Bad Day At The Office

[Garry Russell]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLC-QgCi ... re=related

[DaveB]

Oh dear

I did wonder why the crane wasn't giving it any UP UP UP.. presuming the driver was either drunk or something was wrong then.. over she went. Rule 1.. check the reach of the jib against the weight of what you're carrying

ATB
DaveB

[Garry Russell]

It said somewhere ther that it sank into soft ground

Lucky it wasn''t a new one

[DaveB]

Sinking into soft ground is as bad as over-reaching in my book. I'd love to have been at the debrief
ATB
DaveB

[Garry Russell]

It sure is.

Sinking might have been due to not setting the base up correctly or perhaps going for a smaller, cheaper crane.

The ability to lift a particular weight is not straightforward and can fall off rapidly when luffing out.

I can only imagine what the restorers thought, doubly painful watching it in slow motion

[Chris Trott]

The problem was that the crane operator failed to properly setup his footings. He was told the soil was damp from previous rain but failed to use any sort of "assistance" to spread the weight of the footpads as is standard. Then the inevitable happened.

BTW, that crane is rated to lift about 3x the Skyhawk's weight. Thankfully, the crane company paid to repair the plane without a lot of huff (my experience is that crane companies and trucking companies tend to fight tooth and nail before paying to fix anything they break no matter how much evidence you have that they were the ones in the wrong) and the Skyhawk is now sitting back on its perch.

One of the volunteers who did the original work (and much of the resto) is a member of WIX (another forum I visit) and had the full details of what happened but I can't find the thread anymore. The original restoration work took like 3 or 4 years though. Thankfully the insurance payout made the fixes go much faster.

[Garry Russell]

Thanks Chris

I'm glad there was a happy ending