M-7 crashes into hangar

flyer · Post by **flyer** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:53 pm

It appears that another Maule has been seriously injured. I believe it was in Georgia. The Maule seems to have had an issue with a hangar. I do not think there were any serious injuries except for the plane.

Does anyone have any more info on this and the pilot?

flyer

Post by **Christine** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:50 pm

so sad.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/15267963/detail.html

RobBurson · Post by **RobBurson** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 3:25 pm

There goes the insurance again.

210TC · Post by **210TC** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 6:03 pm

It looks like that Maule had an attraction for the hanger.
Think about it this way............The guy walked away, the Maule is on top of things and VERY FEW PEOPLE GET KILLED IN MAULES. With this you should be happy

210TC · Post by **210TC** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 6:04 pm

I know, there is always a smart a-- me me me
The hanger F---ed with the Maule and the Maule won. Anybody write music?
Forgive me, I had a couple of Margarita's tonight. Who is on TOP????

Lowflybye · Post by **Lowflybye** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 6:33 pm

RobBurson wrote:There goes the insurance again.

That was the first thing that I tried to check...is it one of mine?

I could not find an N# to look it up, but I have not received a call so I assume the answer is no.

The good news is that they walked away...with no real injuries it should not really effect us too much with regard to insurance rates. They will total the aircraft for sure and not knowing the year of manufacture that would mean anywhere from $70,000 - $140,000 plus the cost to fix the hangar and some medical bills. I would guess this loss will run between $150,000 - $250,000 for the insurance company...could have been much worse.

Lowflybye · Post by **Lowflybye** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 6:35 pm

210TC wrote:I know, there is always a smart a-- me me me
The hanger F---ed with the Maule and the Maule won. Anybody write music?
Forgive me, I had a couple of Margarita's tonight. Who is on TOP????

You have been taking shots from the old compass again haven't you?

Ernie · Post by **Ernie** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 5:54 am

Don't know any of the details of the crash, but local winds that day were 25 MPH with gusts to 35. Sad end to a nice AC.

Roy · Post by **Roy** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:22 am

I'm like Ernie I don't know the details of the crash. However I do know it was
windy here in North Georgia Sunday. And I have never landed at Mathis but I also understand it can be a challenge with trees and other obstacles to deal with. My niece called me Sunday and joking asked if I was going to fly. I laughed and said NOT ME. Too much wind for my cub or my Maule. I just spent the afternoon cleaning my shop and then went for a short visit with my Mother-in-law. It's amazing what you can find to do when you can't go flying.
Another windy day in Georgia today.
Roy

AK Mauler · Post by **AK Mauler** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:51 pm

Not to second guess what happend but one lesson is if you are not tracking the centerline on short final go around. This is clearly stating the obvious, but if you have this wired into your landing procedure, the second you feel the gust blowing you off course you initiate the go-around or possibly find a less windy spot. My guess is this pilot took a big gust of wind and had no time to react, very unfortunate.

iceman · Post by **iceman** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 1:28 pm

Arean't Maules supposed to only take off from inside the hangar not land in them??????

Skystrider · Post by **Skystrider** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:04 pm

Arean't Maules supposed to only take off from inside the hangar not land in them??????

Taking off from inside is easy. But, as you can see, landing in them is difficult!

rundown jack · Post by **rundown jack** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:53 pm

Yep, that was me, and first of all I do apologize to all of you for any impact this might have on your insurance rates.

I thought I might be able to answer some questions about the accident, and maybe help someone avoid this kind of thing in the future.

The plane was based at Mathis and I had been flying out of there for almost two years. It's about 1800x35 and the hangars and clubhouse are about 35' from each side of the runway. Huge by the standards of many Maule drivers I guess, but still not a lot of open space if you get blown off the runway.

I was returning from an airport in N. Georgia, Gilmer County, which is only 15 or 20 minutes away. The weather report looked like it should have been worse in Gilmer than Mathis so I decided to go if it looked all right when I got to Gilmer. It was breezy but not bad so off I went.

On the way it was turbulent with some shear, but not really that worrisome. On final I had plenty of rudder to track the center line and stay aligned longitudinally, so I wasn't concerned. I was ready for a go-around, and I adopt Jeremy's technique of not trimming off the forces so there is one less thing to do after power is applied.

I made a wing low touchdown and then almost immediately I must have encountered a shear to a headwind since I zoomed up at least 25'. I immediately applied full power to go-around, which I now think was the wrong decision, since I was now heading sideways toward the hangars. I never did get lateral control--maybe I also got a tailwind shear I don't know-- but I hit the first hangar with the tail taking off the left horizontal stabilizer. I almost missed the next hangar and if I had I would probably be dead now.

On the good side I got out through the back doors and don't have a scratch. The cabin remained intact even though both wings were mostly destroyed and the landing gear was torn off. The Maule is incredibly tough and I don't think I would have fared as well in an aluminum frame.

Obviously in retrospect I would have been better off not going at all, but once I committed to land I think I should have just allowed it to drift into the hangars rather than try a go-around. I would have bent the plane but I would definitely have survived. As it was I picked up enough speed to kill me, but not enough to get out.

I hope this long post is helpful to some.

Jack Keller

Lowflybye · Post by **Lowflybye** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:15 pm

Thanks for the rundown Jack...it is always good to learn from accidents and even better to learn it from the pilot who survived to tell about it.

Glad you made it out without any serious injury.

RobBurson · Post by **RobBurson** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:50 pm

Jack, first I am glad you are ok. Second, sorry about your Maule, I hope the next one you get is even nicer.

Like I said in an earlier post. There are two kinds of pilots. Those who have bent an airplane, and those who are in line to bend one. Stuff happens.

Regards...Rob

M-7 crashes into hangar

M-7 crashes into hangar

My first post and it's about my crash.

Who is online