Deer Hit on the RUNWAY! Update on the Piper Cherokee MESS!! Will it fly agian?

with the deer strike. Pretty much all the parts are here. Everything uh aside from the strut where the deer struck right here has been replaced. The fuel tanks got to go back in. They had to remove that in order to access everything so that they could rebuild this wing leading edge right here. Hey folks, it's Josh Stony Ridge farmer. Welcome back to another gorgeous day off the farm. We are headed to my local airport and I have got to show you guys the mess that we've got going on. So, if you don't follow the channel or you don't know what's gone on so far, I have started taking flying lessons and I bought in as a partner on an airplane and basically I own a fourth of this airplane. Every couple months, we all put our money together and take care of the plane, which is a cheap way to learn how to fly and probably the least expensive way to get into aviation. However, we did our annual this past year and as soon as we did our annual, a deer ran out in front of the airplane on the runway and really damaged the plane pretty bad. about $15 to $18,000 worth of damage. The plane has been in the shop ever since. And I'm talking about at least 3 months ago is when the plane went in the shop. It is in absolute shambles. And you guys need to see this. And I want your opinion. Should I get out of this partnership now or should we continue on? We're probably going to end up spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000 more dollars on this airplane, which is about eight grand out of my pocket. I want you to see the plane. So, we're headed to the airport right now. We're going to get in the hanger. We're going to take a look. It is in a million pieces. There's You just got to see this. So, we're here at the airport in the hanger. Nobody's here. crickets in this plane is in a million pieces, guys. [laughter] So, I'm going to take you around and show you. You tell me what you think. I mean, there's some progress that's been made, [gasps] [sighs] but goodness gracious. Now, be advised. I know maybe the FAA is watching this. All this work is being done and being approved by a certified mechanic, okay? So, can't do work on your own on your airplane without having the appropriate people look at it. So, it's safe. This is right. This is safe. It's expensive and it's a chore. Check it out. This is part of my plane. Uh, this is the fuel tank right here. And it's out of the airplane right now currently. And it goes right there. This is where the deer strike was right in here. So, the piece where the deer struck the airplane has been replaced. Everything's coming together nicely. There's stuff laying kind of everywhere. And I want you guys to see this. So, we've got all the cowling off of the engine right here. And there's a few things that have been done. You can see the windshield is out. There is no windshield in the airplane. This is a new dashboard that we've installed. Um, we are also ordering a new window. This window got busted out during the install of some interior panels. [laughter] Let me take you and show you that. Guys, I don't know if this thing is going to fly anytime. It's not going to fly in 2025. I know that for sure. Do you think it will even fly by like June of 2026? I want your opinions. So, here is the window glass. And we are going to go ahead and replace the glass uh on the airplane. That might make a good wall hanger. And here's what's really been going on. But this is the old interior. It's nasty. It's gross. It's got really cool carpeting on it, but it's just not much to really speak of. This is the old headliner, and it was a disaster. So, just so you guys know, they're diligently working on this for sure. Insulation in the inside of the airplane is super important. Sound deadening insulation. And you got to think about it. If you listen to the plane, uh, just listen. You don't want the whole inside of the airplane reverberating like the wing right here. So, as we look inside the airplane right here, I'm going to stick my head in the cargo door. This is the cargo hatch. You guys can see there is a nice, beautiful new headliner. A new rear panel been installed right here. And the seats are out of the airplane. This is called the wing root seal. We've ordered new wing root seals. There are a few notes in here. This is the floorboard of the airplane. And there's a whole new carpet kit right here. So, the old carpet was crusty and nasty and disgusting. And the new carpet is absolutely awesome. So, do you guys think first of all um with the deer strike pretty much all the parts are here? Everything uh aside from the strut where the deer struck right here has been replaced. The fuel tanks got to go back in. They had to remove that in order to access everything so that they could rebuild this wing leading edge right here. While we had the plane down, uh my partners decided it'd be a good idea to go ahead and put this in. I think this is called the glare shield. Basically, it just fits right over. looks much more premium. Let me see if I can find the old glare shield. They're parts of it are laying around in here somewhere. I don't know what he did with them. [laughter] A big shout out to my airplane partners for working on this. I just haven't had time with the farm and everything to get down here and really work on it. But you can just tell, look, look at how much nicer this is. These are the new door handles. um the the new armrest handles, everything really really looks super super nice and I think we're going about it the right way. I want you guys to chime in. What do you think before I tell you what our quote is to get the airplane painted, but we want to get it painted? We want it to look something really nice, like a really premium paint job. Again, most of the airplanes that you see flying through the air, uh, the small general aviation airplanes like this are from the 60s and 70s, some of them from the 80s. Most of them are not brand new. If you had to buy a plane like this brand new, you're talking about a half a million bucks. I'm into this $25,000. Do you think it's worth it to go ahead and get the whole plane painted while we have it like this? Do you think it's worth it to go ahead and do that? The quote we got is $25,000 to paint this airplane. The reason it costs so much is because everything has to be stripped, detailed, taken apart, painted, and then put back together correctly by a certified mechanic. So, that's where we're at with the Stony Ridge Farm airplane. Um, I'm not a rich guy. I'm not a wealthy guy. just an average Joe. But you can see our paint is flaking off right here. It just is. The last time this was painted was back in the 70s. Um, and it needs painting. This is a 1963. 1963. The first year of the Piper PA 28180, I do believe. I think it's shaping up and I think it's looking good. I think I should stick it out. Um, but I won't be in the air and I won't be getting my pilot's license anytime soon just due to the nature of all this. There's a lot more work that needs to be done. I need to do my job as a good airplane partner and get down here and help these guys work on this plane. Huge shout out to my partners. But I do want your opinion. Should I get out of this now [laughter] or should I fork over another few thousand bucks along with my partners and get this thing repainted? And what color do you think? I'm a red guy. I like I like some reds and I like gray. I would love for this thing to be a light gray with maybe a red or a darker gray stripe down the side. I don't know. What do you guys think? Thank you guys so much. I've been getting asked questions about this airplane over and over again after the deer strike. And that's where it sits. It's in the back of the hanger now. It ain't in the front. So, uh, we'll keep you guys up to date. Once it gets restored or painted, we'll do another full walk around with you guys and take you up in the plane. I hope hope by May this thing is ready and I've got my pilot's license. and then I can start flying to farms and visiting other farms and showing you guys what other people are doing. If you have any ideas for future videos on the channel, guys, please hit that like button and let me know. And if you have a local farm near you that you think has an interesting concept going on and you'd like me to visit it, that's why I bought this. That's why we have this so we can go see new cool places and take you guys along. Thank you guys so much. Hit that like button on the way out the door. That's the airplane and it is a wreck. [laughter] Literally. See you guys next time on the Stony Ridge. >> Come on down to the Stony Ridge. Bring your wife and bring your kids. We're living life pure and sweet. That's the way it's supposed to be. Stony Ridge. >> Why you always Why you crooked? You won't even be crooked, fool. Shut up, fool. A penny the fool. Don't grow a beard. >> [laughter] >> I think I'm going to keep it, but god, there's stuff everywhere in here. See y'all next time. Put her down beard. She's sucking mud.