Merry Christmas

[flyguy]

Re: Merry Christmas

http://picasaweb.google.com/CoronaPilotsAssociation/CoronaAirportFlood122210#

More pix.

Been there, done that. Fremont Airport, Fremont, CA., (San Francisco Bay) circa 1983. Flood gate to bay stuck open and tide came in with heavy rain. Up to 6 feet or so deep as I remember. Diluted salt water.

Oh Crap, just checked the regional radar and next storm is upon us in Central Cal, headed right down the coast to you know where.

DC

[M Towsley]

Re: Merry Christmas

That would have been interesting to see!

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Merry Christmas

I was around for two of the floods back at Piper in Lock Haven then the one when Taylorcraft was there, lots of parts were submerged and then thiose owners tried to resell them..... FAA was not happy.
We saved some ships at a small airport by the Tuscawaras River here in Ohio by putting large truck tire tubes under the ships, inflate them and then letting the ships float up on tie-downs or even two in their own hangars, one was an Ercoupe with no damage at all. the crest was about 3.5 to 4 ft.

[M Towsley]

Re: Merry Christmas

Thanks, Mark.

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Merry Christmas

OMG, that is terrible. Just look at the parking ramp on the dry end...

Mark, where did you pull that photo from, are there more?

TonyL sent the photos.
Here are a few more.
Tony says his hangar is the small gray building at mid field. (Photo #026)

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Merry Christmas

Tony,
Did you get a chance to get your plane up on some tables before the water rose? IF not, a friend of mine had his Nieuport 11 replica survive a flood that covered the roof of the hangar by getting to the plane BEFORE all the water drained away and opening up the fabric where there was water inside. HE split the top wing fabric on the bottom first to let the water and mud out, then the lower wings and fuselage. No structural overload damage. They pulled the planes (there were actually several WW-I replicas in the hangar) out of the hangar SLOWLY and floated them to dry land where they IMMEDIATELY pulled the engines and instruments, started cutting the fabric away and flooded the planes with fresh water. They had a team of people tearing down the engines and anything else they could get off, washing, oiling and dry storing everything.
They got all of the water and mud off and out of everything and according to Dick the worst part was the snakes in the water.
ALL of the planes done this way are still flying with no permanent damage. Those who didn't get to their planes before the water receded had collapsed wings and destroyed struts, bent fuselages and seized up engines. A wing full of water weighs enough to destroy the wing. Start calling now for folks with wet suits and find a small boat.
Lord I hope you had your plane high enough to be safe.
Good luck and keep us up on what happens. If you wade in contaminated water, get the shots! You can't rebuild her if you are sick.
Hank

[TonyL]

Re: Merry Christmas

Marty -the west side of the runway is submerged approximately 10 to 12 ft. My hangar is in the middle of the runway. that was submerged over 4ft. yesterday and today, my hangar is submerged 3 ft. I believe picasa web.google.com/CoronaAirportPilotsAssociation has many pictures. Most airplanes are in city streets, park and Industrial parking lots.

Sounds great about that airport, NE Ohio. May have to shovel some snow and cut the Ice after that blizzard. When I fly from west to east, one of the beauty sites is the way the terrain turns green from texas East to the coast.
TonyL

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Merry Christmas

Tony sent me about five of them.... over at airport may post this afternoon. There are many horror stories coming in from all over US.
I too have been thinking about moving to Winter Haven , get up , get in golf cart ; drive to front porch ; bs, go fly, instruct a wee bit, swim , keep tan lines in bounds, eat some dead animal carcass , go fishing, eat some fish, drink some beer , go home, next day repeat at Brown's Seaplane Base
Any body want at airport in NE Ohio?? OR part of one?

[M Towsley]

Re: Merry Christmas

OMG, that is terrible. Just look at the parking ramp on the dry end...

Mark, where did you pull that photo from, are there more?

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Merry Christmas

I too ahve been busy with snow stuff ; NOTHING like some people had to endure, yes Tony L sent me pctures of the airport, what a shame....how high did it get in the hangars.

Forrest,
I'm not there as an eye witness, but it looks like about 5 feet deep at mid-field and 10 feet deep at the west end. Amazing photos. Does anyone have a Taylorcraft Bilge Pump? TonyL needs it.

[crispy critter]

Re: Merry Christmas

Are we sure NASA hasn't been managing Taylorcraft every time it comes back?
Hank

Impossible....NASA is still in business.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Merry Christmas

Are we sure NASA hasn't been managing Taylorcraft every time it comes back?
Hank

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Merry Christmas

The Saturn and the F-1 engines were great for their day, but extremely expensive. The throw away derivative of the Space Shuttle Main Engine is incredible. VERY low cost per flight and should be very reliable.
The root problem is we throw away all of the lessons learned and start over with the retirement of each new system. We didn't keep any of the industrial facilities or experience when we built Shuttle. We may as well have started from scratch. That wasting of corporate knowledge and industrial capacity is one of the reasons Shuttle was SO EXPENSIVE to operate. It did things nothing else could, but it never met its economy goals.
And we are setting ourselves up to do it all again! It looks like up to 80% of Kennedy Space Facility staff will be laid off because we can't keep them till the next launch system gets here. All because we wasted so much time deciding what to build next. What did they finally choose? It looks like the basic system they decided should follow Shuttle when Shuttle was first deployed. Congress decided they could design the replacement system better than the rocket scientists (after all, THEY knew which districts the components should be built in!)

Hank

This should really be in the humor and rants section!

[flyguy]

Re: Merry Christmas

Yeah, made me ill when they threw away the Saturn booster. Best boost rocket ever built anywhere IMO.
DC

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Merry Christmas

Tennessee and Texas could be tempting. Wonder where the Taylorcraft factory will finally land. Maybe I could get a job there. NASA sure isn't doing anything. The budget extension REQUIRES them to spend the funds on last years programs at the rate they did last year and they are not allowed to spend on anything new. They have to fund Ares 1, which is canceled, and CAN'T fund the new launch system, which is our last chance to have our own launcher to ISS and beyond. If we don't get a Shuttle derived launch system before the shuttle infrastructure is gone we have to start from scratch.
INCREDIBLE WASTE. Don't you just LOVE lame duck sessions.
And we thought Taylorcraft was badly managed! Congress, the opposite of progress.
Hank