Barry Haines submitted the following photo and note: “My 11-year-old son Oliver hanging from the strut of 07T, the C-180 we get to fly. He kept himself entertained while getting our gear loaded at Lakefield Airport (KCQA) in Celina, Ohio, for a weekend on the Coldwater chain of lakes in Michigan.”
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Struts are designed for tension and compression loads only. If there is a step on it, it is attached close to the lower attachment point, and as such would be able to take that steps load. While I doubt any damage would occur from the child hanging off the strut, that is not what they were carefully designed for. Why not teach the child some fundamental respect for aircraft and others property. That aside, its nice to see a family out flying and spending time together, building good memories.
Bob, I agree with you 100%.
When we abuse an aircraft in a way it was not designed for, beware. On the surface it looks innocent but the results of the abuse may show up at a later time when you least expect it. I don’t think Cessna had a load case that represents an 11 year old hanging from the lift strut.
Operate the aircraft per the manual and teach your kids on how to behave around aircraft and everyone will be safe!!!
I’ve been hanging from a 180 strut for over 40 years. Literally thousands of jumpers have been doing the same from hundreds of 180’s over an even longer period. Point me to a jump plane accident caused by strut failure.
Skydivers hang from struts, the little guy won’t hurt the aircraft… ease up a little…. or buy a parachute.
Much ado about absolutely nothing,… as usual!
I doubt any issue with strut but the bigger question is will this child decide to hang from the tip of the stabilizer or worse sit on top and bounce! I have always been extremely concerned about aircraft tied down on rural ramps open to the public. Typical family wondering around sets two 11 year olds together on the stabilizer for a photo. No one stops them and no one even knows the load was applied. Owner goes flying without knowledge of possible structural damage. Prior to the 911 era most rural airports were completely open to the public. Never liked not knowing who did what to my plane between flights. But never really read much about it being a problem. I have also seen some huge snow loads on wings and tails and no apparent problems. Go figure.
Jerry
Ridiculous, Those struts easily withstand an adult’s weight while checking fuel. Why do people feel the need to voice their negative opinions so freely?? What’s our world coming to?? It’s a kid! Interested in aviation and with his family. Give them a break!
Really? That strut has a fuel step on it. That means it’s designed to withstand most of the weight of a grown adult for a considerable amount of time. If an 11-year-old hanging off don’t for a few seconds or minutes is enough to cause a catastrophic failure, maybe I need to stop flying Cessnas and start flying Bonanzas instead.
What Brian said.
The stresses that are on that strut in flight far surpass any stresses that that 11 year-old could impose.
This came in as a comment to our daily enewsletter, The Pulse of Aviation: Barry Haines submitted this photo and note: “My 11-year-old son Oliver hanging from the strut of 07T, the C-180 we get to fly. He kept himself entertained while getting our gear loaded at Lakefield Airport (KCQA) in Celina, Ohio, for a weekend on the Coldwater chain of lakes in Michigan.
While the photo of the 11 year old hanging upside down on lift strut looks innocent enough, I doubt that would be an accepted process if the owner of the aircraft, ( 07T, the C-180 we get to fly) was aware that was happening. While the strut is probably able to handle the momentary weight of an 11 year old, I doubt that it was designed to be utilized in that manner, and if unchecked, could possibly lead to a catastrophic failure in the future.
Sincerely
Bob Page
Be sure to add him to your checklist, so you won’t take off with him hanging on the strut!
Did you make a stress analysis of forces on the strut with a small child weight before making those assumptions . It would be interesting to see the figures .