On Sun, 23 Mar 2008 02:13:23 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip
wrote:

Roger wrote in
:


Some years back I watched a guy in a Mooney try a go-around after the
gear failed to jack it up high enough for the prop to quit leaving
chaw marks. He (or the guy in the right seat) realized the folly in
that and then gave up. Starting at the numbers there was a line of
chaw marks fairly far apart which suddenly got real close together.
Then there was a couple hundred feet of clean runway followed by more
wide spaced chaw marks and then skid marks. He slid over half a mile
before leaving the runway.

Sorry, I'm a bit confused. How did it happen? it just wasn;t down to
begin with or did it begin to retract after touchdown?

The guy "said" the gear failed when they set down but my take was he
hit the gear down switch right after that terrible noise started up
front, or too late to prevent it. In either case it appears to me the
thing was trying to raise the plane before the gear was fully
extended. The nose gear doors were still closed as well..
One we had the plane in the harness we were able to lower the gear
with the exception of the starboard side which had the long push rod
badly bent. That we had to drive a 2 X 6 into place to hold it down.

He was about a half mile from me at the numbers and the Mooney sits
very close to the ground so something could have failed as it set
down on the gear which would have been difficult for me to see, but
....

OTOH this was the first flight after the annual.:-))



I had a drag link fail on a Twin Beech landing once and we went off the
side of the runway and bent the prop. they just bolted a new one on
overnight and we were flying it the next day.

Bertie
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com