Aero-Tow failure

I thought I would put this out there for those of you who mave have an electric Aero-Tow, model E-200. I have one that I use to move the RV-10 in and out of the hangar. Last week end I came home and the RV-10 was pushed into the hangar door and the left elevator was damaged, requiring a rebuild. My initial thoughts were that I had closed the hangar door on the airplane. But I have always been very careful to make sure the airplane is out of the way, and my son reminded me that both he and I checked the door before we closed it. When I went to move the airplane the E-200 would not work. This unit has its own onboard battery charger, whcih appears to be a top end battery minder. The E-200 has an ON/OFF switch, which I apparently left in the ON position which I didn't know might be harmful. Sometime during the week, the speed controller failed in such a way that it pushed the airplane into the hangar door and continued to push until the speed controller completely failed. The epoxy paint on the hangar floor is ground off from the tires spinning, which helped to confirm the failure. Luckily the tires did not get hot enough to burn. Aero-Tow has been kind enough to replace the speed controller.
Suffice it to say I am not happy about having to rebuild the elevator. But I will be very careful to make sure the switch is off and the airplane is chocked. All things being said, it failed in the direction that caused the least amount of damage.

Wow, thats something I have never thought about,, we always just undo ours for the next time.

sorcerer's apprentice

I never trust electrical stuff anymore. I came home from work one day to find the toaster oven on the kitchen counter glowing red. The front panel said it was off. The front panel controls did not respond. Yet it was bright red hot. Not just inside -- the case was really hot. I unplugged it, and we keep it unplugged now when we are not using it.

I haven't gotten so far as to unplug the washing machine when I go on vacation, but maybe I should.....visions of that evil army of mops running around the house with buckets

Sorry to hear about your mishap Vic. Glad its just an elevator. (you were thnking about building something new anyway, right?)

Ever since I had a drill battery start smoking while it was in a charger, I make sure that all chargers, etc. are unplugged when I leave my hangar...

Happened to a guy in Perry who's 182 was in a T hangar. Killed the flaps and ailerons. The hand control was on the floor when the floor got wet.....

Vic, Bob Heath says I need to pick your brain about re-wiring and installing a glass panel in my 7...we work together, when he shows up.

We had a hangar burn down at our Airpark a dozen years ago when a fellow's compressor motor start capacitor cooked off in the middle of the night. I have a tough time remembering to turn the comrpessor switch off, but Louise generally reminds me....