This happened a couple of weeks ago. I was out with a pre-solo student doing
maneuvers when we saw a Bonanza pass by us on his way to Shelton. We headed
back to Tacoma Narrows and as we pull onto the ramp we hear the Bonanza
requesting assistance from the tower because he cannot get a gear locked
light on his nose gear.

The tower is about to close for the evening but he promises to remain until
the Bonanza returns from Shelton. The Bonanza flies by and, sure enough, the
pilot is gay, er, the nose gear is only partially extended (sorry, I forgot
what thread I was in for a minute). Another plane is in the pattern and he
is told the Bonanza is about to make an emergency landing, but he does not
want to go anywhere; perhaps he just wants to see what happens.

Two planes approaching Tacoma Narrows fly in formation with the Bonanza as
various attempts to extend the gear fail. Nothing seems to work. The Bonanza
pilot asks everybody's advice whether to land on the pavement or on the
grass. The consensus is that the pavement is much better. He decides to wait
until the emergency vehicles arrive before attempting a landing.

Then we get an A&P on the radios. He makes several suggestions and none of
them seem to work, either. The fire trucks finally arrive and the Bonanza
pilot prepares for a gear up landing. The A&P suggests one last try at
manually extending the gear, this time at minimum controllable airspeed. The
mechanic says he has had similar experiences in other Bonanzas and that slow
airspeed seems to be the key. That works! The light comes on and the Bonanza
makes a normal landing, stopping on the runway. Not taking any chances, he
has his gear pinned and the airplane towed off the runway.

We all go home, glad that everything turned out all right and privileged to
watch these people all working together to make sure that things went the
way they did.

--
Christopher J. Campbell
World Famous Flight Instructor
Port Orchard, WA


For the Homeland!