REFLECTOR: PROP DAMAGE? ARE YOU KIDDING?

[Pat Shea]

A few other things to consider:

-As Tom said, putting the gear down significantly
increases the chance of snagging a gear and spinning
the plane around. We have essentially zero seat or
seat belt support for a backwards impact. I believe a
Cozy pilot was killed from what looked like an
otherwise survivable crash in which he came to an
abrupt stop going backwards after an off airport
landing.

-On most surfaces, leaving the gear up will also slow
the plane down very quickly with a relatively constant
deceleration. That's exactly what you want during an
off airport emergency landing. I watched a Skymaster
land with the gear up in the grass right next to the
runway (gear problem). He shut off both engines at
20', the props both stopped horizontally, and he
skidded to a stop on about 300'. Had he been landing
on that grass with the gear down it would have been
more like 1,500'.

If you leave the gear up, and it turns out to be a
smooth hard surface where you could have left the gear
down, you still walk away.

I suppose the are a few cases where leaving the gear
down would serve the occupants better - like maybe a
field full of big boulders - which makes it a game
time decision - but I know which way i'm leaning...

Pat 

--- Tom Martino <tmartino at troubleshooter.com> wrote:

> If you landed with the gear down ... The damages
> would've been way more
> severe -- even if you were lucky enough to save the
> prop -- which is
> doubtful.  Not to mention the very real possibility
> of being killed.
> 
> There is no way Velocity Landing gear can handle
> rugged terrain -- even so
> much as going against plow lines.  In some rare
> circumstances you may hear
> about people who lowered the gear and made it ...
> But the damage can be
> severe.
> 
> There is nothing to snag the bottom of the V ... And
> if construct properly
> ... It is a land barge that will come to rest
> without breaking up.



       
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