FBO gave me an unwanted nose job... | FerrariChat
Buy

FBO gave me an unwanted nose job...

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by Chupacabra, Nov 22, 2011.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. Chupacabra

    Chupacabra F1 Rookie
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 30, 2005
    3,523
    Behind a drum kit
    Full Name:
    Mr. Chupacabra
    #1 Chupacabra, Nov 22, 2011
    Just a friendly reminder to always preflight your gear extra well before departing from anywhere that uses tugs or long tow bars. Someone at the last FBO I visited turned my nose gear (Piper Arrow II) well past design limits and destroyed both lower sides of the upper strut housing, along with the shimmy bar link. The latter was cracked and bent nearly in half. The damage comes out to about $3K.

    I'm not going to mention who or where as they are being very cooperative so far, and it is a good facility that I had a great experience with otherwise. If that takes a turn for the worse, I may share. Right now, it looks like they have some folks who just don't know any better tugging their planes around.

    Anyone else have this or something similar happen? What was the outcome for you?
     
  2. WATSON

    WATSON Two Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 9, 2010
    23,679
    WI
    #2 WATSON, Nov 22, 2011
    Happened to my Seneca twice and again to the Chieftain. The Chieftain I get because it is a longer plane and a really crappy turning radius, by the Seneca required extra effort.

    All different FBO's....and each handled the claim just fine. But what a pain the butt.

    Doing a thorough pre-flight is important....you just never know.
     
  3. Chupacabra

    Chupacabra F1 Rookie
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 30, 2005
    3,523
    Behind a drum kit
    Full Name:
    Mr. Chupacabra
    #3 Chupacabra, Nov 22, 2011
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2011
    Yep. To date, I've caught two other issues that if left undiscovered could have really messed up the airplane and, quite possibly, me! Apparently, a lot of people (pilots as well) just don't realize how easy it is to wound an airplane.

    Thanks for the input. I'm glad your situations turned out to be easily remedied. I'm hoping mine is no different!
     
  4. Roger103

    Roger103 Karting

    Sep 13, 2009
    112
    Full Name:
    Trim Tab
    #4 Roger103, Nov 22, 2011
    Most FBO's I find do very little training with their line service. You would have to go to large airports to find some kind of line service training program where they take test on various subjects. Another problem is all kinds of different and strange aircraft entering the LSA scene, you can never figure all these foreign aircraft out. I just don't trust line service to service my aircraft without being there with them. I remember at a very large airport where line service parked the company jet I was flying tail to tail with a Gulfstream. When the Gulfstream fired up and push the throttles up to taxi the jet blast just slammed our rudder and crippled our aircraft. The gulfstream pilots should of known better too.
     
  5. Chupacabra

    Chupacabra F1 Rookie
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 30, 2005
    3,523
    Behind a drum kit
    Full Name:
    Mr. Chupacabra
    #5 Chupacabra, Nov 22, 2011
    Ouch.

    That was part of my point to them -- I was parked between a Pilatus and a Citation. I pointed out that, hey, a Piper Arrow is BY FAR not the most expensive plane you guys truck around, so imagine if someone screws the gear on something really, really expensive. I'm not just looking out for myself, but the FBO and the other pilots who visit. They need to know what's going on and address this before it causes a big problem. Of course, they also need to fix my airplane :)
     
  6. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
    Consultant

    Nov 29, 2003
    8,017
    Shoreline,Washington
    Full Name:
    Robert Parks
    #6 Bob Parks, Nov 22, 2011
    This is why the big tin birds have nose gear turn limit markers on the lower side of the nose. All,big or little, should have them and ground crews should be trained better.
     
  7. Chupacabra

    Chupacabra F1 Rookie
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 30, 2005
    3,523
    Behind a drum kit
    Full Name:
    Mr. Chupacabra
    #7 Chupacabra, Nov 22, 2011
    I agree, there should be either a placard or some type of marking to avoid this type of stuff.
     
  8. WATSON

    WATSON Two Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 9, 2010
    23,679
    WI
    #8 WATSON, Nov 22, 2011
    Amen. The Chieftain has red marks on the front strut....didn't matter. Then again ripping the tow hooks off should have slowed them down a little and that didn't matter either :)

    Makes you really stop and pause as you check the fuel bill to make sure my lowly Piper was filled with 100-LL and not Jet-A. All twins with polished spinners are turboprops right? <gulp>
     

Share This Page