Airplanes was Re: [AT] an Iowa snowstorm

[charlie hill]

Your tax dollars at work.

Charlie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ronald L. Cook" <rlcook at pionet.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 12:26 AM
Subject: Re: Airplanes was Re: [AT] an Iowa snowstorm


> A friend of mine and fellow crop duster visited with the FAA about my
> accident.  They said it was torn up so bad that no one could say what
> made it crash.  It was obvious that the aircraft had hit a pole and been
> knocked down.  So much chemical smell around that they didn't want to
> get close to it. (I was carrying 260 gal load at the time of the crash)
>   My friend pointed out that the pole was not in the flight path of a
> headland pass and that it wouldn't knock down that airplane anyway.  No
> further comment from the FAA.
>
> There were no passengers involved and I crashed on private property, so
> I guess there was no reason to investigate much.  I would like to know
> what failed.  They don't care.  End of story I guess.
>
> Ron Cook
> Salix, IA
>
> charlie hill wrote:
>
> > I wonder why they didn't investigate.  I guess because you didn't get
> > killed?  A friend of mine screwed up a few years ago.  He had just
bought
> > his first twin engine plane, a Piper PA 60.  He got checked out on it,
> > grabbed two of his buddies and went to play.  Stalled it climbing out on
> > takeoff and screwed it into a pine forest.  Killed all three of them.
> > The FAA tore the whole plane and half of the forest apart on that one.
> > Pilot error.  His wife had to pay the other two wives a bunch of money.
> > Luckily she had it.
> >
> > The accident report link is  below if any one is interested.
> >
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20001208X07088&ntsbno=MIA97FA020&akey=1
> >
> > Charlie
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Ronald L. Cook" <rlcook at pionet.net>
> > To: "Antique tractor email discussion group"
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> > Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 9:00 PM
> > Subject: Re: Airplanes was Re: [AT] an Iowa snowstorm
> >
> >
> >
> >>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
> >>
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> >
> >
> >
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