It all started when I took advantage of another lovely Saturday in northern Illinois to head out to C77 and fly in the only rentable C-140 I've heard of so far. Didn't get a proper exterior shot, but she's a beauty, with an O-200 but a lighter GTW than an A model due to the fabric wings. We did a textbook preflight and saw no anomalies, and she had flown that morning... the oil dipstick was still warm.
Here's the office- typical Spartan 140 setup, but oddly enough with a VOR, yet no artificial horizon.
My CFI for this fam flight, Bob, owns his own C-120 and has a lot of time in this 140... he didn't go easy on me, and I needed that. We went out and did some maneuvers: slow flight,power-off stalls, steep turns, and some induced secondary stalls- something I haven't done in a while. Two Seven Victor did not disappoint- she's a delight to fly. After we decided to head back for some landings, I asked the CFI to take her for a sec while I took a picture. He suggested he "do something with the airplane" for the pic, and I agreed. He smoothly entered a steep 360, well below the yellow line, and I took this pic.
An instant after, as I lowered the camera, it happened. We heard a loud "bang".
He immediately leveled the wings and said "what the hell was that?!"
I said "how does it feel? whaddya got?"
"Seems OK, but I've got a lot of right rudder here... wants to yaw left..."
We were about 9 miles from the airport at about 2000 AGL. He called a straight-in for 30, but did not say the "E" word. As we went along, we decided we'd hit a bird, and the rudder, although moving freely, was affected somehow. Or maybe it was the vertical stab. Can't see the tail feathers from indside a 140, so it was a guess.
The engine was fine. Bob nursed her down to TPA and headed straight for the field.
By the time we got the runway in sight, I was feeling we would be OK (no wind to speak of), but also knew I would not be flying any approaches in 27V that day, so I took a snap of the airport.
Bob made a good landing, and as we taxiied to the ramp we were both champing at the bit to see what the damage was.
When we got her stopped, a group of airport bums was waiting (someone had seen us land and taxi in)... some staring slack-jawed, some grinning.
Here's why...
Are you ready?
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.sure you're ready? I sure as hell wasn't....
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TA-DAAAA!!!
Yes, my frends, the entire upper panel of the left wing, from the fuel tank to the wingtip; from the spar cap to the rear spar, was just plain gone.
The strip of reinforcing tape at the rear edge of the spar cap had also come free, all the way to the root.
It's a miracle the panel did not just peel back and foul the left aileron, or... (shudder).
It's also a damn good thing Bob immediately started working that rudder for directional control and didn't move the yoke much, or... (double-shudder).
My pained expression here is due more to the sun being in my eyes than my startling education in the "Fate is the Hunter" factor, but I'll tell you what:
Bob and I both agreed afterwards that if we'd known what the problem really was, we'd have not been so calm about it.
Look at that- it's like frikkin' combat damage!!
Even more mysterious than what caused the failure (the fabric is relatively new) is how she managed to get us home, despite Bernoulli, Coanda, and Fate itself.... now I really love 140s!!! :)
... but I'm also more certain I want a 140A with metal wing skins...
,also a testament to the aircraft and your CFI. You said, "darn good thing Bob immediately started working that rudder for directional control and didn't move the yoke much, or... (double-shudder)". Have you given though to what your reactions would have been if you had been on your own?
People Eating Tasty Animals.
