KFI tower falls again and again

[Sam KS2AM]

2004 collapse after contact with Cessna (and 1947 collapse):

http://www.earthsignals.com/images/kfi/


2008 failure during construction to replace 2004 loss:

http://www.k6rix.com/kfitowerfalls.html

http://sakrison.com/radio/KFItowercollapse2.html

[WBear2GCR]

Rather dumb to rely upon a turnbuckle, especially with no back up.
They're known for stripping out... at least I know them to do that.

And some dude is a Mech E and/or PE and spec'd this??

Also, the welds on the struts (angle iron?) of the tower don't look like the welds are particularly of high quality??

Probably just my imagination...

             _-_-bear

[k4kyv]

I'd say there was an ample supply of incompetence and downright stupidity involved in this whole affair.

There looks to still be an awfully lot of thread left on both the male and female parts of the failed turnbuckle assembly.  I wonder if  one or both parts were out of specs, so that there was too much slop with the threads just barely engaged.  Every stripped screw I have ever seen has always left one or both threaded parts of the assembly practically slick.  Maybe the turnbuckle was "made in China"?

Luckily the failure occurred at a time when no-one was on the tower, and it was only half completed.  If it had managed to stay in place until it was fully erected, that would have been a death trap waiting to happen, and the inevitable failure would have been far more catastrophic.  That riser pole was a stupid idea.  I'm sure vehicular traffic could have somehow been diverted around the guy anchor.

Since the first tower was destroyed due to negligence on the part of a third party (I understand the plane's altimeter was off calibration), and it presumably had been erected with all the proper permits in place at the time of construction, there was no excuse for a 3 1/2-year legal hassle to re-erect it to its original height.

[AF9J]

Ahhh, you know what it's like Don,

People probably moved into the area long after the tower was erected, and whined how it was "such an eyesore."  So they probably fought to keep it from being re-erected, or to have its height limited, when the time came to rebuild it.  Airports have had to put up with similar nonsense for some time now.  People whine about the noise planes cause when they take off, or come in to land, in spite of the fact that the airports in many cases were there long before the houses were built.

Another thought - the same people could have fought the tower rebuild, because of the potential for damage if it ever came down again.  Having it fall again doesn't help the case for rebuilding it.

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[W4EWH]

Airports have had to put up with similar nonsense for some time now.  People whine about the noise planes cause when they take off, or come in to land, in spite of the fact that the airports in many cases were there long before the houses were built.

Ellen,

I've got a foot in both camps on the airport issue: I agree with you that someone building next to a modern airport can't complain, but don't forget that many people bought houses near airports when only reciprocating engines were used, so the "NIMBY" issue is not as clear when it comes to jet noise.

OTOH, a local airport can actually reduce jet noise. I live ~5 miles from a "local" airport, and also underneath the approach path for Logan airport in Boson. Every time I hear someone complain about the noise from the one jet which uses the local field, I remind them that it's only because the airport is there that the big jets going into Boston are so high over our heads: the local airport's "control zone" goes up to 3,000 feet, and that means we get a lot more peace and quiet from the constant stream of 757's heading into Logan in return for a once-a-day dose of noise from a corporate jet.

73,

Bill, W1AC

[AF9J]

I don't know Bill.  I meant mainly the General aviation airports that mainly have piston engine Piper, Cessna, etc. flying out of them.  With regards to final approach for the airliners - I live under  the flight path for one of the approaches to Mitchell Internationa Airport.  I just put up with it.  After all, that airport's been around since the 20,s and jets have been flying in an out of it since the late 50s/early 60s.  The place i live in probably was built after they started flying jets out of Mitchell.

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[k4kyv]

It looks like the new top-loaded vertical is now up, on the second try.

(Wednesday : August 13, 2008) The majority of the work on the capacity hat was completed on August 12th. The order of the day was to remove the temporary crane, the gin pole, and button up the capacity hat. The final strobe was installed and all the lights were brought online and tested. This was the final full day on the site.

http://www.k6rix.com/kfitower2.html

[N3DRB The Derb]

that turnbuckle looks hideous. The threads on it are a joke for the job it was supposed to do.

Who's the parent company for KFI, Clear Channel?

[Opcom]

turnbuckle looks like pot metal. I would have liked to have been there to witness that spectacle!