Friday, January 4, 2008
WEATHER
Visibility: At times, non-existent.
Wind: Probably up towards 70 mph.
Altitudes: Upwards of 50 feet
Time
Aloft: Probably less than a minute.
Max
Lift: Who knows?
Temperature: 50 deg
Comment: Fierce storm damages our equipment.
LOWLIGHTS:
'The following narrative was provided by Joe Anastasio who was one of the team
of members to assist after the storm. Other team members included Mario Crosina,
Peter and Jacob Mersino, Paul Hanson, Loyal Savaria, and Roy Norman.
1. The Blue Whale is a total loss. We moved it
from across highway 33 to the former shelter framework area. The instrument
panel is in the clubhouse, along with the horizontal stab. One wing was
curled, the other was missing some sections. The struts are tweaked. The
fuselage is bent and broken from nose to tail. I will need to remove the
interior so we can use it in the other 2-33. Also of salvage value will be
the seatbelts, tail wheel, vario, ASI, tow hook parts, and other interior
trim. We need to be sure that we salvage anything we can prior to taking
it to the dump.
2. Paul's Sisu is a write-off. It ended up on its
back, north of Loyal's enclosed hangar, about 500 feet from where it was
parked. One wing is broken, the cockpit is smashed.
3. The newly constructed shelter frame is badly
damaged. If we had the roof on it, it probably would have ended up in
downtown Avenal.
4. The patio has a large central open skylight.
It will need to be re-roofed. One of the frame members broke free so we will
need weld repair too.
5. The clubhouse and shed are ok.
6. The south hanger doors are caved in and bent.
The hangar is not secure anymore as several panels were ripped off the doors.
We removed the compressor, mower and contest supplies to the shed. The doors
will need to be repaired and siding and roof need to be fixed. The interior
is quite a mess.
7. All of the remaining aircraft had lost their
aileron locks. Please perform a careful inspection of the ailerons and their
controls prior to flying any club ship!!!!!!!!! All locks were replaced.
8. The Blanik appears to be ok, The rudder lock
was broken on one side. In addition to verifying aileron function prior to
flight please be sure the check the rudder controls! The push rods could have
been damaged. Loyal added extra rope to keep it tied down during the storm.
9. The 1-26 was found by Loyal and Dave to be
"flying in place". They added rope to hold the nose down. We have upgraded
the tiedowns and put a piece of concrete under each wheel. We also
added a chain to hold the tail down. Rope breaks.
10. The glider
controls need to be checked prior to flight.
Mario, Paul and I straightened out the trailers
(none appeared damaged!). We also relocated the 1-35 to the old
tie down for the whale and secured it with chains and with Paul's tie
downs. It is amazing that it did not join the Sisu is cavorting across the
runway. Mario and Paul were adding extra tie downs to the other planes when I
left. We got the Sisu into its trailer, too.
My pet theory as to how the whale came loose is
that it was probably hopping up and down for some time. The wheel excavated a
deep pit in the soil. As the wheel dug a hole the glider motion would have
become more severe. Eventually one of the carabineers let go. The other one
straightened out completely. The rope on the tail broke.
Loyal's mobile home is ok, but both verandas were
ripped off by the wind. His small trailer was pushed partly over but he got
it vertical. Dave had fence damage, but no roof damage. There were lots of
damaged steel roofs and west facing fences and walls in town.
Joe
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