I wonder how the NTSB on this one will read...

[Dave S]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2888090

Plane lands in field near runway

A two-engine plane landed on its belly in a grassy field next to the
runway at Weiser Air Park in northwest Harris County on Saturday. The
pilot was able to land the plane after the left-wing wheel fell off,
according to the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department. No one was injured
in the landing.

KEYQ in Houston is Weiser

Dave

[NW_PILOT]

"Dave S" > wrote in message
ink.net...
>
> http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2888090
>
> Plane lands in field near runway
>
> A two-engine plane landed on its belly in a grassy field next to the
> runway at Weiser Air Park in northwest Harris County on Saturday. The
> pilot was able to land the plane after the left-wing wheel fell off,
> according to the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department. No one was injured
> in the landing.
>
> KEYQ in Houston is Weiser
>
> Dave
>

I would think Grass is better than the pavement with no wheels or one
missing

[Richard Hertz]

"NW_PILOT" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Dave S" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
>>
>> http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2888090
>>
>> Plane lands in field near runway
>>
>> A two-engine plane landed on its belly in a grassy field next to the
>> runway at Weiser Air Park in northwest Harris County on Saturday. The
>> pilot was able to land the plane after the left-wing wheel fell off,
>> according to the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department. No one was injured
>> in the landing.
>>
>> KEYQ in Houston is Weiser
>>
>> Dave
>>
>
> I would think Grass is better than the pavement with no wheels or one
> missing

Some disagree - saying you can skid on hard surface - grass/turf allows
something to dig in and coming to a dangerously quick halt rather than
dissipating energy over more time.

>
>

[Larry Dighera]

On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 06:54:55 -0800, "NW_PILOT" > wrote
in >::

>
> I would think Grass is better than the pavement with no wheels or one
>missing

Better for what? While a gear-up landing on grass may result in less
aluminum loss, it increases the hazard of flipping.

[Tobias Schnell]

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 13:00:25 GMT, Dave S >
wrote:
>A two-engine plane landed on its belly in a grassy field next to the
>runway at Weiser Air Park in northwest Harris County on Saturday. The

>KEYQ in Houston is Weiser

Isn't TwinCo-Michael flying out of Weiser?

Regards
Tobias

[C J Campbell]

"NW_PILOT" > wrote in message
...
> >
>
> I would think Grass is better than the pavement with no wheels or one
> missing

It is much worse. Grass can hide potholes and rocks. The nose of the
airplane can dig into the soft dirt and flip the plane over. A wing can dig
in and cause a ground loop. Dry grass is just one more thing that can catch
fire.

Airplanes that land gear up on pavement usually suffer minimal damage,
especially if the engine is stopped and the propeller is horizontal. Damage
is often limited to some scrapes on the belly and wingtips.

[Ron Natalie]

C J Campbell wrote:

> Airplanes that land gear up on pavement usually suffer minimal damage,
> especially if the engine is stopped and the propeller is horizontal. Damage
> is often limited to some scrapes on the belly and wingtips.
>
I've seen the results of people landing Navion's on dry pavement. If
you keep the wings level you pertty much just loose the step, the flap
hinge and whatever antennas are sticking out the bottom.

[Dale]

In article >,
Ron Natalie > wrote:


> I've seen the results of people landing Navion's on dry pavement. If
> you keep the wings level you pertty much just loose the step, the flap
> hinge and whatever antennas are sticking out the bottom.

Over the years I watched aircraft Cardinals and Arrows up through King
Airs, C-82s and 727s land gear up on pavement. Not once was there a
fire or extensive damage to the aircraft. There was another King Air
that landed gear up. The decision was made to blow snow back onto the
runway for him to set the airplane down in. Bad idea. It damage the
engine intakes, ripped panels of the wing and belly, lots of damage
compared to something landing on pavement.

If it happens to me I'm finding a long, wide strip of pavement somewhere
to put the airplane.

--
Dale L. Falk

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing around with airplanes.

http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html

[Capt.Doug]

>"NW_PILOT" wrote in message > I would think Grass is better than the
>pavement with no wheels or one missing

No. The grass and dirt under you are not uniform in density. The airframe
will slide over a section of soft dirt and sink. Then the airframe will
slide into a section of hard dirt and stop suddenly. Sudden deceleration is
your enemy. Hard surfaces are much better for belly landings. Most
fire-rescue departments don't foam runways anymore to keep the slide to a
minimum so you don't slide off the side of the runway into the grass.

