1 ~\ J\ G J\ Z I I I r' - American Bonanza Society

More documents

Recommendations

Info

"There are f:hase wha halle ...and f:hose who won ' f: • .. -A new mantra:Landing gear-relatedmishaps (LGRMS)BY THOMAS P TURNER. ABS TECHNICAL SERVICES MANAGERAt the end of a long day as instructor in a new Beech Boron. my studentpilot and I were on a left downwind to Wichita Mid-Continent Airp ort inKansa s when I reached up and reduced throttle on the left engine to simulateon engine failure. As expected. the familiar "beep-beep-beep' of thelanding-gear warning horn sounded as the throttle moved toward idle.The drill was intended to have my student identify and secure the foiledengine and then land with the "dead' engine set at zero thrust. But in thisinstance. there was a catch. It was windy and turbulent.Turning bose and then final. the Boron's groundspeed slowed to a crowl.We were on about a ha lf-mile fina l when I realized that the student hod forgottento lower the landing gear- and I hod forgotten to check. The lowgroundspeed and turbulence resulting from the strong low-level winds conspiredto make airplane performance appear as if the gear was down.It can happen to anyoneAfter years of giving engine-outb'aining I was conditioned to ignore thegear warning horn, so that particularsafeguard did not hold my attention. Itwas fortunate for us that I realized theoversight in time. Since then, I have dramaticallychanged the way I teach landing-gearextension.If your training was similar tomine, your introduction to retractablegearairplanes consisted of three or fourlandings before you were sent off solo.However, the accident records show thata few times around the patch might notbe enough to prepare students to avoidgear-up landings.The "resignation" mindset"There are those who have, andthose who will." I'm sure you have oftenheard that remark when pilots talk aboutlanding retractable-gear airplanes withthe gear up. I think this statement is afine example of a "resignation" mindsetthat goes something like: "Oh, well, agear-up landing sometime is inevitable,and there's nothing we can do to avoidlanding gear-related mishaps."I suggest we learn a new mantra:"There are those who have ... alld thosewho \vOIl'I. "Unfortunately, landing gear-relatedmishaps (LGRMs) in retractable-gearairplanes are common. FAA preliminaryincident reports show that morethan half of aU accidents inVOlving pistonretracts are LGRMs. And they occuroften-as many as six or seven a week!Because they rarely cause inj ury orreportable damage (most LGRMs don'tmeet the requirements for a NationalTransportation Safety Board report orinvestigation), they seldom are reflectedin the statistics used to compute the general-aviationsafety record . This i sdespite the fact that the average cost ofrepairing an airplane involved in anLGRM runs over $60,000. And thoughthey rarely cau se injury, they frequently"total" the airplane because of repaircost and may render a pilot uninsurablefor up to fi ve years!LGRMS COME IN THREE TYPES:The "Oops. I forgot.' or classic gear-uplanding.The gear collapses on the landing roll. butnot because of any known mechanicalproblem . Chances are the squat switchfoiled when the pilot inodvertenlly put thegear switch in the up position. A side loadduring a too-vigorous turn may open thesquat switch momentarily. allowing thegear to retract. My research shows thatsquat switches do nat open until the airplanehas slowed nea rly to a stop on landingbut close early in the takeoff roll. Sothey won't protect against gear-switch activationfor most of a takeoff ar landing. andnot at all in a touch-and-go.The true mechanical fa ilure. in whichthere's nothing thai can be done from thecockpit to completely extend the gear.Historically, LGRMs are aboutevenly split between the first two scenarios,with a comparatively few truemechanical failures.In many cases, strong surfacewinds or other distractions (like doorsopening in flight or electrical fai lures)are contributing factors in the gear-uplanding. Gear collapses often resultwhen a pilot is in a hurry to clean up theairplane during the landing roll, orwhile performing a touch and go, andinadvertently moves the landing-gearhandle instead of the flap switch.How can we avoid thisall-too-common mishap?Simply being aware there is a hazard maymake pilots work harder to ovoid it.Spend more time on the retractable-gearcheckout. Take nme to introduce proper landingijearextension and verification discipline.and proctice it enough that the potternsbecome second nature. Perform the emergency-landing-gearextension procedure(using the checklist) as port of the checkout.Review the POH. Use a prelonding checklist(printed ondlor mnemonic) and reinforceusing it in the cockpit. Make sure you knowhow the gear system works and how tomanually extend the gear if it doesn't.Verifiy that the landing gear is down andalso confirm that the gear goes down andlocks. I like to hold onto the gear-extensionswitch as a reminder until I have the timePage 10958www.b o nanza.orgASS Se p tember 2008
