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These are only a few of
the questions we would like answered before responding.
The biggest question is the one that we as towers almost
never ask. Who will be responsible for secondary
damage? This is a huge question. Aircraft
value can range from thousands to millions of dollars.
We do a lot of corporate aircraft recoveries; some of
the smaller ones run around $3 million.
We hauled
an aircraft from Houston whose propeller alone was
$55,000.
We consistently remove engines that cost
over a million dollars.
Airplanes are to be treated very seriously. You
must determine who will be responsible for any damage
done during the recovery. I have people from
around the world call me and I assure you this is the
most overlooked question. I have talked to several
towing companies and have yet to find one with insurance
that will cover aircraft. I have not been able to
find and insurance company that will even cover a tow
truck on the tarmac. We once spent two days in a
hotel trying to get insurance to transport a $4.5
million plane to no avail, no matter how much we were
willing to pay. I am not writing this to scare you, but
rather to educate you on the risks associated with these
recoveries.
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Our team
prepares an aircraft for transport. Notice that we
have covered all windows and intakes and exhaust ports.
We made our own transport jig for this model of
aircraft.
There really is no manual for this procedure.
We document the lift characteristics of each piece.
These notes come in handy on the next job. |
So let's pretend we have our questions answered and we are
going to recover this airplane. From the photos
and story line we have a biplane in the middle of
a fast moving creek. One thing I have learned as a
WreckMaster is to keep the accident from getting any
bigger than it already is. The first thing I saw
was the need to rescue the pilot. I am not trained
in swift water rescue, so I would prefer to leave this
portion to the experts.
As for the recovery of the aircraft, I felt there were
several ways to attack this particular challenge
One option is to hire a helicopter capable of lifting an
aircraft. This sounds easier than it really is.
Very seldom has a helicopter been available when we
needed one. The other problem is finding one with
the necessary lifting capacity. As homework, take
a few moments and see how long it takes you to locate
and hire a helicopter with a 5,000 - pound lifting
capacity. However, if a helicopter is the only way
to go, then one must be found and hired. No matter
the distance to be flown or the cost, get it there to
support the operation. There are a whole host of
problems that can occur from suspending a fixed wing
below a rotary wing such as in a helicopter. If
you choose to use a helicopter, call somebody with
heavy, long line lifting experience to help. For
this task, we will, however, assume that a helicopter is
not an option.
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Click on image to view
cartoon |
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Most of the aircraft, as illustrated, in the Adventures
Of The American Towman cartoon in the June issue and in
this issue, are built of wood or tubular steel frames
covered with fabric and are very easily damaged by loads
other than those for which they were designed.
Most all of the weight is in the engine of these
aircraft and as such, great care must be given to the
rest of the fuselage.
One option that could work is the Terry Humelsine
clothesline technique. He has shared this and many
of his students have performed it with great success.
That involves having a large wrecker on one side
with the boom extended and elevated across from the
casualty. Suspend the wire rope across the river
over the casualty and secure to an anchor. Next, send
another line hooked to a snatch block. Secure the
aircraft and tighten the wire, which should raise the
plane. The line would then winch it up the other
line. This sounds great but based on the drawing
shown here, we could not get a big enough wrecker in and
I did not see a suitable anchor. If this plane
weighed 4,000 pounds, we could easily develop a line
load of 12,000 pounds or even higher. But a
12,000-pound load on the back of a wrecker with all the
brakes locked on a hard-packed asphalt would require the
wrecker to weigh one and a half times that amount at a
minimum to have sufficient anchorability. On loose
gravel, that number may double. The truck would
need at least 3/4-inch wire rope to have the WLL
(working load limit) required for that load. That
would limit us to a heavy wrecker.
Checking the attachment
points
at the base of the wings. |
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ATTACHMENT POINTS
Before attaching anything on the aircraft, you
should consult with either a qualified aviation
technician (with experience with the make and model you
are working) or consult the aircraft manufacturer
itself. Based on the above information, I
believe that this job is coming down to attachment
points
You must decide where to hook to that you
can support the aircraft and the resistance of rushing
water. The only place I would feel comfortable to
grab is the engine, the engine's mounting structure in
the engine compartment, or the substantial structure
that holds the tail section (tail, wheel, vertical, and
horizontal stabilizers) to the rest of the fuselage.
I have found this area to have a lot of structural
integrity.
Since the attachment place is the limiting factor, here
is a possible recovery method.
We will position
our 4X4 wrecker with a curb weight of 15,000 pounds
upstream.
With the four-wheel brake lock we have an anchorability
of 9,990 pounds. The wire rope is a 3/8-inch fc
(fiber core) with a yield strength of 12,200 pounds and
a working load strength of 3,050 pounds.
I propose
that we raise the boom and extend it enough to allow the
wire rope to go over the top of the wing and attach a
K4500 continuous loop strap in a basket around the
engine compartment.
With the tail pointing upriver
and our truck upriver, we will lift the front of the
airplane up. The tail should force down with water
pressure. The plane should come up and pivot
around toward the truck.
I believe the word is
pirouette. Once the plane is facing the tow truck,
we begin winching toward us.
I cannot express
enough the importance of setting up the job so that it's
where you want it when you are finished. In a
situation like this we will not be able to reposition
the truck.
So put it in a position to be where you
want it when the job is done.
The team
separates the fuselage from the wing.
This plane's fuselage was valued at around $2.5
million
There can never be an "OOPS!" during a
lift of this value. |
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So let's go through the WreckMaster S.C.E.N.E.
Survey: Done
Calculate: A 4,000-pound plane.
When we started lift, half the plane came up so we had
half the weight, 2,000 pounds of line load.
The WWL of our wire rope was 3,050 pounds with an
anchorability of 9,900 pounds, so we are OK.
Once
the plane came toward us we had damage resistance, which
is two-thirds, or 66 percent,
of the casualty's weight,
which is 4,000 pounds x .666 = 2,664, so we are still
fine.
Then there is water resistance. With
only the tires under water it should be minor but we
could
two part the line if we felt the effort required
would exceed the WWL of the wire rope.
Explain: Done
No's: Done
Execute: Done
Chuck Ceccarelli has been in the towing business
since 1990. He operates light, medium, and heavy
duty tow trucks as well as air cushions.
Ceccarelli is a leading authority on airplane recovery,
had done recoveries in 10 different states, and was
recently invited to go to New Guinea and Brazil to
perform airplane recoveries. Ceccarelli was the
president of the Idaho Towing and Recovery Professionals
for five years. He was on the State of Idaho T.I.M.
committee.
In 1999, he was voted WreckMaster of
the year and in 2001 became a lead instructor.
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Copyright © 2008 Aircraft Recovery Solutions, INC. All rights
reserved. Revised:
01/18/08.
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