D.

[Tina Marie]

In article >, Tobias Schnell wrote:
>>A two-engine plane landed on its belly in a grassy field next to the
>>runway at Weiser Air Park in northwest Harris County on Saturday. The
>
>>KEYQ in Houston is Weiser
>
> Isn't TwinCo-Michael flying out of Weiser?

Yes, but it wasn't Michael. It wasn't a twin, it wasn't a gear-up landing,
and it wasn't a grassy field next to the runway.

It was a Warrior (something-92C), the left main fell apart on takeoff
from West Houston, they brought it back to Weiser, where they did
a picture-perfect landing on the grass runway. CFI and student.

Tina Marie
(also based at EYQ)
--
http://www.tripacerdriver.com "...One of the main causes
of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way
to indicate successful termination of their C programs." (Robert Firth)
Ye

[Ron Natalie]

Dale wrote:

> If it happens to me I'm finding a long, wide strip of pavement somewhere
> to put the airplane.
>

Also, there was that DC-9 that did a beautiful gear up down in Texas
(Houston?) when they forgot to turn up the hydaulics. (At least in
the Navion you can't move the lever when you forget to turn the hydraulics
on).

[Dylan Smith]

In article >, Ron Natalie wrote:
> Also, there was that DC-9 that did a beautiful gear up down in Texas
> (Houston?) when they forgot to turn up the hydaulics. (At least in
> the Navion you can't move the lever when you forget to turn the hydraulics
> on).

It was Houston (I was living there at the time). The DC-9 slid 7000 feet
on its belly at IAH.

It was a failure of CRM. The captain, who was flying, was gruff sort who
was griping about the weather and how it was going to ruin his tennis
plans. The first officer, well aware of something being wrong was
unwilling to challenge the captain because he had previously been
disciplined for challenging a captain.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

[Ron Natalie]

Dylan Smith wrote:
> In article >, Ron Natalie wrote:
>
>>Also, there was that DC-9 that did a beautiful gear up down in Texas
>>(Houston?) when they forgot to turn up the hydaulics. (At least in
>>the Navion you can't move the lever when you forget to turn the hydraulics
>>on).
>
>
> It was Houston (I was living there at the time). The DC-9 slid 7000 feet
> on its belly at IAH.
>
> It was a failure of CRM. The captain, who was flying, was gruff sort who
> was griping about the weather and how it was going to ruin his tennis
> plans. The first officer, well aware of something being wrong was
> unwilling to challenge the captain because he had previously been
> disciplined for challenging a captain.
>

Yes, I remember...the culmination was the FO saying "somethings not right"
and the captain saying "I got it."

[Michael]

Dave S > wrote
> Plane lands in field near runway
>
> A two-engine plane landed on its belly in a grassy field next to the
> runway at Weiser Air Park in northwest Harris County on Saturday. The
> pilot was able to land the plane after the left-wing wheel fell off,
> according to the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department. No one was injured
> in the landing.
>
> KEYQ in Houston is Weiser

Believe less of what you read.

The plane was the rare and unusual Twin Cherokee. Well, not really.
It was a flight school Warrior. The left main simply fell off one
fine day. Those of you familiar with the gear system will know that
the scissors assembly contains three bolts. Two of them are
castle-nutted and cotter-pinned. Loss of any one of them will be
sufficient to lose the gear assembly on takeoff, which is exactly what
happened. We won't discuss why the bolt(s) departed. It's a rental.

The pilot (CFI) landed on the crossing grass strip, which is
designated emergency use only, on the advice of another pilot - sort
of an elder statesman on the airport. I personally do not concur with
that advice - I would have opted for pavement for all the reasons
already given in this thread - but I wasn't on the radio. I was
standing by with a fire extinguisher in a truck by the end of the
runway in case the fire department didn't show.

The pilot (CFI) also elected to land flaps up, on the advice of the
same pilot. What I think of that suggestion (offered on base at that)
does not bear repeating, but once again I was not in a position to do
anything.

