Forums and blogs are buzzing about video of a remarkable touch and go that, based on everything we can determine, happened at Aero Acres Air Park, near Port St. Lucie, Florida, on April 11. A Piper Aerostar landed gear-up but instead of grinding it to a stop and climbing sheepishly out of the damaged aircraft, the way these things usually end up, the pilot firewalled the engines and, with props clanging against the pavement, managed to get airborne again. The aircraft apparently continued south to Ft. Lauderdale Executive (about 80 miles) and, with wheels down “landed without incident” and with “minor damage,” according to an Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS)report filed on April 13 with the Orlando FSDO. AVweb left a voice message with the registered owner of the aircraft but did not receive a response by our deadline.
Since the incident, the aircraft has been listed for sale as a “rebuildable” aircraft that “needs props.” There were only 230 hours on the engines and 2297 hours of total time on the airframe. An asking price was not listed. The owner is listed as Aerostar USA, of Fort Lauderdale, in both the ad and on the FAA registry.
