PTK Posted July 23, 2016 Report Posted July 23, 2016 Unfortunately I witnessed a real live gear up today at my home field. I was busy copying a clearance and there it was! Before I could jump on the radio the poor guy put it down on the belly and came to a stop sideways off the runway. Truly a non-event however. Minor scrapes on the belly. Antennas even survived. Damaged but stayed on the airplane. The "worst" damage was a small dent in the wing leading edge as it took out a taxi light. Not bad at all just a skin dent. Gear were extended manually and plane was towed. The prop, all three blades, did really bend though! I was surprised they bent that much.
Yooper Rocketman Posted July 23, 2016 Report Posted July 23, 2016 Ouch! I'm not making any comments as we could all end up with one of those days if we let our guard down. What kind of plane was it? How long were you delayed waiting for an open runway? Tom
PTK Posted July 23, 2016 Author Report Posted July 23, 2016 Tom you're absolutely correct. This can happen to anyone of us. Fortunately it truly is a non event. A way to get a new prop, one piece belly and an overhaul paid partly by insurance! It was a 231. It came to a stop off the runway so I wasn't delayed at all. Felt really bad for my poor Mooney brother though! I was on main ramp when I heard him call downwind. Then I got busy on the phone copying a clearance. I didn't see him until a second or two before touching down.
N201MKTurbo Posted July 23, 2016 Report Posted July 23, 2016 How did they pick it up so they could get the gear down?
PTK Posted July 23, 2016 Author Report Posted July 23, 2016 I didn't see how they picked it up. Heard about it after I returned. What's the right way to pick it up to not incur additional damage?
peevee Posted July 23, 2016 Report Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) I hate to say this because I'll jinx myself. I don't understand how you get to flap speed with the gear up. I'd have to work hard enough in our 231 I'd wonder what was wrong for sure. Edited July 23, 2016 by peevee 1
eman1200 Posted July 23, 2016 Report Posted July 23, 2016 3 hours ago, PTK said: ,,,Truly a non-event however...... tell that to the pilots wallet!
Hank Posted July 24, 2016 Report Posted July 24, 2016 23 hours ago, PTK said: Unfortunately I witnessed a real live gear up today at my home field. . . Truly a non-event however. Minor scrapes on the belly. Antennas even survived. Damaged but stayed on the airplane. The "worst" damage was a small dent in the wing leading edge as it took out a taxi light. Not bad at all just a skin dent. Gear were extended manually and plane was towed. Congratulations, Peter! It's great to see personal growth in fellow pilots. Not too long ago you were trash-talking people who bought Mooneys with a gear up in their history. Hope this one is back in the air soon.
MyNameIsNobody Posted July 24, 2016 Report Posted July 24, 2016 You can pull the top cowl and lift your engine with mount too. Sorry to hear about this and the Oshkosh incident. I can't say enough how much I value the verbal gear and stall warning that I had installed in my plane. Love hearing the "Stall-Stall" in flare on landing in flare. Fly safe. 1
PTK Posted July 24, 2016 Author Report Posted July 24, 2016 3 hours ago, Hank said: Congratulations, Peter! It's great to see personal growth in fellow pilots. Not too long ago you were trash-talking people who bought Mooneys with a gear up in their history. Hope this one is back in the air soon. Hank, personal growth, yes. I'm always learning! Trash-talking, never. I wouldn't consider a gear up damage history. But all things being equal, I still prefer an airplane with NDH and no gear up history.
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