Gear Warning

"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
...
Stanford Korwin wrote:

No one, as far as I know, has ever been hurt while
landing wheel-up - but there have been a number of
injuries to those losing control while trying to lower
the u/c at the last minute.

It seems a very rare event, at least in the US, as I don't remember any.
Perhaps some US pilots can offer examples. I do know a number of people
that have landed wheel up, of course. I can remember an incident where a
gear up landing at a small airstrip blocked the runway long enough to
making it difficult for the other landing gliders to do so safely.
Another incident that blocked a runway triggered an accident - no
injuries, fortunately, but the landing glider was damaged.

So, my experience is it's generally better to have the pilot get the
gear down, though I would hesitate to say anything on the radio if the
glider was already close to the ground. Certainly letting a pilot land
gear up on a wide grass runway, which would not be blocked and causes no
damage to glider, is the safest procedure. Narrow paved runways may tilt
the safety judgment in the other direction.

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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

I've looked at the aftermath of a few two seater gear-up landings. The
posterior of the rear seat occupant got perilously close to the highly
abrasive runway surface before it stopped grinding away the bottom of the
fuselage. Not all gear-up's may be benign.

Bill Daniels