Aircraft landed on Wedderburn Roof

[Marty_d]

10 minutes ago, facthunter said:

Wasn't an  F,Luke was it?  Nev

I reckon the skydivers hanging from their seatbelts were calling him f...... Luke.

[facthunter]

They will fly with anyone who gets them Up and the plane down FAST.  Nev

[Red]

Short video of the wreck being retrieved from the roof.

https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/incident.php?record=recQn0hkFgTcgnsKt

 

Looks like lower rear fuselage impacted just behind the cabin into the the top edge of the hanger likely stalled, and then just flopped onto the roof

[BrendAn]

On 14/03/2025 at 6:36 PM, Freizeitpilot said:

Is that a Lightwing ?

I think it is designed by the owner.

Lightening is side by side taildragger.

This one is a tandem nose wheel.

[FlyingVizsla]

Lightwing has a single seat Pocket Rocket that looks slightly similar, but is a taildragger.

 

Given the early number - 2161 - and Provisional Registration - this aircraft has been decades in the making. 

[facthunter]

Disappointing outcome, after what would have been a lot of work.  Nev

[onetrack]

5 hours ago, Red said:

Short video of the wreck being retrieved from the roof.

https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/incident.php?record=recQn0hkFgTcgnsKt

 

Looks like lower rear fuselage impacted just behind the cabin into the the top edge of the hanger likely stalled, and then just flopped onto the roof

I can't see any fuselage hit on the roof of the hangar, so I'd have to disagree with that scenario. What I can see, is two deep wheel grooves in the roof sheeting, the port groove is much deeper than the starboard groove.

What I would say happened, is he came in fairly level longitudinally, but with a slight bank to port - the main wheels grooved the roof sheeting as they ran across it - and the nose wheel then dug in, and penetrated the roof sheeting, bringing the aircraft to a rapid halt.

But the rapid halt was accompanied by a severe rotation anti-clockwise, around the dug-in nose wheel - and this rapid and severe rotation would've snapped the fuselage, as it rotated rapidly. Check out the Cessna landing more gently in the tree!

I rest my case, M'Lud!

 

Edited March 16 by onetrack
clarification....

[BrendAn]

47 minutes ago, FlyingVizsla said:

Lightwing has a single seat Pocket Rocket that looks slightly similar, but is a taildragger.

 

Given the early number - 2161 - and Provisional Registration - this aircraft has been decades in the making. 

Pocket rocket is a single seater. The rear seat is only big enough for. A child or some luggage and as you say it's a taildragger. Pocket rocket is a one piece wing. This one is a 2 piece wing.

[Thruster88]

27 minutes ago, onetrack said:

I can't see any fuselage hit on the roof of the hangar, so I'd have to disagree with that scenario. What I can see, is two deep wheel grooves in the roof sheeting, the port groove is much deeper than the starboard groove.

What I would say happened, is he came in fairly level longitudinally, but with a slight bank to port - the main wheels grooved the roof sheeting as they ran across it - and the nose wheel then dug in, and penetrated the roof sheeting, bringing the aircraft to a rapid halt.

But the rapid halt was accompanied by a severe rotation anti-clockwise, around the dug-in nose wheel - and this rapid and severe rotation would've snapped the fuselage, as it rotated rapidly. Check out the Cessna landing more gently in the tree!

I rest my case, M'Lud!

 

If you look closely Onetrack, there is damage to the edge of the hangar over about 2m. In a nose high (stalled) attitude it would  only require a small hit on the lower rear fuselage to start buckling. Possibly the left gear leg or wheel hit the fuselage. The nose gear is in a relatively small hole in the roof and appears straight less the nose wheel and fork when it was removed. At normal flying speed the aircraft could not stop that quickly without more damage. At normal flying speed the aircraft would be controllable and the hangar could have been avoided is my pilot thinking.

[onetrack]

Thruster88 - I've examined the NSW Fire & Rescue video in detail, on a full screen, and I can't see any damage to the underside of the fuselage, where it has fractured - as one would expect, if the fuselage was the first part of the aircraft to hit the roof.

 

The fuselage fracture is vertical, not horizontal, and this leads me to the conclusion that the damage was caused by severe and rapid rotation around the stuck nose gear - rather than impact with the roof, which one would expect would create a horizontal fracture.