Gear up landings can happen to ANYONE...

Dudley Henriques wrote:

About distraction and the cross check;
It's for this exact reason we do the cross check.
Distraction is something that every instructor working in the complex
environment should be dealing with from the first hour of dual with a pilot
moving up into complex aircraft. In fact, it's SO important, it should be
treated as a formal step into the complex checkout scenario.

The way the instructor handles this single issue will either produce a pilot
who has a habit pattern that will stay with him/her the rest of their flying
days, or simply one more pilot pushed through the complex checkout stage who
is a gear up landing waiting to happen. The role of the complex check pilot
is CRITICAL in creating this habit pattern in the pilot being trained.

The way it's handled will of course vary from instructor to instructor.

I suggest introducing the issue of distraction during the FIRST dual session
with a complex transition pilot; first stressing it's existence and dangers
in the retract gear environment in the multi-task scenario, then stressing
the need for the gear cross check on final.
Now this seems normal enough at first glance, and naturally every instructor
will do this.
But wait........there's more to creating a habit pattern in a pilot then the
first step!!!!!!!

Usually at this point, this information is simply digested by the trainee as
one more thing to remember, but the seed is planted. The next stage is
critical. Just planting the seed for a needed habit pattern is not nearly
enough, and this unfortunately is where many complex instructors fumble the
ball.
On EVERY FLIGHT with a complex trainee, before the flight, during the
flight, and after the flight, the need for the cross check on final should
be RE-INTRODUCED by the instructor. In other words, this single facet of a
complex checkout should be repeated on each flight several times. By doing
this, the CONSTANT REPETITION of a single item becomes ingrained as a
conditioned mental reflex that will function in a distraction environment.
Also, one more thing on distraction;
The cross check is SO important, and SO critical, that the way it should be
taught is that ANYTHING causing a break in the cross check requires a
RECHECK of the cross check itself!!.
The end result of all this is hopefully a pilot with a highly trained mental
trigger concerning his/her final cross check who will be on final and half
way through the final pre landing cross check as a distraction occurs. The
pilot will AUTOMATICALLY handle the distraction, then REDO the final cross
check.

If you train yourself to this level of awareness about your final cross
check, you should be just fine in the complex environment.
One additional thing; your "concern" about making a gear up landing is
actually a desired result of proper training for a complex pilot. It's this
"concern" that defines the edge that triggers the cross check.
So relax......you're perfectly normal!! :-)))))))
Dudley Henriques

I've been fortunate to have had three instructors (primary, instrument
and retractable check-out) who not only taught the above, they gave lots
of practice by causing distractions almost all of the time. My
instrument instructor was so bad that I flew virtually all training
flights with something "not working." The only flight that didn't have
a failed instrument was the final prep flight for the check ride. I
then began to get distracted wondering why he wasn't introducing any
distractions. It was eerie.

Matt