Speaking from the point of a former FBO operator: Yes, line people do screw up and yes, turn limits do sometimes get exceeded BUT....I know of an incident where a line person working for me exceeded a turn limit and did damage an aircraft. I knew, the lineman knew, and the owner knew it. My insurance company fought it, they eventually paid for the damages but not before a lot of hard feelings hard been incurred. I guess the moral of this story is that generally speaking, folks on the airport are going to try to do right but when other folks get involved things can get ugly.
As for what might be bent, my nickel would be on the control rod that goes to the nose wheel. Just a guess; but its long enough that it could flex and then bend. Its also probably the cheapest thing to fix. Tommy From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 9:23 AM To: robertbartunek Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] Nose wheel shimmy Did the folks at the airport have your authorization to move the plane? Can you make them accountable for damaging your plane? I have always avoided letting anybody move my plane around, just to avoid what you just described. Eliacim > While my Ercoupe was parked at the local airport, it was moved by > airport personnel about 150 yards to a new parking spot. I suspect a > tug was used for the move. When I took off for a short flight I > expeienced a mild nose wheel shimmy just prior to liftoff, and when I > landed, I got a really bad shimmy. > I suspect something got bent when the airplane was moved, either pushed > backwards too fast or a turn that exceeded the nose wheel turn limit. > The airplane is in for an annual now so we are looking for what's > bent. Anybody got any ideas? > Robert Bartunek > AKA "Bart" > >
