M20J nose wheel collapse at KHEF

[Mooney in Oz]

https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/546065

Since when did a Mooney become a twin jet Challenger?  -

Citing Virginia State Police, Potomac Local reported that the Bombardier CL-600 twin-engine plane slid about 200 to 300 feet on the runway. The pilot, a 47-year-old from Washington, D.C., was the only person on board.

On a more serious note, it is reported as a gear malfunction with no injuries.

[EricJ]

That's a pretty unusual failure on a Mooney.   I'm curious about what led to that.

[PT20J]

43 minutes ago, EricJ said:

That's a pretty unusual failure on a Mooney.   I'm curious about what led to that.

Maybe a damaged noise gear leg from tow damage? If that's the case, it should have been caught on preflight.

[Hank]

39 minutes ago, PT20J said:

Maybe a damaged noise gear leg from tow damage? If that's the case, it should have been caught on preflight.

More likely to be PIO.

[EricJ]

58 minutes ago, Hank said:

More likely to be PIO.

That's probably it.    I bought my airplane with a new prop, new nosegear, and freshly IRAN'ed engine because it had been PIO'd into a nosegear collapse 40 hours earlier by the previous owner.

[Yetti]

the forgotten art of flaring

[1980Mooney]

The ASN in the post by @Mooney in Oz (from the ASIAS) says:

”nose landing gear collapse following a bounced landing at Manassas Regional Airport/Harry P. Davis Field (HEF)”

[Yetti]

One of the things that really helps to prevent PIO is more trim. Assuming you have been trimming all the way around the pattern.   I usually grab 2 handfuls of the trim wheel right before the threshold.   The nose will get very light and require some down input.     This is good because if you bounce it it will keep the nose up, more back pressure and either fly it for another landing or power and get out of there. 

[Hank]

5 hours ago, Yetti said:

One of the things that really helps to prevent PIO is more trim. Assuming you have been trimming all the way around the pattern.   I usually grab 2 handfuls of the trim wheel right before the threshold.   The nose will get very light and require some down input.     This is good because if you bounce it it will keep the nose up, more back pressure and either fly it for another landing or power and get out of there. 

I had a PIO coming home at night on Thanksgiving weekend, in my first year of ownership (maybe 125 hours total time). After Bounce #2, full throttle and pray to clear the trees, followed by my mantra of "make a normal landing, figure it out later" over and over. Second attempt went like it was supposed to. 

I figured out over the next couple of days that I was so glad to be home after 3 hours' flight and a nice sunset, being vectored over the field because of the football game TFR, etc., that i just relaxed and quit flying in the flare. Stuff happens . . . even stoopid stuff.

[Yetti]

3 minutes ago, Hank said:

I had a PIO coming home at night on Thanksgiving weekend, in my first year of ownership (maybe 125 hours total time). After Bounce #2, full throttle and pray to clear the trees, followed by my mantra if "make a normal landing, figure it out later" over and over. Second attempt went like it was supposed to. 

I figured out over the next couple of days that I was so glad to be home after 3 hours' flight and a nice sunset, being vectored over the field because of the football game TFR, etc., that i just relaxed and quit flying in the flare. Stuff happens . . . even stoopid stuff.

I like to say.   flying is easy.     Landing is hard. Landing is where you sometimes have to pull every pilot trick out of the bag of tricks.    Other times it just clicks, but no one is around to see that one. 

[Ragsf15e]

1 hour ago, Yetti said:

I like to say.   flying is easy.     Landing is hard. Landing is where you sometimes have to pull every pilot trick out of the bag of tricks.    Other times it just clicks, but no one is around to see that one. 

My only really memorable bounced landing came with ~700 hours in my F.  It was after a 4 hour xc, but otherwise nothing special about the conditions.  Stuff happens even with good experience and standard conditions.

[cliffy]

CL-600?  Wow,  we are fast  aren't we?

[Hank]

2 hours ago, cliffy said:

CL-600?  Wow,  we are fast  aren't we?

I don't see the second engine in the photo . . . .

[EricJ]

I don't remember where I learned it, but if there's sufficient runway left a PIO cycle can be broken by application of just enough power during a bounce to arrest the pitch change into a stable attitude (e.g., to make the elevator work again).   I used it once not long after I got my airplane just from screwing up a landing, and then again when the MP hose broke and idle RPM stayed much higher than usual during a landing (coupled with not paying sufficient attention).   Works really well, and can be easily turned into a go-around if so desired.

[Hank]

1 minute ago, EricJ said:

I don't remember where I learned it, but if there's sufficient runway left a PIO cycle can be broken by application of just enough power during a bounce to arrest the pitch change into a stable attitude (e.g., to make the elevator work again).

I've done this when I balloon in the flare [first time was the second of three landings on my first solo], but I've never heard it advocated after a hard bounce. The problem with PIO is that the pilot's throttle and elevator application are out of sequence with the nosewheel-first hits, which just make each bounce larger and each nosewheel impact steeper and faster. That's why I went full throttle and tried a second attempt from downwind. PIO is more than a float, a balloon or a bounce, it breaks landing gear.

[cliffy]

3 hours ago, Hank said:

I don't see the second engine in the photo . . . .

You can't see the two big fan jets there either?   :-)