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912ry

Active Member
Today my RV-7, 912ry. Was tied down on the ramp in Provo Utah, an F18 taxied out and blew my plane up on the left wing tip. Broke off both tie down rings and scraped up the left wing tip. I need an a&p to look it over before I fly it home. Anyone know of an rv knowledgable a&p near PVU? Thanks in advance
 
Today my RV-7, 912ry. Was tied down on the ramp in Provo Utah, an F18 taxied out and blew my plane up on the left wing tip. Broke off both tie down rings and scraped up the left wing tip. I need an a&p to look it over before I fly it home. Anyone know of an rv knowledgable a&p near PVU? Thanks in advance

Make sure you document what happened and get as much info as you can about the F-18 including tail numbers and squadron. I think the feds should cover any damage you have. You might even hit them up for loss of value due to the damage history. The F-18 actually has fairly small jet blast if you don't choke the nozzles. He should not have had the nozzles closed down if pointing at any light aircraft. You might also find out if they were notified that they damaged a aircraft and if they left without at least discussing the event with airport operations and leaving you some information.

George
 
There were several witnesses to the event, not me though. Contact information was taken and that's in progress. What I need now is an a&p that can let me know if there is any damage that makes it unsafe to fly. I took lots of photos.
 
Good Grief Robert!! Sorry I'm no help; but just want to express I feel for you having to go through such a bad experience. I hope it works out well for you.
 
Thanks. I figure I need to look at the aft spar attach point, engine/gear mount weld cluster and tires. Any other suggestions?
 
Pilots coming from a purely military background may have very little knowledge of their liability in such cases, if it exists at all. It's a very grey area from their point of view I'd guess. I parked my T-38 in a row of GA aircraft at RNO sometime in 1984 while on a Cross Country because that's where the FBO told me to park, and in the military you park where you're told to park. When the time came to leave, I was VERY aware that my exhausts were pointed directly to the line of Cherokees and Cessna's behind me. I asked to be towed out before starting, pointing out the fiberglass bits of the planes behind me to the line guys. They told me they had insurance and it would be fine. Being military, we complied with the local authorities, started up and taxied out as gently as we could and departed.

Totally sucks that you took the brunt of this situation, and I'd bet the military guys would feel terrible if they knew, however chasing them or their unit down to pursue damages may not get you much. Probably should, but sadly I'm doubtful.

Best of luck,
Clay Cook
 
Please keep us all posted on what you find and how this shakes out for you!

Yes, very sorry to hear. But please let us know what comes of the situation for other's future reference. As for relief, I'm not a big lawyer-up kind of guy, but the FBO has some responsibility here IMO.
 
You said it broke both the tiedowns - you should verify that the spar structure is intact at the tiedown locations, you'll want to make sure that only the tiedown ring itself was affected and not the spar.
 
Pilots coming from a purely military background may have very little knowledge of their liability in such cases, if it exists at all. It's a very grey area from their point of view I'd guess. I parked my T-38 in a row of GA aircraft at RNO sometime in 1984 while on a Cross Country because that's where the FBO told me to park, and in the military you park where you're told to park. When the time came to leave, I was VERY aware that my exhausts were pointed directly to the line of Cherokees and Cessna's behind me. I asked to be towed out before starting, pointing out the fiberglass bits of the planes behind me to the line guys. They told me they had insurance and it would be fine. Being military, we complied with the local authorities, started up and taxied out as gently as we could and departed.

Totally sucks that you took the brunt of this situation, and I'd bet the military guys would feel terrible if they knew, however chasing them or their unit down to pursue damages may not get you much. Probably should, but sadly I'm doubtful.

Best of luck,
Clay Cook


In 2005, I was preparing for a looong x-country in my C-152 from Colorado to California over the Christmas holiday. Parked in front of my 152 was a couple T-37's (the tweet). At first I was really annoyed that they proceeded to fire up the engines and blast my 152 for 20 minutes from only 15 feet away. Afterwards, I was actually thankful for the free pre-heat. It was well below freezing that morning but the engine fired on the first swing of the prop and oil temp came right up; toasty warm in the cabin too.
 
dont for get to inform your insurance, if you have it. Never know what damage or cost may be under those skins. you don't necessarily have to file a claim
 
Totally sucks that you took the brunt of this situation, and I'd bet the military guys would feel terrible if they knew, however chasing them or their unit down to pursue damages may not get you much. Probably should, but sadly I'm doubtful.

Best of luck,
Clay Cook

I think you should definitely pursue it. As a Marine Corps Aviation Supply Officer I'm the guy who coordinates payments to civilian FBOs for the services our aircraft use, and for any damage they cause. While I'm not the guy who would decide to make the payment (that would happen higher up the chain), I have processed payments in the past for equipment and facilities we've borrowed and then damaged while performing maintenance. I'm also aware of several cases where an aircraft making an emergency landing on private property has caused damages to the property and we've paid for the repairs. My point is that while I've not heard of a case where we damaged a civilian aircraft, the Navy and Marine Corps generally try to be good stewards to the civilian community and if one of our aircraft damaged yours, then my bet is that if you pursue it they'll try to make it right.

That said, my post here is my opinion only and in no way represents the official position of the Marine Corps.

PJ Seipel
RV-10 #40032
 
AOPA Pilot May 2013

This scenario was the subject of an article in AOPA Pilot May 2013, page 24. "This case seems to say that whatever damage an aircraft sustains, however slight, effectively grounds the aircraft until it is professionally inspected."

The pilot flew the aircraft without an inspection and was cited for violations of FAR 91.7(a) and FAR 91.13(a) and (b).

Be very careful.
Jim
 
I agree there must be an inspection but the term "professionally inspected" is confusing. I contend that if I am the builder and have the repairman's certificate I can do the inspection. It might be smarter to have someone else do the inspection because "legal and prudent are not the same thing", but depending on the individual event I might do it if I felt it was within my capabilities. What do the scholars here say?......
 
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