Jabiru down at Manilla NSW

[Jaba-who]

http://myinforms.com/.../35681077-light-aircraft-hits.../

 

Just read this on Aust Pilots Lounge on Facebook

 

Sounds like pilot ok. Hit power lines on approach.

 

 

[cooperplace]

great news that the pilot's ok, not the first time a jab has hit powerlines and the pilot survived.

 

 

[Jabiru7252]

Can't access it as I don't do Facebook. Never will.

 

 

[kasper]

OK - here is the link without the facebook pass through:

 

LIGHT AIRCRAFT HITS POWERLINES NEAR MANILLA - NBN News

 

 

[Jabiru7252]

Thankyou for that. Coming out with only an ankle injury is pretty good!

 

 

[Oscar]

Very good photo of the damage here: Ultralight pilot’s miracle escape near Manilla

 

A pretty good advertisement for very tight seatbelt and tough occupant protection.

 

 

[jetjr]

Sure is, what a big thump, it brought down the powerlines too and theres no bits missing. Seriously tough airframe.

 

A little luck no doubt but good engineering increases luck a lot.

 

Ill bet someone rebuilds it.

 

 

[RKW]

Very good photo of the damage here: Ultralight pilot’s miracle escape near ManillaA pretty good advertisement for very tight seatbelt and tough occupant protection.

The seatbelt anchor points are in the right place too. Not so for some aircraft.

 

 

[Guest SrPilot]

Sure is, what a big thump, it brought down the powerlines too and theres no bits missing. Seriously tough airframe. A little luck no doubt but good engineering increases luck a lot. Ill bet someone rebuilds it.

I agree. A top-flop from above and the pilot has basically just an ankle injury? That's one tough airframe.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

good thing he hit that wire, it broke his fall and saved him

 

 

[kasper]

good thing he hit that wire, it broke his fall and saved him

Of to those without any Jabiru negativity ... the AIRFRAME saved him

 

 

[turboplanner]

Doesn't take much to start the parrots off. A good engineer could analyse the energy in this flop to the ground from an almost optimum strike point.

 

The airframe, being laminated FRP will always look like a golf ball after it's been hit, and looks like it has absorbed the sudden impact by flexing; some people on here will know that without that, the seat belt itself would have caused injuries.

 

So yes, a great ad for the Jab fuse on the one, but the next person could hit the wire at windscreen level and have his head cut off, so the real take away message is not to fly at the level of power lines, and if you have them in the approach and departure areas, or over your airstrip, Human Factors is likely to kick in at some point and spoil your day.

 

 

[facthunter]

Power lines like many other things only hit you in self defence. If you take the whole plane as a package it's not one of the more dangerous. It seems to survive a prang better than most, and it's probably the easiest airframe to maintain, and cheapest to repair. I don't think there will be a rush to build powerlines for the purpose of saving planes from hitting the ground. The good move would be to make them more visible or away from areas where planes fly when landing. This person is lucky. Nev

 

 

[kasper]

clipped and cheapest to repair. ..

On this occasion I am sure it will take a bit more than a cut n polish to buff out the damage.

I think it fair to expect that the occupant is ok but the airframe is RIP.

 

 

[facthunter]

I am not a betting man but I bet it's repairable. I've seen a lot worse that flew again. Nev

 

 

[kasper]

I am not a betting man but I bet it's repairable. I've seen a lot worse that flew again. Nev

But is it worth repairing? Assuming its insured the insurer is never going to pay the repair bill but will scrap it and pay out the insured value because the percentage of repair to reinstated value is far to high.

And even if it were to be rebuilt other than for own use what is the resale value of the repaired airframe when you list repair history and the prospective buyer reads the repair schedule and/or googles the accident?

 

Even I have to accept that repairable vs. beyond economic repair has a part in the decisions where the airframe is not unique or of historic value beyond its economic value

 

 

[Oscar]

I agree. A top-flop from above and the pilot has basically just an ankle injury? That's one tough airframe.

SrPilot - may I draw your attention to the photos referenced in: Small aircraft crashworthiness, post #88?

 

I understand that the site of this particular crash has somewhat of a reputation for wind shear. At the best of times, it's going to be hard for almost any pilot to anticipate exactly where that may affect the approach, so while it's logical to say it was a case of pilot error, I suggest that this one MAY be one of those that has to be put down to bad luck.

