What reminds you to put the gear down?

[FlyDave]

Quote: Bnicolette

 

3 green no red(2 indications in the Mooney), full flaps, ignition on (boost pump in the Mooney), landing clearance (verified by landing light on).  Can't land without going through this mentally every single landing.

[jetdriven]

I always confirm the gear and flaps are down on short final, airspeed is correct, and cleared to land.  In every plane.

I like the idea of landing light on when cleared to land, but in the M20J there is only one light, and tons of birds and traffic in the Houston area. Plus its an HID.  So I pretty much leave it on all the time except cruise above 5 or 6k.

[skyking]

I have 2 things that I use.

1) I need the wheels down to slow down and

2) (I wish i had a picture of this to post) I have 2 cards on my panel. One that just says " GUMPS" and the second one reads "Is your gear down stupid?"

Never had a gear up incident and that may be why!

[Dale]

I use force of habit and gumps, however, I also had a p2 audio advisory system put in the plane.  My greatest fear is not the normal landing but when something happens that takes me out of my normal routine.  The audio advisory system gives you an audible voice in the headset at 90 knots, basically telling you in a loud  urgent female voice to check the gear if the gear is not down.  If the gear is down then a calm male voice comes on and says the gear is down.

Normally, my gear is down prior to hitting 90 knots, but again i am concerned about something that takes me out of my routine.  The audio advisory is a last ditch opportunity for me to avoid a costly mistake.  The gear warning horn still goes off if the gear is not down and the throttle has been pulled back but I cant really hear it with my headset on.

[Dale]

 

Double post.

 

[Cris]

Quote: FlyDave

I like Squirel's answer! I LMAO!!

But for me, GUMPS-F downwind, base and final. Also, the airplane is a lot slipperier than I'm used to in the pattern without the gear down so it just doesn't feel right. But always 3 GUMPS-F; Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Prop, Flaps - FULL ON FINAL (unless strong cross-wind).

Oh yeah, if all else fails short final the gear warning sounds.

Quiet Mitch!!!!!

[jetdriven]

Full mixture on final into a 7000' density altitude airport?

[MooneyMitch]

One of the worst sounds you will EVER hear is your Mooney scrapping along the asphalt/concrete as it comes to a rapid stop!

I know this sound well and it sticks deeply in my memory.  Linkage failure in my F model in 1988 prevented my gear from being fully down and locked.  I did have plenty of time to ponder the end result so it was not a shock as most are.

Nonetheless, it was most emotionally painful.  Seeing your Mooney sitting on the runway, sans wheels, is quite disturbing. 

So, theoretically speaking, mine was not because I forgot to put it down, so I am still in the category of............those that have, and those that will...............careful out there!

[jetdriven]

PK:

Your quote says "some things are best left to the professionals.".  The professional pilots, to a man, complete all checklists,  as required in flight or on the ground."  A "braille checklist" is not the same.

Quote: allsmiles

Personally I never got into reading routine checklists in the air. I read them on the ground. 

I devised and utilize my own visual "geographic" checklist in preparation for landing my J. I got the idea from my Instruments Designated Examiner believe it or not! He used the term "geographic" and used it for his Comanche. It can be devised for other airplanes depending on panel layout or geography.

My eyes start top left with AS indicator come right verify AI and Altimeter and then to Gear verify down. From there I come straight down to Throttle Prop and Mixture and right below to Flaps. Continue down to the floor to Fuel selector with right hand and boost pump and Landing light with left hand. Finally check seatbelts. I like this because it is very deliberate and methodical. It is quick enabling me to run through it multiple times at different phases of the landing. It is natural and not distracting as it blends in with my scan. Also it is safe for the gear and flaps and maneuvering because it always starts with the AS. On final I'm either landing or I'm not. Either way is fine with me and the airplane because we're all done with the configuration! Now the real work begins. Left hand on the yoke right hand on the Throttle and feet on the rudder. Nail the GS and grease it! Gotta love the Mooney!

On the ground I pull out the checklist each and every time.

