Airplane Rescue

Part of my job is to find and recover airplanes that have been forgotten or not wanted anymore. I’m usually looking for Piper aircraft since thats what we use as our trainers at the school. Last week I found one, it had been disassembled and sitting for quite a few years, but before that it had barely been flown. It’s kinda like finding a 70’s era muscle car that someone barely drove then sold it to a guy who tore it apart and let it just collect dust in the garage. In other words, a prime find. Heres a couple pics from the ad I found it in.

on trailer cockpit

Overall, very promising and the price was good too! Unfortunately the trailer its sitting on wasnt for sale, so I had to make arrangements for that. A quick call around the Auburn area found a u-haul trailer about half an hour from the airplane, so I could at least do highway speed for half the trip there and back.

Some hours later found me navigating the most twisted warren of roads I have ever seen, and dragging a trailer to boot. My coworker that went with me didnt think the trailer would make some of the curves, but we got there and got it swapped from trailer to trailer. This is what an airplane on a trailer looks like.

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Yup, thats how I brought it back. I did the same for another Tomahawk I found in Chandler, Arizona last year. The rest of the parts were scattered around so we gathered them up and loaded them in the back of the truck. And for those wondering, it’s just like going and getting a project car, all the extra parts are in whatever bin happened to be handy at the time. Take a look.

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Heres a final pic, just before we hit the road for the 55mph, trailer hauling journey home.

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Probably the most fun of the whole retrieval is watching the looks on peoples faces as it dawns on them that it really is an airplane on the trailer going down the highway. I always get several cars that speed up or slow down to take a good look and sometimes a couple of pics. Sometimes I have to drag them though a town or city and there you will get people on the sidewalk pointing as you go by. I much prefer to fly them home, like the tomahawk I brought back from La Belle, Florida. That was one fun flight and a lot of good memories. Maybe that would make a good post all it own. If you think so, leave a comment saying so.

This article has 1 comments

  1. kerri Reply

    Wow a plane on a trailer would get my attention too! Very Cool, have fun putting it together and getting it back up in the air. I for one would enjoy reading about your adventures. Happy Flying to you!

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