> Yesterday we were hit by two monsoon storms, one in the morning and the
> second in the late evening. The second of these was very strong and put on
> quite a light show. It generated at least one microburst, and it was
> directly above Chandler Municipal Airport with winds in excess of 50 MPH.
> They are still assessing the damage, but it is known so far that 15-30
> aircraft were damaged or destroyed. Some of them were not simply flipped
> over but instead were lifted up to a good altitude and then dropped. A few
> look like they were cartwheeled across the tarmac and rolled up into a
> ball.
Yikes! I also saw where they had a hanger collapse up at Centennial in
Denver. Rough week.
You could always tell who flew out of FBOs in nicer areas than at my
dad's home airport, because tie-down techniques were a bit sloppy, to
say the least. I don't think that 2/3 of the pilots out there know how
to knot a tie-down rope. If not done properly, you will break an
attach point, the rope or pull the anchor right out of the ground.
Once that happens, that loose aircraft will destroy everything down
wind from it as it flips and blows away.
At our airport, we took the tail-anchor very seriously. Even a
nose-wheel aircraft was usually tied down with the tail almost to the
ground like a tail-dragger. In fact, I remember that we
double-anchored the tail of our 172 even if it was under a canopy.
Prior to winter storms, we would also double anchor the wings to
prevent it from weather-vaning. Maybe a little overkill, but with the
sandy soil, we needed to as anchors would pull out. The guys with
T-hangers also tied down their aircraft because if a door blew open,
the plane would start moving.
> One of the heavily damaged aircraft appears to be a Piper Tri-Pacer
> (red with white trim), and it's presently lying on it's back.
Ugh. That was one of the aircraft that flipped over at our airport
too. But six months later it was flying again. Pretty repairable. What
you can't fix with a welder, you can with a furniture finishing tools
and a sewing kit.
AG
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