by Timothy Rutt
Altadenan Bonny Schumaker's highly-modified airplane was inundated by flood waters, but there's a good chance she'll be back up in the air helping animals soon.
Schumaker, a private pilot and Millard Canyon resident, runs On Wings of Care, her organization which transports rescued animals to new homes. She's also involved in conservation efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, flying scientists and researchers over areas affected by oil spills to monitor wildlife.
Schumaker was in New Orleans when Hurricane Isaac hit. Her Cessna 172, nicknamed "Bessie," was hangared at Lakefront Airport, and officials said that the planes would be safe from the hurricane.
They didn't mention that they'd be endangered by New Orleans officials themselves.
According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association website, officials decided to shut off the drain valve that serviced the airport for fear that the water would overwhelm the nearby levee and threaten nearby homes and businesses. With nowhere to go, the estimated two feet of water dumped by Hurricane Isaac covered the airfield and crept into the hanger -- leaving Bessie marinating in three feet of brackish water.
Shumaker had already sealed her landing gear in Hefty bags and duct tape to try to avoid repacking the wheel bearings. As soon as they could manage, Shumaker and volunteer Brayton Matthews began disassembling the plane: according to an article at the AOPA website, the two "slathered gallons of WD-40, Corrosion X, and similar products, a Friday night “spa bath” that may have worked: There are no signs of corrosion in the control cables, engine or other components, though it is unlikely that the wiring in the belly survived and the [emergency location transmitter] was destroyed."
Bessie is not easy to replace: she has a more powerful engine than other planes in her class, long-distance fuel tanks, and many cusomized photography ports used for conservation and survey work.
But the good news is that Bessie may be in the air soon.
By phone, Shumaker said that the insurance company declared the plane totaled, but she was planning to buy it back by end of day Monday for $7,000-$8,000 as salvage and begin the rebuilding process. While the electronics and wiring going through the bottom of the plane are ruined, Shumaker said that she planned to get Bessie back in good weather flying shape by the end of the week to continue flying surveys around the Gulf.
"Right now, every in inch of her cables, pulleys, and wires that were explosed are bathing in oil," Shumaker said by phone from New Orleans. She's also going to rebuild all the wheel bearings, which did sufffer some exposure to the water, but not as much as the other planes in the hangar, whose landing gears are white from salt water, she said. "When she's done, she'll be better than ever," Shumaker said of her plane.
Eventually, she said, the electronics and other features will be replaced and rebuilt so she can fly the plane back to Southern California.
In the meantime, On Wings of Care will continue its animal rescue mission. Shumaker said that she was borrowing a plane to transport 93 animals to new homes in Canada this week.
To help restore Bessie, you can make a donation to On Wings of Care here.
