Just landed 2 hr from my home airport. As I was reposition the propeller by hand to push the plane into its parking spot, I heard a click-click-click. Not good.
Turns out the plate that holds the top and bottom nose cowling together on one side at the propeller hub ripped through the top cowling and was rattling around. I was able to pull the plate out without much effort. The questions is, is the plane safe to fly back?
Both nose cowlings are secured firmly, except at the center where they form a ring around the propeller shaft. My concern is that the wind will push the inner edge of the cowling into the spinning geared wheel where the starter engages.
Not sure what to do as no shops are open on the weekend and it'll be difficult to get back home if I can't fly.
Looking around on the internet, looks like there was one incident reported where a nose cowling came loose during flight, causing the plane the loose speed and crash, killing a passenger. I'm not worried about that happening since the attachment point around the outside edges are still secure.
Any help is much appreciated, thanks.
Turns out the plate that holds the top and bottom nose cowling together on one side at the propeller hub ripped through the top cowling and was rattling around. I was able to pull the plate out without much effort. The questions is, is the plane safe to fly back?
Both nose cowlings are secured firmly, except at the center where they form a ring around the propeller shaft. My concern is that the wind will push the inner edge of the cowling into the spinning geared wheel where the starter engages.
Not sure what to do as no shops are open on the weekend and it'll be difficult to get back home if I can't fly.
Looking around on the internet, looks like there was one incident reported where a nose cowling came loose during flight, causing the plane the loose speed and crash, killing a passenger. I'm not worried about that happening since the attachment point around the outside edges are still secure.
Any help is much appreciated, thanks.
