When we last tuned in our intrepid pilot was kicking himself for crashing his pink flying thing while it was still on the ground and he wasn’t even in it! Well, about $500 later we’re back to having an airworthy flying machine again! It took about three weeks total to order the repair parts and have them delivered. It took about a day and a half to actually make the repairs.

The propeller was sent back and recondition back to good as new. Each blade was rebalanced and sent back. This was the first repair I made. After receiving the blades back I re-assembled the propeller, attached it to the engine, and set the blade angle at 12 degrees (as measured from the hub of the prop).

Then, a few days later I received the aluminum tubing back. It took about 8 hours to re-drill all the holes and bolt the tubes back on the airframe. Here is the end result:

All damage repaired!

As you can see from the photos, the grey unpainted tubing are the repairs. I will disassemble one tube at a time and repaint them gloss black. I will paint the ring section in place as it is riveted in. That will take about a week. I should be flying next Saturday, painted or not!

I’ve been involved in two aircraft accidents… crashes if you will. My favorite line is “I crash better than anyone I know.” Well, recently I found out that I could even crash an aircraft when I’m not even in it, heck, when it’s not even flying! Here’s the story.

I wanted to go flying before work a few weeks ago so loaded everything up and drove out to New Jerusalem. When I arrived I found two crop dusters working on the field. That’s not a problem I just take off from the taxiway and they use the runway and we stay out of each other’s way. I started to unload my PPC but then there was a spray rig spraying who-knows-what on the almond trees at the end of the runway and clouds of it were blowing onto that end of the airport. I decided I would just drive to the other end of the runway and fly from there. The front wheel was already disconnected but the two rear wheels were still tied down. I thought it would be fine if I drove slow.

Can you see where this is going?

I started driving to the other end of the field. About half way down… I hit a bump. Something caught my eye in the rear-view mirror: it was the nosewheel of my PPC sticking way up in the air! I quickly stopped and walked back to find the back of my PPC on the ground. The bottom of the fan ring (the ring that protects the prop) was broken as were the three lower supports that connect it to the rest of the airframe. The whole rear of the PPC was resting on one prop blade.

Ugh.

It was a struggle but I go the PPC off the trailer, loaded it back up and properly lashed it all down. I was so angry with myself I couldn’t go into work. I got home and started assessing the damage.

The good news is that repair parts have been ordered. The prop is being repaired and is on it’s way back to me. So within a couple of weeks we should have the Pink Panther back in the air. And we learned a valuable lesson about securing loads on the trailer. Don’t ever move it unless all three wheels of the PPC are tied down!