Airplanes was Re: [AT] an Iowa snowstorm

[Ronald L. Cook]

The only "story" is that I screwed up!  It was kind of a silly REC wire 
arrangement cutting across the corner of one field and going to the 
other side of the road.  I was finishing the field.  Going to do a 
headland pass.  Apparently caught that angling wire with the landing 
gear.  Just the top wire of the two.  That does absolutely nothing to a 
6000 lb. aircraft traveling at 130 mph.  However, the parted wire must 
have whipped around part of the tail damaging it.  The airplane did some 
unusual pitch changes.  Full travel on the controls from up to down 
about 3 times overpowering me and then settled down to level flight.  I 
figured, well, I guess I must have hit something and I better go back to 
the airport and see what needs fixing.  And in the meantime I better 
hang on to this damned thing.  I went about 1/8 of a mile and it pitched 
down abruptly at about 45 degrees and smacked into the soybean field. 
HARD!  The wreckage is laying in the torn up soybeans.  It didn't slide 
anywhere.  Just kind of ran over itself.  Some part of the tail had to 
have failed.  Nobody investigated.  I never saw the wreckage after I 
left the scene.  Just those pictures that someone took.  The FAA says I 
hit a pole and crashed.  There was a broken pole, but that would have 
happened from the wire snapping.  I would have heard me hitting a pole. 
  No need discussing what I think of the FAA.  They suspended my license 
for 30 days in the interest of safety.
	Yes I was maybe lucky to survive.  The airplane did exactly as it was 
designed to protect the pilot.  The safety harness was up to date and in 
good shape and I was wearing a custom fitted Kevlar crash helmet.  There 
was no fire.  I crawled out of it, although I don't remember how.  I 
couldn't walk, as my right leg and foot were broken, and crawling on my 
hands and knees wasn't going too good either as my sternum was also 
broken.  I was glad to see help arrive.  I was in the hospital for 5 
weeks and have been recovering ever since.  I finally was able to walk a 
little with the aid of a cane by the end of December.  I am getting 
better every day.  Kind of limpy gimpy, though.  The cane is hung up 
now.  I lost the whole darned winter of tractor fixin'.<g>  Better times 
is a comin'.

Ron Cook
Salix, IA

Robert Brooks wrote:
> Ron;
> 
> There has to be a story behind those pictures.  It's amazing you lived 
> thru the crash.
> 
> Bob