to scan the down-ond-tocked indicotors.Many airptanes have externat rnirrors thatallow you to see when the gear is down.Deal with distractions during retractablegeartraining. Make sure you can rememberto lower the gear when other thingsintrude on your oHention. Dilen studentswill forget to extend the tanding gear duringpractice emergency tandings. Theymake the runway or emergency fietd in finefashion, only to be faced with on unfortunatesurprise at the end.Remember that on tanding, the pilot shoutdnot reconfigure the airplane until it comesto a complete stop. tn almost half of theLGRMs, the pitot inadvertently retracts thegear during the landing roll in the rush toclean up the airplane.Avoid touch-and-go practice in retractableoirplanes.A lot happens in a very short timeduring a touch and go, and many times thepilot inadvertently retracts the landing gear(instead of flops), causing a mishap. Makeall your landings full stop to reinforce thediscipline of stopping before reconfiguringthe airplane.If you're on instructor, don't try to conduct acheckout in on airplane with which you'renot completely familiar. Do yourself a favorby finding on instructor expert in a newairplane'soperation, if you're not familiar withthe type.Be vigilant. You're the lost line of defense inavoiding a gear-related occident.LGRMs put pilots at physical andfinancial ri sk_ They remove good airplanesfrom the active inventory andresult in increased insurance cost asunderwriters pay to repair airplanes. Itcan happen to any of us if we let ourguard down. Landing-gear disciplinerequires new traffic-pattern and instrumentapproach skills for pilots accustomedto flying fixed-gear airplanes,and gear procedures for one make ofairplane may differ significantly fromanother.Do spend as long as it takes in anairplane when conducting a retractablegearcheckout or transition so that youcan join the ranks of those who won't,The American Bonanza Sodety is pleased to partnerwith INTRUST Bank, an outstanding financial Institutionlocated in Wichita, Kansas - home of the Beech Bonanza!A S Plalinuprovides valuable financial support for ASS.ABS Platinum Visa®Call today to apply for the ABS Platinum lisa. You'll get:• 'REE Getaway Miles Air Travel & Vacation Rewards Program - eachdollar spent earns points toward air travel and vacation rewa rds .• 'REE $5,000 Personal tdentifyTheft coverage - covers to theftexpenses incurred if your identity is stolen• 'REE Auto Rentat Collision Coverage• 'REE Zero liability Protection on unauthorizedtransactionsTake off witll til. ABS Platinum Visatoday! Simply call 800·222·1458 to apply.\IIIl.\TRUST Card Center"Unique to the ABS Visa -Parts discount through Beech's RAPID!ABS September 2008 www.bononzo.org Page 10959
Page 1 and 2: DD1 ~\ J\ G J\ Z I I I r'C
Page 3 and 4: Volume 08 Number 9Published by Amer
Page 5 and 6: AirVenture 2008AirVenturewas anothe
Page 7 and 8: EQUIPMENTLIST -969 Boron - N211 EBS
Page 9 and 10: EDUCATIONAL SEMINARS: Something for
Page 11 and 12: custom panel , tailored to the need
Page 13 and 14: LEGACY AIR, INC. - www.legacyair.or
Page 15 and 16: "I wonder how much longer it wouldh
Page 17 and 18: This is the story of one of my stup
Page 19 and 20: Answers are marked with initials of
Page 21 and 22: Make sure that the felt liner on th
Page 23 and 24: FAA INFORMATIONAD 2008-14-07-INSPEC
Page 25 and 26: JacketsRidgeline Jacket - Wind-resi
Page 27 and 28: are connected in series, withthe hi
Page 29 and 30: emoved from the inboard ruel transm
Page 31: •AFT CABIN DRAFT R~ Ie A.LSHIDDEN
Page 35 and 36: IF elrer" pilot Iftelftber of ASS w
Page 37 and 38: Odor after WAAS upgradeRegarding th
Page 39 and 40: GENERAL AVIATION NEWSTHREE-BLADED T
Page 41 and 42: Irequired slightly less than nine m
Page 43 and 44: SWBS group and their planes in the
Page 45 and 46: HOW TO WIN THE ABS $ 700HAMBURGER (
Page 47 and 48: •The CRM21 00 is TSO'd & STC'd as

1 ~\ J\ G J\ Z I I I r' - American Bonanza Society

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?