As a
teenager, I spent a lot of time at the Skyco Airport,
doing odd jobs and helping out in any way I could, in
return for rides in an airplane when there was an empty
seat, and some actual flying lessons. One of the things
I did most was clean the privately owned Stinson Reliant
that was based there. One time the plane had been put
away late without being cleaned, so the next day I went
there, got out the cleaning materials, and started to
clean the windshield, which was full of spattered bugs.
There were step plates on the wing struts to stand on
when cleaning the windshield, and on the left wing strut
there was a small wind driven generator with an aluminum
propeller. The generator was very near the step plate.
While I was cleaning the windshield this time, my pants
leg got caught on one blade of the little propeller and
broke it off. The propeller was a soft aluminum casting,
and it broke very easily. I had no choice except to wait
until the pilot came and explain what happened. He
wasn't very happy when I told him, but he accepted the
fact that it was an accident, and after a few days, had
the broken blade welded back on.
Dewey Mann
For larger
pictures click on thumbnails.
|
you can see the wind driven generator to the
right of Dave. |
|
see that one
blade of the prop is missing.
|
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