 

For this aircraft to hit power lines and be flipped, it has converted an approach speed of around 55-60 kts. into vertical energy almost instantaneously. That's a vertical velocity of (rounded), about 100 ft/sec. I don't have the maths ability, but I THINK that equates to a free-fall from about 200 feet. ( Those who do have the necessary maths. ability, please correct me.) Assume a minimum likely height of the powerline to be 15 feet.

 

The disposition of the bits, indicates almost zero forward velocity on impact. Talk about extreme S(T)OL capability... and, as they say, any landing you can hop away from, is a good one.

 

 

[facthunter]

They are easy to insure because they can be returned to the factory and repaired well. (That used to be the case and I have no reason to believe it's changed) The rules that apply to cars are not directly transferable to the jabiru situation, where small body damage with all airbags used is a write off or extensive damage to a wiring loom or fibre optic particularly writes it off.. Some cars are not economic to repair and you reach that point rather quickly. Perhaps the residual value for wrecking makes the wreck of some value to provide parts to reclaim others. With a rare and valuable vehicle, I NEVER insure where I don't keep the wreck if the vehicle is collectible, because it's in the insurers interest to pay out market or agreed value and then repair it. Nev

 

 

[Oscar]

But is it worth repairing? Assuming its insured the insurer is never going to pay the repair bill but will scrap it and pay out the insured value because the percentage of repair to reinstated value is far to high.And even if it were to be rebuilt other than for own use what is the resale value of the repaired airframe when you list repair history and the prospective buyer reads the repair schedule and/or googles the accident?

 

Even I have to accept that repairable vs. beyond economic repair has a part in the decisions where the airframe is not unique or of historic value beyond its economic value

kasper: to quote Alan Kerr, who has had a great amount of input into the structural justification of Jabirus, 'anything is repairable - but whether it's worth it, is the question.'

 

As someone who has spent several years repairing a written-off (overturned) Jabiru, I think I have a bit of insight into this question.

 

Jabs. have a low-tech composite structure; you do not need laboratory-grade inspection techniques to determine whether the structure has suffered damage, as with aircraft with a carbon-fibre structure. Standard, ambient-temperature cure repair techniques ( e.g. a 12:1 scarf ratio for joining skins), is a completely acceptable repair.

 

The fin replacement is a simple task: the old fin is removed from the tail-cone using a heat-gun. I would put the condition of the wing-attachment cross members, the 'A-pillars' and the lift-strut attachment points as the critical elements, along with the amount of damage to the ply firewall substrate. I'd toss the wings; the old solid-foam ones are completely repairable unless the spar is damaged, but the later ones with fuel tanks, are a more sophisticated structure.

 

Probably, line-ball as an insurance risk. I'll bet London to a Brick it'll be written-off, but that's not the same as saying it'll never fly again!

 

 

[skeptic36]

For this aircraft to hit power lines and be flipped, it has converted an approach speed of around 55-60 kts. into vertical energy almost instantaneously. That's a vertical velocity of (rounded), about 100 ft/sec. I don't have the maths ability, but I THINK that equates to a free-fall from about 200 feet. ( Those who do have the necessary maths. ability, please correct me.) Assume a minimum likely height of the powerline to be 15 feet.

So, you don't think maybe the powerline could have absorbed a percentage of the energy carried in the approach, there was two impacts, one with the cable and one with the ground. To decide what percentage of the energy was dissipated where, is

pure guess work I think.

 

 

[facthunter]

Hypothetically there could be a situation where the wire slowed you up and put you on the ground gently and then snapped so it didn't shoot you back where you came from. If that happened to me I would think god was looking after me. Situationally, I reckon the wire(s) are going to ruin your day. (Which is the case most times) Nev

 

 

[alf jessup]

good thing he hit that wire, it broke his fall and saved him

Well FT

 

I disagree, if he hadn't of hit that wire he wouldn't of had to break a fall

 

I think just a normal landing would have been a better thing for him

 

 

[fly_tornado]

6 to 1, half a dozen to the other

 

 

[storchy neil]

oh just fly back to airstrip you work how this was done after two wires contacted plane neil

 

 

[facthunter]

It's six of one, half a dozen of the other. Marvelous how a word changes everything at times. Nev