Gear up landing in Maryland yesterday

First, what a gorgeous video and a beautiful plane!

Also, he shut down both engines just before landing and once down, stayed right on the center line.

The icing on the cake was getting out, putting his hands in his pockets and hanging out.
 
That cat was cooler than the other side of the pillow... Good job...
 
SInce the props never hit the ground is this just something you can buff out and fly again ?
 
He was circling for a while trying to get it to go down. In the meantime, it looks like they brought a foam-truck from Pax River for standby.
 
PilotRPI said:
He wins the smooth pilot award. Extra points for killing the engines so they stop about 2 secs before touchdown AND horizontal.
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And he really lucked out. Two bladed props and they both stopped horizontal.

ETA: I didn't see you already said horizontal.
 
Impressive....buy that man a beer...
 
I give him two props, but I still wouldn't shut down the engines in his shoes. I'd rather have the overhaul and not be overloaded during the landing, and have the option for a go-round.
 
Salty said:
I give him two props, but I still wouldn't shut down the engines in his shoes. I'd rather have the overhaul and not be overloaded during the landing, and have the option for a go-round.
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It's really not a work intensive procedure to pull mixtures.
I would agree about a go around, but he truly shut them down at the last second. No chance of a go around at that point imo.
 
too much luck involved. I'll take all the advantages I can get to land as smooth as possible without messing with mixtures. My luck, the prop would windmill and strike anyway. I'm not completely convinced the right prop didn't hit the ground for him even, although not under power.
 
Salty said:
too much luck involved. I'll take all the advantages I can get to land as smooth as possible without messing with mixtures. My luck, the prop would windmill and strike anyway. I'm not completely convinced the right prop didn't hit the ground for him even, although not under power.
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Indeed there was some luck involved.
 
Talk about dealing with a crappy situation about as perfectly as one could do.

Well done.
 
Salty said:
I give him two props, but I still wouldn't shut down the engines in his shoes. I'd rather have the overhaul and not be overloaded during the landing, and have the option for a go-round.
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Pulling the mixture would overload you? Hmm...
 
Bonchie said:
Someone would have fun turning this into one of those thug life memes. Him walking away with his hands in his pockets is hilarious.
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I was going to write the same thing haha
 
mscard88 said:
Pulling the mixture would overload you? Hmm...
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Man you are just being a real *$($ this week, no?

When landing with no gear, I want as little distraction as possible. Yes, adding another thing to try to time perfectly adds risk. Pretend like it doesn't if you want. We all aren't perfect pilots like you.
 
Depends on how I task loaded I am at that point if I would pull the mixture.
I likely would, more from a safety perspective. I have seen videos of planes landing gear up where the props hit and little pieces of stuff goes flying. There is an incredibly small chance it would hit anyone with the fire department so far down the runway or the pilot.
However, on most approaches I have done with twins, you carry power to just before the runway. In which case, instead of pulling the engine to idle I likely would cut the mixture.

Tim
 
Salty said:
Man you are just being a real *$($ this week, no?

When landing with no gear, I want as little distraction as possible. Yes, adding another thing to try to time perfectly adds risk. Pretend like it doesn't if you want. We all aren't perfect pilots like you.
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Easy man, I'm not claiming to be perfect but pulling mixture is in most checklists for forced landings correct? And that's what this turned into. I mean c'mon, we're talking 1-2 seconds to pull the 2 mixture controls together, doesn't matter if the it results in the props stopping horizontally either, preferred of course.
 
I don't know why, but in race cars after an accident the driver will climb out, take 2 or 3 steps, then turn around and look at the car before walking away. Could it be they are thinking, Maybe it really isn't that bad and we can fix it and get back into the race....??
 
Both engines stopping props horizontal. What are the odds? Whatever they are he beat them. Good job. His insurance company should lower his premiums for life. They raise them when you make claims and cost them money so why not the other way around. Anyway, someones gotta do it so I will. Why didn't he shut down one of them up there and 'horizontal' the blade and do the same to the other one on final when he had the field made. Yeah yeah, I know, bad idea. I did see it happen once. Two folk in the cockpit, both pilots. It was cool to watch. It was just the nose wheel that didn't extend and the only damage was to the paint. They fixed the gear issue and it was flying again in a few days.
 
Zeldman said:
I don't know why, but in race cars after an accident the driver will climb out, take 2 or 3 steps, then turn around and look at the car before walking away. Could it be they are thinking, Maybe it really isn't that bad and we can fix it and get back into the race....??
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I dunno, but when I flew a bit for Elliot Racing if the car was out of the race, we hauled ass to the airport and got ready to leave. Big boys don't hang around and pout about it.
 
Salty said:
I love him climbing out and sticking his hands in his pockets. Just another day.
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I need to start carrying a microphone when I fly. Only way to top the nonchalant stroll this guy did is a good mic drop

Of course I would forget that the plane is lower than usual, stumble when I try to step too far down off of the wing, and land on my face. So it won’t be cool. But I’ll still drop the mic after that.
 
iamtheari said:
I need to start carrying a microphone when I fly. Only way to top the nonchalant stroll this guy did is a good mic drop

Of course I would forget that the plane is lower than usual, stumble when I try to step too far down off of the wing, and land on my face. So it won’t be cool. But I’ll still drop the mic after that.
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:rofl:
 
I'm more curious what went wrong with the gear. The Comanche is all mechanical, no hydraulics, and the emergency extension is pretty simple. Something had to have jammed the gear up pretty good.
 
mscard88 said:
I dunno, but when I flew a bit for Elliot Racing if the car was out of the race, we hauled ass to the airport and got ready to leave. Big boys don't hang around and pout about it.
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No, they don't.

I watched Dale sr leave after he was crashed out at Rockingham. A bunch of people saw him get in the van, then flagged him down. He stopped and singed autographs until they were no more people, then hauled butt out of there. He was not at all happy to be crashed out but he did not disappoint the fans that wanted an autograph.
 
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