Gear up touch-and-go

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JustinR
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Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 2:53 am

Re: Gear up touch-and-go

Post by JustinR »

PawPaw wrote:Isn't there an alarm that tells you your wheels are still inside the airframe?
Well on most "modern" (say 1970-80's? and later) production airplanes there are. On the smaller retractable gear aircraft like the Piper Arrow or Seminole, Cessna 182RG, etc. there is usually a visual (light) and auditory (horn) warning when the throttle is reduced below a preset power setting that the engine would not normally be reduced to in flight (except landing), AND the gear is not down and locked. With multiengine airplanes the logic gets more complex for single engine scenarios but the effect is the same, to stop you from a gear up landing. The different manufacturers have different alternate means of telling if the gear is down as well, from strategically placed mirrors to small visible indicator pins that pop out in various places when said gear is down and locked. A Yak I flew in one time had a pin on each wing over the gear that would pop out, and one in front of the cockpit on the cowling for the nose gear.

I have no idea if this airplane had any of those.

On transport category aircraft, all the systems are tied into the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) that is FAA mandated. The system will let us know if we forget to configure the gear and flaps for landing (among all the other things it does) via voice prompts, a master warning, EICAS message, etc.

As Termite said, checklist, checklist, checklist.
Greg wrote:Any pilots on here willing to speculate as to why the hell he didn't just stay down? Was there a point to taking off again and going around, aside from trying to die by flying on chewed-up props?
Well, the short answer is ego. He didn't want to be sitting on the runway doing a double facepalm as people ran up to him.

The longer answer is that he must have thought he could salvage the landing, although with the godawful sound those props made, there was no question they were FUBAR'ed. When props hit the ground without power, the tips bend backward. When they hit the ground with power applied, they bend forward. How they didn't shear off (hell maybe they did) and the engines tear from their mountings from the unbalanced forces when he applied power is beyond me. He is really, really lucky.

Now, we did have a situation a few years ago up in Boston where one of our EMB-140's had a three green indication along with a "landing gear lever disagree" EICAS message at the same time. They correctly ran the appropriate emergency checklist, and it said they were good to land. Unbeknownst to them, a diode in the Landing Gear Electronic Unit (LGEU) had burnt out, and produced a situation that Embraer said could *never* happen, a three green indication with the wheels still up. The F/O was flying, and as they settled down he realized the gear wasn't down and applied go-around power. They scraped the belly and the flaps, but successfully got it back in the air. After using the manual gear free fall lever, they got the gear down and landed safely. The difference is that their engines weren't FUBAR'ed from pounding on the pavement because they were up on the tail. The guy in the video could have had one or both of the engines and/or props cut out seconds after applying power again.
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SoupOrMan
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Re: Gear up touch-and-go

Post by SoupOrMan »

Embraer said a green-light-wheels-up situation couldn't exist. Sure it couldn't.

The engineers at General Dynamics and Grumman swore I'd never need to replace wing sweep sensors, too. Three sensors later, I'm sure they thought they were right.
Remember, folks, you can't spell "douche" without "Che."

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Darrell
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:12 pm

Re: Gear up touch-and-go

Post by Darrell »

Here's a pic of after:
gearupprops.jpg
And a Liveleak copy of the vid, might be better quality:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b41_1429465294

Pretty choice comments and aircraft/pilot info at the Liveleak page.

PS: The aircraft is for sale, "needs props":

http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/air ... 76612.html

:lol:
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Eppur si muove--Galileo
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Wrenchbender1
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:50 pm

Re: Gear up touch-and-go

Post by Wrenchbender1 »

Just...Props??? :shock: Might want to do something along these lines.
Airframe Total Time:2297
Engine Times: 230 SMOH
Bwahahaha! On two fresh engines too. :lol:
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- Demosthenes
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Termite
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Re: Gear up touch-and-go

Post by Termite »

It's going to need more than new props. A prop strike with the engines running means an engine teardown and inspection.

About 2 yrs ago, someone did this exact same thing at K2L0(Pineville-Lake Buhlow), in a rented Piper Arrow. Came in to land with the gear up; someone was in another aircraft at the hold-short line on the approach end, and yelled at the pilot on the radio. Pilot kept the belly off the tarmac(in ground effect), but the prop took out 18-20 chunks of asphalt before he got it established in a climb for a go-around. Made the pattern, put the gear down, and landed. FBO operator/aircraft owner was some pissed.
"Life is a bitch. Shit happens. Adapt, improvise, and overcome. Acknowledge it, and move on."
Aesop
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Re: Gear up touch-and-go

Post by Aesop »

It's always funny when you read about a guy with more landings than takeoffs. :P
"There are four types of homicide: felonious, accidental, justifiable, and praiseworthy." -Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
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