Plane Flies For Two Hours With [half] Wing Missing (with pic)

The wings don't flex more than a few inches... I should know (see my post name).

This is simply amazing... a well loaded (3 souls on board) C210 with 5-6' of a 40' wingspan missing I would have thought would go into a definite spiral. That it went for a casual cross country is simply incredible.

21 posted on 08/19/2005 2:48:04 PM PDT by C210N (Today is a gift, that's why it is called the present)

"A true rightwinger."

Well said. With half of his LEFT WING gone...

Would be a nice world if half of the LEFT WING would go...TO CANADA!!!

22 posted on 08/19/2005 2:50:21 PM PDT by EnigmaticAnomaly ("“When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, don't wait until it has struck before you crush it)

Cessnas are amazingly tough little planes.

23 posted on 08/19/2005 2:51:51 PM PDT by TChris ("You tweachewous miscweant!" - Elmer Fudd)

From viewing the picture, I can't imagine how the left aileron could be useable. OTOH, if it was just 1' of wing missing, it would be just the wingtip, which is a seperate piece from the wing, and its absense would not interfere with the aileron.

24 posted on 08/19/2005 2:52:44 PM PDT by C210N (Today is a gift, that's why it is called the present)

"A spokesman for the airport said: "We were amazed it had managed to fly as long as it had, it was in a real state when it came in.

"The pilot was the most shocked of us all as he had not realised the extent of the damage while he was flying."

Just Damn material, this.

25 posted on 08/19/2005 2:53:24 PM PDT by roaddog727 (The marginal propensity to save is 1 minus the marginal propensity to consume.)

To: Dashing Dasher

26 posted on 08/19/2005 2:53:29 PM PDT by null and void (Be vewwy vewwy qwiet, we're hunting wahabbits...)

Reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner when he sees the monster on the wing ripping apart the engine...no one else on the plane can see it...they tell him he's crazy. When everyone gets off the plane and walks away...they pan away and the engine is totally shreadded.

27 posted on 08/19/2005 2:53:29 PM PDT by Cousin Eddie

It's Bushmill's fault.

28 posted on 08/19/2005 2:53:58 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (Lord, I apologize......)

To: alpha-8-25-02

BRINGS MEANING TO THE SAYING "WING AND A PRAYER"

I think a slight adaptation is needed:

BRINGS MEANING TO THE SAYING "HALF-A-WING AND A PRAYER"

29 posted on 08/19/2005 2:54:11 PM PDT by Bob

"Half the wing"??? Shoot, looks like just a minor dent!

Now HERE is a REAL plane...... The McDonnell Douglas F-15!!!

This Israeli F-15 collided with another plane during exercises. Unfortunately, the pilot of the other plane didn't make it.

The F-15 landed safely with NO right wing!!! Used rear stabilizers to land.

I was working at McDonnell Douglas at the time. Alleged story goes that the F-15 pilot set down on the closest military runway which happened to be an F-16 base. Some F-16 pilot approached the plane from the left screaming at the F-15 pilot for being stupid enough to landing his F-15 on their base. As soon as he walked to the other side, his jaw dropped and he asked how he could transfer to fly F-15s.

Don't know if that story is true, but it is a fact that the F-15 pilot landed this plane with absolutely no right wing!

30 posted on 08/19/2005 2:54:22 PM PDT by Dr._Joseph_Warren

Looks much more like one quarter of the wing is missing; not even close to one half.

31 posted on 08/19/2005 2:56:30 PM PDT by connectthedots

To: Paleo Conservative

not to highjack the thread but does anybody know what this is or if it's even real???

32 posted on 08/19/2005 2:57:48 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist ©®)

To: Dr._Joseph_Warren

A chunk here and a chunk there . . .

33 posted on 08/19/2005 2:59:37 PM PDT by dighton

To: Dr._Joseph_Warren

IAF is truly a force to be feared.

34 posted on 08/19/2005 3:02:58 PM PDT by DefiantZERO

a well loaded (3 souls on board) C210 with 5-6' of a 40' wingspan missing...

I had a C210 and it looks to me like it is a foot or so that is missing.

It still has most of the aleron. The fuel tank is in the inner part of the wing. It may have had wing-tip tanks, but that would be rare, and would be added later. It would not be a normal wing tip.

35 posted on 08/19/2005 3:03:21 PM PDT by Dan(9698)

Something isn't right with this ... OK, mistaking a tree-top strike for a bird strike .... um, maybe ... but look at the picture. What jumps out at you? That's right, the wing is ON TOP OF THE PLANE! I would think a tree-top strike would be rather obvious to the occupants of the plane unless a) they were hooded trying some instrument flying or b) they were inverted. Of course there is option c) Guinness before flying, brilliant!

36 posted on 08/19/2005 3:04:59 PM PDT by NonValueAdded ("Freedom of speech makes it much easier to spot the idiots." [Jay Lessig, 2/7/2005])

I'm not a pilot, but I've flown the right-hand seat in a Cessna 152-2, a 170 and a 190 (and had lots of fun doing it, too).

That said, it looks from the picture, that the amount of missing wing stated in the article is just flat wrong. Unless the perspective of the photo is creating an optical illusion, there's no way that wing is missing more than a couple of feet at the tip.

I want to see a shot of the whole craft, with both wings in view for comparison.

37 posted on 08/19/2005 3:07:56 PM PDT by HKMk23 (GoT this sweLl tagline on eBay with changE I found in my soFa. It's a "fixer.")

Bejabbers! Sure now, only a sissy need two wings to fly!

38 posted on 08/19/2005 3:08:16 PM PDT by scouse

Looks like a computer generated picture of a concept aircraft.

39 posted on 08/19/2005 3:09:06 PM PDT by Husker24

The pilot who didn't know 6ft of wing was gone
By A Correspondent

A PILOT flew his five-seater aircraft for two hours before he realised that nearly 6ft of the wing and a fuel tank were missing.
The pilot told investigators that he thought his Cessna 210 had been “struck by a little bird” on take-off from an airport near Shannon last Friday.

In fact a large section of wing and an auxiliary tank had been ripped off. The aircraft, which was setting out on a 961-mile flight to Lisbon, was forced to make an emergency landing at Jersey International Airport two hours and 379 miles later.

Neither the Irish pilot nor three flight engineers on the plane, who were on their way to repair a grounded Boeing 747, had noticed that 5ft 6in of the wing was missing. It was only when the pilot, who works for Pacific Network Air and has not been named, noticed that the fuel gauge for the missing tank was on empty that the damage was spotted. The fuel tank was found on the ground back in Ireland.

A spokesman for the Jersey airport said: “We were amazed it had managed to fly as long as it had, it was in a real state when it came in.

“The pilot was the most shocked of us all as he had not realised the extent of the damage while he was flying. It could have ended up being more serious than it was. They were very lucky.”

Peter Hearne, an aviation crash expert, said: “Losing that amount of wing you should wonder why you are having to compensate with the controls. It is quite something and you would have thought that the pilot would have noticed sooner rather than later.”

The Irish Air Accident Investigations Unit is looking at whether the pilot “misjudged” the runway and took off too low. A spokesman said: “After the pilot heard a bang he thought he had been hit by a bird, but he decided to proceed.Usually, if an aircraft is hit by anything, a pilot will decide to land immediately.”

He added: “It is a possibility that he misjudged the take-off, causing him to collide with trees.”

Pacific Network Air were unavailable for comment.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1741385,00.html

40 posted on 08/19/2005 3:09:18 PM PDT by glock rocks (Let's light this candle.)

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