Ouch!

I headed out from work a little early in order to log some time. I took-off from rwy 34 at about 5:00 PM and headed north to practice and just enjoy the sky. I flew up to Firstair Field in Monroe, WA, but didn't land since I couldn't see a windsock and wasn't sure of the wind direction or strength on the field. I then headed back for an uneventful landing at S50.

Unfortunately a great flight was eclipsed by an unfortunate accident while putting the airplane in the hangar. While backing the plane in, the right elevator bumped into one of the support posts in the hangar. ARGH! I inspected the damage and there was a crack in the plastic end-cap of the elevator, and a slight bend in the corner. Fortunately I was pushing the plane in slowly, so the damage was minimal. Unfortunately this looked like something that has happened a few times before, as both elevators showed signs of previous hangar rash, and the posts on each side of the hangar had numerous scuff marks from previous altercations with airplane elevators.

I wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation, so I gave my flight instructor a call. He gave me the number of the maintenance officer, and I called him. Just as I was explaining to him what happened, another club member, who was taking the airplane out after me, arrived. He spoke with the maintenance officer and they decided that the damage was pretty minimal and nothing that some aluminum tape couldn't take care of temporarily. After a quick patch he was off and I went home. I feel doubly stupid for this since just yesterday my instructor warned me about being extra careful when putting the plane away, as the posts do not provide much clearance on either side of the tail. Doh! It wasn't until after the fact that I noticed some white markings on the tarmac in front of the hangar that are there to help line the bird up properly. This was definitely *NOT* how I wanted to end my first solo flight in a club plane! Grr...

The other pilot mentioned that typically what the club does is, at the end of the year, note whomever was responsible for any hangar rash and split the repair costs among them. It's a fair system and hopefully for the plane's sake I'm the only one who has to pay out at the end of the year!

Flight time: 1.3 hrs

Stupid mistakes this flight: 1