I don't know all the details and what I know is second hand, but it appears
a prospective buyer of a Navion lost control of the plane on the ramp and
caused some serious damage. This happened mid week at Avion Jet Center,
Sanford Airport (SFB), just north of Orlando, FL.

Allegedly, the prospective buyer started the plane and suffered a seat
slide-back with the throttle and prop control pushed all the way in. The
plane accelerated rapidly toward a dual line of privately owned tied-down
planes. The first line planes were facing the Navion and mine was nearly
directly in line. Fortunately (for me) the P-factor turned the Navion a
little to the left and it clipped the right wing of a Cherokee that was tied
down next to mine. The impact helped the Navion lift off the ground a
little and it continued into a trailer and building before stopping. I
guess someone was in the trailer (don't know if this was a camping type or
just a hauling trailer) and they jumped out just in time to avoid being
seriously hurt. After looking at the damage to the Navion it's amazing that
the pilot was reportedly only slightly injured. It's also fortunate that no
fire broke out.

Things could have been much worse. Normally there are fuel trucks parked
next to the Cherokee that was hit. The path of the Navion would have put it
directly into the trucks. The results would not have been good.

If the path had been just a few more feet to the left, the Navion would have
gone into the Avion Jet Center hangar and impacted a Citation III.

If I get a chance tomorrow, I'll take some pictures of the Navion to share
on the net. It's really banged up.

JimC