Would this plane have flown?

I'm not sure about the Mexican rules or even Customs duties
on bringing the repaired airplane back. But a visit to the
FSDO by the A&P before he came to Mexico, with the proper
details would have resulted in a quick issuance of a Special
Airworthiness Certificate [ferry permit] and the A&P would
make such repairs as needed before signing the logbook and
the certificate to make the flight legal. You would also
want to contact your insurance company because most aircraft
insurance policies are restricted to "when a valid standard
airworthiness certificate" is on the airplane. A ferry
permit is not a standard airworthiness certificate and your
insurance is not in force. That would be a violation of
Mexican law.
Also, not informing your insurance company makes it
difficult or impossible to recover damages from the truck
driver.

Since the airplane was US registered and the work was done
by a US A&P, the FAA would have issued the permit within a
hour. But Mexican labor law might have also required that
you hire a Mexican mechanic to supervise.

I hope you flew it back solo and sent the family by airline
or bus.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
ups.com...
| A ferry permit could be issued for such a
| condition and an inspection for range of motion,
security,
| etc signed of by an A mechanic and of course it would be
| finally up to the pilot whether to fly. I would not
want to
| fly it IFR, most ferry permits only allow Day/VFR.
|
| One of the reasons I didn't want to try for the permit is
because I
| just don't know what the procedure would have been, but I
expect it
| would have taken months. The initial inspection would have
had to have
| been done by an A&E and then approved by Mexico City.
However, then
| comes the custom's duties, etc. Finally, I'd need an A&P
to look at it
| before I entered the U.S. (or right after entering, I
don't recall).
| So I kept very, very quiet about it. I didn't tell the
Mexicans about
| it and didn't mention anything to U.S. customs.I believe
that
| technically both the A&P and I could have both been
arrested since I
| believe it is totally illegal for an A&P to do any major
repair without
| an A&E present.
|
| I guess I got lucky that the guy who hit me had a sat
phone on him.
| Otherwise I would have been faced with the decision.
Either fly it out
| of there as-is or abandon the plane there.
|

You would also want to contact your insurance company because most aircraft
insurance policies are restricted to "when a valid standard
airworthiness certificate" is on the airplane.

The insurance co's attitude was "spend what you have to, do what ever
you have to" to get the plane out of Mexico. If a pilot leaves a plane
in Mexico it can take months to get it back. The Mexican gov't has a
real hard time with pilots exiting that are not the pilot who flew the
plane in. Also, they know there is money in fixing airplanes and they
want to make real sure they get a piece of that. Everything in Mexico
requires lots of paperwork and every paper needs lots and lots of
stamps

-Robert

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
http://www.thegaryhouse.com/aircraftdamage/

I was down in a remote area of Mexico this last weekend and a truck
backed into my aileron. I was lucky that the driver had a sat phone and
I was able to call an A&P to come down to Mexico and swap it for me.
However, all the local pilots, and the A&P who came down seemed to
think it would have flown ok as was. From a simply academic point of
view I"m curious what you guys think.

-Robert



I think it would have done OK!

"NW_PILOT" wrote

I think it would have done OK!

Yeah, I really trust your judgment.
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"NW_PILOT" wrote

I think it would have done OK!

Yeah, I really trust your judgment.
--
Jim in NC

A lot of people have trusted my judgment all the airplanes I have delivered
have all made their destination.



Steven L. Rhine
CP ASEL & AMEL Instrument Airplane
CFI (Student)

"Robert M. Gary" wrote:

http://www.thegaryhouse.com/aircraftdamage/

I was down in a remote area of Mexico this last weekend and a truck
backed into my aileron. I was lucky that the driver had a sat phone and
I was able to call an A&P to come down to Mexico and swap it for me.
However, all the local pilots, and the A&P who came down seemed to
think it would have flown ok as was. From a simply academic point of
view I"m curious what you guys think.

Most likely it would have flown fine--perhaps a bit out of trim.

The question one has to ask oneself in such situations is "do I really want
to be a test pilot?"

It is not impossible that the deformed control surface would have fluttered,
with possibly disastrous results.

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

"Dan Luke" wrote in message

Most likely it would have flown fine--perhaps a bit out of trim.

It is not impossible that the deformed control surface would have
fluttered, with possibly disastrous results.


That would have been my take -- a little right wing down, and some
fluttering. Dudley made the right call, though. What you can't see is any
potential damage to the attach point.

What you can't see is any potential damage to the attach point.

Is there actually an "attach point" in the normal sense? I've never
taken one of these apart but my undetstanding is that its a one piece
solid wing and the body of the plane rests on top of the wing. I've
seen the wings removed and they are one solid piece (not two wings like
a Cessna).

-Robert

Bob;
I think John is referring to the outer attach point for the aileron, not the
wing attach points, at least this was the attach point I was referencing.
Dudley

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
What you can't see is any potential damage to the attach point.

Is there actually an "attach point" in the normal sense? I've never
taken one of these apart but my undetstanding is that its a one piece
solid wing and the body of the plane rests on top of the wing. I've
seen the wings removed and they are one solid piece (not two wings like
a Cessna).

-Robert

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
[...]
However, all the local pilots, and the A&P who came down seemed to
think it would have flown ok as was. From a simply academic point of
view I"m curious what you guys think.

Playing the odds, sure...pretty good chance it would've flown, and probably
with very little noticeable effect. But there's no way to know for sure,
short of a test flight. It could've been quite bad.

Also, while it's not clear the A&P who came to fix it bothered to check, I
would always be concerned at hidden damage. A relatively small force at the
wingtip can exert a much higher force closer to the fuselage, and of course
even out there at the wingtip who knows how the force of the impact was
transmitted through the airframe. I would be less concerned about the
damage to the aileron (which appears to be mostly cosmetic), and more about
potential damage elsewhere.

The classic rule applies: "when in doubt..."

Pete