In the summer of 1988 I bought a 1976 Ted Smith Aerostar 601P. Over the winter of 1988-89 I installed the Machen Superstar 700engine upgrade. This involved the installation of new, inter-cooled, 350 HP engines, replacing the stock 290 HP engines. This big power increase made the aircraft much faster, over 300 mph in cruise.
On May 21, 1989, while getting vectors around a thunderstorm near Kansas City, Missouri, I ran into hail! The hail stripped the paint from almost every leading edge surface and destroyed the oil coolers. All the damage you see in these images occurred in less than 30 seconds.
Fortunately the aircraft was already scheduled into the paint shop on July 7. The fiberglass damage was repaired then, along with a totally new paint job and interior.
