Posted on 10/09/2011 12:52:02 AM PDT by Borough Park
A 65-year-old man flying from California to Hawaii was forced to ditch his plane in the Pacific Ocean on Friday night 13 miles off the coast of Hilo after running out of gas, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The man was flying for delivery a Cessna 310 twin-engine aircraft from Monterey, California, to Hilo when he radioed federal aviation authorities that he was 500 miles out and low on fuel, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Angela Henderson, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard.
-snip-
Hilo is about 2,300 miles west of Monterey, where the pilot's flight began.
According to the aviation site Airliners.net, Cessna 310 aircraft have a range between 760 to 1955 miles, depending on various factors including cruising altitude, weight, amount of reserve fuel and the specific model.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.cnn.com ...
The wings on a C-310 come off at the fuselage, not outboard of the engines. Lots of work on a multi-engine to pull the wings. Easy on single engine, done all the time to ship them.
I was thinking more of those WWII pictures of twin engine planes on freighters going to Europe. Would have thought the 310 would be the same. So you’re saying that the wing is integral with the engine? No disconnect points/attachment to the engine nacelle?
Yeah, pretty much. Wing is one piece from wing root at fuselage to wing tip. Engines come off, everything else is riveted together. The tip tank, main tank (50 gallons), come off, then just the gear and access panels.
So basically you can’t un-rivet in places to remove part of the wing. So what happens if the wing is damaged from the nacelle outwards to the wing tip? Does the whole wing have to be replaced?
Leading edge, top and bottom skins, supporting ribs are easy to replace. Lots of rivets. If the main spar is damaged, you got problems. Rear spar is easier, but still a job.
Seems like then load in extra range tanks and go for it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.