What Do You Get When an Aero Commander Mates with a Hangar?
Thankfully, I don’t know. But I almost found out…
Santa Anas? No Big Deal
N811D has been based out at Flabob [RIR] in Riverside County for the last year and a half. During that time we have had several episodes of really strong Santa Ana winds that come down fiercely through that area. Despite not being tied down - chocks only - 11D hasn’t budged.
So I didn’t give it too much thought two nights ago when I heard we were going to have a strong Santa Ana blow through. 11D was sitting on the ramp at Riverside Muni [RAL] at Zenith Flight Support where owner Zack Greenfield’s guys have been hunting down a glideslope gremlin for me. RAL is just a stone’s throw away from RIR, where 11D has always survived these strong, dry winds unscathed. The two airports are so close that when I fly from RIR to RAL it is about a 45 second flight, as long as RAL is landing on RWY27.
On the Ramp at RAL is not the Same as at RIR
When I park at RAL I am always right next to the taxiway, the red dot on the digram below.
So I was very surprised today when I got to RAL and found 11D sitting on the South side of the maintenance hangar - the blue dot [the thin, hashed lines are cardinally aligned - upper right of the diagram is true North]. Shortly after I got there, Carlos, one of the line guys at Zenith, comes up and says “Your plane was almost in the hangar yesterday morning - the side of the hangar.” “What?”, was all I could muster. Carlos had gotten a call from airport management just before 6AM Christmas morning and the guy said, “You better get down here - one of your planes is trying to mate with your hangar.” Sheesh!
Devil Winds at the Hour of the Wolf
The winds started picking up at 3AM. They were from the North and clocked at 75 mph. They had weathervaned 11D into the wind turning it 90 degrees clockwise from its original position facing West. As a result it was no longer chocked and was now facing into a very strong wind on the uphill end of a shallowly inclined parking ramp. It then rolled freely - pushed by the wind - about 70 feet straight toward the hangar and stopped about 15 feet short. Carlos arrived, hooked it up to a tug and moved it over to the South side of the hangar, where the hangar would serve as a windbreak.
Thinking this through a bit, I have almost certainly benefited greatly at RIR where my parking sport is nestled in a small part of the ramp surrounded by two hangars, two shadeports and some trees which all break up these Santa Anas quite a bit. Yeah, I planned it that way…
At RAL it was also chocks only, but way exposed - nothing to break up that wind for a half a mile. And that was more than the three small contact patches under the tires could cope with.
Dem’s Da Brakes
But the big difference is brakes! When I park at RIR I always set the brakes and post a DO NOT TOW in the window. I’m in my own spot, no FBO. At Zenith - and at every other FBO I go to - I don’t set the brakes: often they will hangar the plane, space permitting. I can’t leave the brakes on under those circumstances. So it looks like I’m going to have to find a way to set the brakes and really make it impossible for a line guy to even think about towing me, if I’m not going to be hangared. I don’t want to lose that nosewheel - I’ve kinda gotten used to it. I don’t think a sign in the window is “in your face” enough. Ideas?
I was lucky this time and the guys at Zenith were quick on the scene to make sure things didn’t get worse. So to Carlos and Zack, Thanks!