[DaV8or]

I use GUMPS and not a paper checklist. I don't like too much heads down time in the pattern. I put gear down either outside the pattern, like on a 45, or on down wind. When I was flying IFR, I used to use the IAF as the place to think about gear. I really don't trust myself 100%, so I have also installed a voice alert system that says "Check landing gear." if I get below 90mph, the throttle is back and the gear is up. So far I have only heard this warning by testing the system.

[jetdriven]

No need for paper. In a J it is pasted to the instrument panel.

[WardHolbrook]

I use a written checklist and flows. The flows are done first, then backed up with the checklist. When I select gear down, my hand doesn't leave the selector until the gear is confirmed down. I also have a 500' AGL check. 13,000 hours of retract time - so far so good, but I don't take it for granted.

[WardHolbrook]

Quote: scottfromiowa

Wow, I am REALLY surprised by the poll...

-Checklist

-Yes I follow a written checklist

-Yes, shortly after buying my plane (about 25 hours) retract I was asked by the tower to "keep my speed up" on a 10 mile final...

-Yes, I had a gear up while under instruction when instructor pulled power midfield in downwind on a displaced runway (not my home airport) after six take-offs and landings and two hours of instruction (one under hood) and bi-annual...

You all had BETTER BE READING OFF A CHECKLIST ON FINAL OR YOU WILL JOIN THE GEAR UP CLUB...

I had "habits"...the GU happens when something unexpected happens and throws you off your game.

[PTK]

Quote: jetdriven

 

[mooneygirl]

I am surprised Mitch didn't say I was his audible alarm in the Ovation. HA.  Of course he has a bitching Betty in the R model.  We are in the habit of saying "gear down" and then I check and say "gear down". Then Mitch or I says "got the green" and the other repeats.  I check and re-check the J-bar on final.  My instructor finally told me to stop checking when I got my original check out.

My father had a gear-up in his C model. He said it was just the greatest landing ever until it wasn't. For him, I am not sure he was in his 70s when it happened. 

I think I am just OCD enough that it won't happen...but you never know.  Let's be careful out there.

[1964-M20E]

I'm working on my IR and I can easily see how one can get distracted and not put the gear down.  GUMPS check several times during the approach starting at FAF or if VFR GUMPS on downwind, base and final and if ATC needs you to keep up your speed do it with the throttle do not retract the gear once it is down unless going around or missed.  The most important one is the Undercarriage everything else will work itself out but if the gear is not down it is not pretty.

 

Oh yeah what really makes me put the gear down the fear of metal scraping the runway.

[DrBill]

Downwind when flying VFR part of the "slowdown" process.  Hit 100 MPH on Downwind, drop the gear.

for IFR Approaches,  INITAL APPROACH FIX.. 120MPH or less, DROP THE GEAR unless I'm asked to keep speed up for traffic (like big airports, RDU, CLT, ETC). Then it's about 1/2 mile out.  Last time the tower commented.. "I was wiating for you to do that"...

BILL

 

[xftrplt]

On a contrarian note, here's another opinion (with which I happen to agree).

Unabashedly copied from Aviatrix Canada's blog.  http://airplanepilot.blogspot.com/2005/03/cute-but-useless-mnemonics.html

-----

 

In continuation of my checklist rant, I present my complaints about checklist mnemonics, the little acronyms people stuff into their heads and recite at crucial moments in aviation. They have their place. Sometimes they are great. Sometimes they are misapplied, and sometimes they were poorly devised in the first place.

The most common is probably GUMPS:
Gas - correct fuel tanks selected
Undercarriage - landing gear up or down as appropriate
Mixture - full rich for sea level take-offs and landings, leaned in cruise
Propellers - full fine for landing, lower rpm for cruise
Switches - fuel pumps, magnetos, landing lights, heater, whatever

Likely half a dozen people are looking at this saying things like, "No, no, Aviatrix. The P is for pumps." However you say it probably attaches to the airplane you were flying at the time you learned it, and whatever that was had its own unique set of prelanding and after takeoff tasks. That in itself is not a problem, and if you have mapped the letters to tasks that are required for your aircraft, and those tasks properly associate with the letters in your mind, well GUMPS away and I won't even give you a dirty look.

