Does duct tape have an STC?

The story that goes with the pics is that during a private "fly-in" fishing excursion in the Alaskan wilderness, the charter pilot and fishermen left a cooler and bait in the plane. And a bear smelled it. This is what the bear did to the plane.

The pilot used his radio and had another pilot bring him 2 new tires, 3 cases of duct tape, and a supply of sheet plastic. He patched the plane together, and flew it home! I hope the passengers got their ride back in the other plane .

Note the tail number re-written on the duct tape (look closely in the last pic), in an apparent attempt to keep within FAA regs .
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heh, I'm not shocked at these pictures whatsoever!

Up here when it comes to aviation we don't have the benefit FBO on every field So you gotta do what you gotta do, make sure it's safe and follow the regs as best you can till you get back to base.

I'm more surprised about the hard-sided-gun-case-as-external-load.....Not totally sure that's within the FARs....

 

That was the first thing I thought of when I saw that But a Pilot has to do what a pilot has to do.

 

Not really, the policy on one of the charter operators I did work for up here was too make SURE 150% that the barrel was pointed aft and the weapon was safetied and cleared.

I'm sure he had some reason for doing it, but I certainly can't think of what it was....

 

Looks good to me, as long as the CG has not moved to far aft. They will determine that shortly after takeoff....

 

"A nose heavy plane doesn't fly well and a tail heavy plane doesn't fly long"

 

I wonder how duct tape compares to the original fabric on weight?

In any event, it's Alaska, so I'd say it's all good!

 

Duct tape is probably double the weight at least.

 

Reminds me of the time that a young FAA guy challenged us about the duct tape that we had used for a wing- to- body closure seal on the clown plane instead of the aluminum gap cover ( saving time) . We told him that it was 120 MPH tape and he said, " Oh, okay."
Switches

 

I am curious about the repair to the right horizontal stabilizer. The leading edge is completely destroyed (see photo from the nose). I think I'll need to see a shot of it in the air before I bite on this one.
Dave

 

Did the bear flatten the tires? I've seen a lot of bear damage to cars whose owners left food inside, but I've never known one to attack the tires...

 

On the shuttle it is titled "Utility Tape", and several rolls are manifested on every mission. It all has to be removed and the surface cleaned after every flight as the rubber based adhesive has a very short work life.

 

"All right, which one of you #%$&* chewed my plane?!"
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