The pilot (CFI) did an EXCELLENT job. He burned most of the fuel out
of the left tank. The landing was made at minimum airspeed (for flaps
up), the mixture was pulled in the flare, and the left wing (the one
without the gear) was kept as light as possible as long as possible.
When the plane got too slow to keep the left wing up, it dropped into
the grass and the plane skidded around about 90 degrees to the left.
There was minor damage to the left flap and that was about it, as far
as I can tell.

A mechanic was standing by with the gear. We lifted the wing, he
popped in the gear, and the plane was towed to the shop. Then
everyone went home, and I went flying.

I don't see why there would be an NTSB report at all. The damage to
the plane was minor, and all of the sort specifically excluded from
the definiion of significant damage.

Michael

[Blueskies]

"Michael" > wrote in message om...
> Dave S > wrote
>> Plane lands in field near runway
>>
>> A two-engine plane landed on its belly in a grassy field next to the
>> runway at Weiser Air Park in northwest Harris County on Saturday. The
>> pilot was able to land the plane after the left-wing wheel fell off,
>> according to the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department. No one was injured
>> in the landing.
>>
>> KEYQ in Houston is Weiser
>
> Believe less of what you read.
>
> The plane was the rare and unusual Twin Cherokee. Well, not really.
> It was a flight school Warrior. The left main simply fell off one
> fine day. Those of you familiar with the gear system will know that
> the scissors assembly contains three bolts. Two of them are
> castle-nutted and cotter-pinned. Loss of any one of them will be
> sufficient to lose the gear assembly on takeoff, which is exactly what
> happened. We won't discuss why the bolt(s) departed. It's a rental.
>
> The pilot (CFI) landed on the crossing grass strip, which is
> designated emergency use only, on the advice of another pilot - sort
> of an elder statesman on the airport. I personally do not concur with
> that advice - I would have opted for pavement for all the reasons
> already given in this thread - but I wasn't on the radio. I was
> standing by with a fire extinguisher in a truck by the end of the
> runway in case the fire department didn't show.
>
> The pilot (CFI) also elected to land flaps up, on the advice of the
> same pilot. What I think of that suggestion (offered on base at that)
> does not bear repeating, but once again I was not in a position to do
> anything.
>
> The pilot (CFI) did an EXCELLENT job. He burned most of the fuel out
> of the left tank. The landing was made at minimum airspeed (for flaps
> up), the mixture was pulled in the flare, and the left wing (the one
> without the gear) was kept as light as possible as long as possible.
> When the plane got too slow to keep the left wing up, it dropped into
> the grass and the plane skidded around about 90 degrees to the left.
> There was minor damage to the left flap and that was about it, as far
> as I can tell.
>
> A mechanic was standing by with the gear. We lifted the wing, he
> popped in the gear, and the plane was towed to the shop. Then
> everyone went home, and I went flying.
>
> I don't see why there would be an NTSB report at all. The damage to
> the plane was minor, and all of the sort specifically excluded from
> the definiion of significant damage.
>
> Michael

How did they know the wheel fell off?

[Michael]

"Blueskies" > wrote
> How did they know the wheel fell off?

They were told on the radio, as they approached for landing minus a wheel.

Michael

[[email protected]]

In article >, "Blueskies" > writes:
>
>
> How did they know the wheel fell off?
>
>

They had been doing landings at West Houston airport (where
most landing training is done for students out of Weiser, since
Weiser's landing strip is no wider than a postage stamp, and
the winds are crosswinds almost all the time), and the wheel
fell off on the runway there after their last one, as they were
departing back to Weiser. Someone at West Houston notcied it and
told 'em by radio. Leastwise, that's what the guys at the FBO
told me. Good thing they didn't decide to do one more
touch & go, nicht wahr?


I was booked for a lesson in that plane (Warrior 92C) the next hour,
so I just barely missed out on seeing this happen, first hand.
I've had to endure a lot of ribbing about the fact that I did
almost all of my training in that plane (including lots of
landings...). I'm now training in one of the other Warriors
there ( 5ST, it has new upholstery!).

Lee K. Gleason N5ZMR
Control-G Consultants