide to do. Plane prices are definitely down....except not as much for our little puddle jumpers.
Where is your cabin in Northern MN? Stop in sometime.
Keith

[MikeB]

Rick,
Ouch! Sorry to hear of your bad luck. My hangar blew down about 5 days after it was put up but I lucked out as there was no door on yet and the wind just picked up the hangar like a big box and tipped it over the Champ missing it completely other than a small dent in one wing. Having said that, these old tube and fabric birds are pretty 'rebuildable' depending on what the insurance wants to do (they obviously tend to look at the dollar signs). I know Brian Safrin (spelling??) has Bill Pancake's old fuselage jig but I believe it's only for a Champ. Someone else may chime in with another idea.
Mike

[Paul Agaliotis]

Rick,
I have the back half of a 11AC that you are welcome to. Also some other stuff if you decide to rebuild.
Paul

[Red(neck) Barron]

That was a nasty SOB of a storm, it just skirted us here in Keokuk, County. I didn't see any news reports of airport damage so I hadn't heard about that. The other guys are right though, old Airknockers are rebuildable and you can make it just the plane you want it to be. It just takes time and effort and a few bucks. Fabric work isn't bad either, my first attempt went much better than I had feared it would.

Anything I can do to help, give a shout out.

Larry

[RickH]

Thanks to all for the kind thoughts. Mike Connell from Decorah came down today to do an estimate for the insurance. Unfortunately, the closer we look, the more damage we find. Both spars on the right wing are broken, along with multiple ribs...not sure on the left wing. There's also some fuselage damage that will be hard to know the extent of until the fabric is all removed...probably a couple of broken bulkheads and stringers and some twisting of tubing in the vicinity of the firewall, in addition to all the other obvious things. I realize that a piece of wood with a dataplate can be turned back into an airplane, but I don't think I'm prepared to invest that much money and time. I'm 65 years old and want to fly airplanes in the time I have left, not build them... Maybe I'll feel differently tomorrow, but tonight I'm kinda depressed.

[Captgrumps]

Sorry about your loss. If it ends up a total insurance job I might be able to give you the names of some of old airplane folks.

Doug

[Nathan K. Hammond]

Rick, sorry to hear about little Red. Saw the pic you posted on FB and it looked sad. I can understand the feeling of moving on and getting another airplane. Even at 8 hours a day, a complete rebuild can take 6 months to a year.

If you do let the insurance total it; hopefully it's goes to a good kid that's new to aviation and looking for an economical entry.

Good luck.

nkh

[RickH]

The settlement check from Chartis arrived today, so it is finished. Here's a link to the salvage auction website, just in case someone is looking for a project:
http://www.aigaviation.com/aviationsalv ... ageId=1076

[RickH]

The auction closed on Saturday. Chartis notified me today that the final bid was $6200 and she went to Chris Jarman who runs a salvage operation around PHX.

Rick