Witness our own 72F, needing only a run-in and re-cowling before her long-awaited return to service -- mix in a little gale force winds (reportedly 25G35), and our little hercules generated enough force on the tiedown cables (not the chains, the 1" thick steel cables to which the chains attach) that the CABLES (both tail and mains) snapped in two!
Poor 72F, so eager to taste flight again, was whipped forward like a bolt from a crossbow, but somehow instead of soaring over the hangars, did a noseplant, a headstand, and a full flip, *while still attached to the (now useless) tiedown chains!*
Luckily nobody was hurt during this acrobatic display, but it is highly unlikely that 72F will ever fly again. And that makes us all sad.
A tough week at FlyC... but please snug those chains tightly, and use *all three* to secure your aircraft... and then realize, even then, there are no guarantees!
Blue Skies, (insane winds)
- Mike
