With Wings As Eagles: Craig P. Steffen's Blog

My day

2013 November 02 08:34

I flew to Missouri yesterday. In landing, we caught a gust which was much stronger than I'd realized. I was able to plant all three wheels on the pavement but ended up going off the runway at a bad angle and ended up with the plan stuck in soft (recently water-saturated) soil.

The passengers (my wife and I) were both fine. The only damage the airplane took was a chunk out of the tip of one of the propellor blades. Unfortunately that means a new prop, engine tear-down to check the crankshaft for damage. All of which is expensive but paid for by insurance. However, it's a huge logistical hassle and a black mark on my insurance record.



You can see our tracks in the grass leading away from the runway. The arrow points to the runway light that I suspect we hit with the prop.

Here's the end of the propellor blade.

And a close-up of the notch:

Here's the stuck nose gear. You can also see the tip of the other prop blade (which is undamaged as far as I can tell).

An uncomfortable day during parts of it. However, everyone survived, which is the important thing. Everything else can be repaired.