But the trouble begins when the words don't properly associate. For North American pilots half the time the GUMPS recitation stands for Gear, Um ... The only time many pilots here would refer to the landing gear as "undercarriage" is during a GUMPS check. It's more of a British word. Which is odd, because gas for fuel is more of an American thing. Most pilots say fuel. Look at Kristopher, the student pilot who inspired this posting, saying "I had to ask the instructor to remind me what 'P' and 'S' stood for." So here's the poor guy, smart enough to program computers for a living, and instead of just memorizing a sequence of prelanding checks, he has to memorize it in association with a nonsense word. If you can't remember something, sure, use a mnemonic. But if the mnemonic is harder to get right than the task?  (Emphasis added.)

 

 

[Jeff_S]

As others have indicated, it's a necessary form of speed control for those of us who don't have speed brakes. I need to drop them as I get into the pattern or I'll never make it down to flap speed. It's a no-brainer.

[scottfromiowa]

Quote: xftrplt

On a contrarian note, here's another opinion (with which I agree).

Unabashedly copied from Aviatrix Canada's blog.  http://airplanepilot.blogspot.com/2005/03/cute-but-useless-mnemonics.html

-----

 

In continuation of my checklist rant, I present my complaints about checklist mnemonics, the little acronyms people stuff into their heads and recite at crucial moments in aviation. They have their place. Sometimes they are great. Sometimes they are misapplied, and sometimes they were poorly devised in the first place.

The most common is probably GUMPS:

Gas - correct fuel tanks selected

Undercarriage - landing gear up or down as appropriate

Mixture - full rich for sea level take-offs and landings, leaned in cruise

Propellers - full fine for landing, lower rpm for cruise

Switches - fuel pumps, magnetos, landing lights, heater, whatever

Likely half a dozen people are looking at this saying things like, "No, no, Aviatrix. The P is for pumps." However you say it probably attaches to the airplane you were flying at the time you learned it, and whatever that was had its own unique set of prelanding and after takeoff tasks. That in itself is not a problem, and if you have mapped the letters to tasks that are required for your aircraft, and those tasks properly associate with the letters in your mind, well GUMPS away and I won't even give you a dirty look.

But the trouble begins when the words don't properly associate. For North American pilots half the time the GUMPS recitation stands for Gear, Um ... The only time many pilots here would refer to the landing gear as "undercarriage" is during a GUMPS check. It's more of a British word. Which is odd, because gas for fuel is more of an American thing. Most pilots say fuel. Look at Kristopher, the student pilot who inspired this posting, saying "I had to ask the instructor to remind me what 'P' and 'S' stood for." So here's the poor guy, smart enough to program computers for a living, and instead of just memorizing a sequence of prelanding checks, he has to memorize it in association with a nonsense word. If you can't remember something, sure, use a mnemonic. But if the mnemonic is harder to get right than the task?

 

 

[Piloto]

Quote: jeckford

Jose

Is this what you are talking about?

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/voicegearalert.php

[Piloto]

Quote: jeckford

Jose

Is this what you are talking about?

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/voicegearalert.php

[orangemtl]

GUMPS check, first. Second is the "My, we're going fast: wonder what I can do to make the aircraft go slower?", which occurs at roughly the same moment when entering the pattern.  Third is my habit of verbally announcing (either to my wife in the R seat, or to the empty cockpit) "The gear, is down; the gear, with a green light, is DOWN". I'd rather sound foolish in private, than look foolish in public.

Fourth, which I've only actually heard one time is Mrs. Mooney announcing the need for putting the gear down. Combination of speed and altitude at the time, rather than actual faiure to drop the gear.  So far. Check back in ten years, and we'll see how well my system works.

[jetdriven]

"The last thing a pilot does before leaving the cockpit after landing gear up, is put the handle down."

[drapo]

Quote: Ncbosshoss

I need them down to slow down!