Gear up at local airport

[Ftlausa]

He landed on 13 which left the main runway (9) clear. 

[flyboy0681]

  On 8/18/2015 at 7:42 AM, jbs007 said:

CRQ would take 45 min to clear a 172 with a popped tire.  All those fancy airplane owners and FBO personnel were probably too busy scoffing at the 172 to help or even get out of the way.  I bet 18 people tried suing the Cessna owner too.  I bought my Mooney at FXE and I bet people are more amenable to being helpful there.

 

You should fly out of KSEE instead

 

Same experience last year at my base. A twin blew a tire on landing and had to be towed. I was flying with a friend in his Cirrus circling around the area waiting for it to be cleared. After a half hour we landed at a nearby airport and waited it out. We kept calling the tower for the status and hour and half later we finally headed home

[mooniac15u]

  On 8/18/2015 at 5:13 AM, StinkBug said:

LOL, not quite. That story even mentions using a crane.

 

Another good reason not to worry about trying to stop the prop on final.  The "recovery" effort can cause substantial damage to the airframe.

 

In my case the airport manager informed me it was my responsibility to remove my plane from the runway.  He had phone numbers for a couple of towing/recovery services that specialize in semis but I had to make the call.  They arrived with a crane truck and wanted to put a big strap around the aircraft.  That probably would have caused more damage than the belly landing.  In the end they used large inflatable bags under the wings and we were able to pull the jammed gear down from the outside.

 

The whole process took several hours.

[Guest]

Sounds like some people doing the recovery are under motivated and or stupid. It shouldn't take hours to removed an airplane from the runway unless the coroner is needed. I've lifted many over the years, float planes and land planes, float planes are the easiest, but none are difficult.

Clarence

[mooniac15u]

  On 8/18/2015 at 9:34 PM, M20Doc said:

Sounds like some people doing the recovery are under motivated and or stupid. It shouldn't take hours to removed an airplane from the runway unless the coroner is needed. I've lifted many over the years, float planes and land planes, float planes are the easiest, but none are difficult.

Clarence

Next time I'm calling you. It will be faster to wait for you to arrive in your Comanche.

[ryoder]

My IA helped get a twin that landed gear up off the runway. The Unicom just called him and some helpers out and they got her done. The flight school owner is an IA and helped out. I don't think it cost much at all.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Bob_Belville]

If it happens to you in a Mooney, take off the top cowl to get to the engine lift hook, lift the plane with a chain from a tow motor (with a weight on the tail tie down) high enough to lower the gear which is unlikely to be harmed. Tow the plane to the ramp. Not 10 minutes but not a lot longer.

[Guest]

  On 8/19/2015 at 12:28 AM, Bob_Belville said:

If it happens to you in a Mooney, take off the top cowl to get to the engine lift hook, lift the plane with a chain from a tow motor (with a weight on the tail tie down) high enough to lower the gear which is unlikely to be harmed. Tow the plane to the ramp. Not 10 minutes but not a lot longer.

I'm not sure that lifting the plane via the engine lift ring would be good practice. A nylon lifting strap around the engine mount structure as close to the firewall as possible would be stronger. A few different hydraulic jacks and some shoring blocks and a few people to steady the airframe is all that is required.

While at Oshkosh I asked the Lycoming tech guys about the Mooney SI saying to lift the nose using the engine lift ring. They were not in favour of this method.

Clarence

[Guest]

  On 8/18/2015 at 10:05 PM, mooniac15u said:

Next time I'm calling you. It will be faster to wait for you to arrive in your Comanche.

Sorry, I don't have a green card, but otherwise I'd be glad to help.

Clarence

[Bob_Belville]

  On 8/19/2015 at 12:56 AM, M20Doc said:

I'm not sure that lifting the plane via the engine lift ring would be good practice. A nylon lifting strap around the engine mount structure as close to the firewall as possible would be stronger. A few different hydraulic jacks and some shoring blocks and a few people to steady the airframe is all that is required.

While at Oshkosh I asked the Lycoming tech guys about the Mooney SI saying to lift the nose using the engine lift ring. They were not in favour of this method.

Clarence

Clarence, I don't disagree and I'm amused at Lycoming's comment on Mooney's SB that was precipitated by Lycoming's unhappiness with Mooney's recommendation using a prop yoke stand which we discussed here at length.

 

FWIW, we lifted the plane slowly with helpers steadying the wing tips and only high enough to lower and lock the gear. ISTM this was less problematical than it would be to use a engine hoist, perhaps for days, during an annual. This engine was going to need be removed, torn down and reinstalled which made a difference in my mind.  

[fantom]

The local media, whom I always believe wholeheartedly, reported the FXE runway was closed for several hours.

 

Lawyers, mechanics, conservative owner, airport authority cleanup, more lawyers, insurance representative, mechanics arguing on the 'best' method for lifting, yet another lawyer...then the media shows up....yeah, an hour or two sounds about right. 

[carusoam]

Louses....?

[philiplane]

  On 8/17/2015 at 9:50 PM, Piloto said:

KXE was a good choice. It has plenty of shops like Premier Mooney service center that can repair it. After landing the plane is lifted by hand into dollies and then moved to the shop. It takes about 10 minutes to clear the runway.

 

José

I have seen that plane at Premier before, and I wouldn't be surprised if they caused the problem. They are one of the worst quality and most expensive shops in Florida. 

[gjensen]

I wonder if this is a no back clutch spring issue.