Gear up landings can happen to ANYONE...

On 2006-06-08, Dudley Henriques wrote:
the need for the gear cross check on final.

Is anyone aware of any techniques for stopping the gear cross check after
the plane is put away in the hangar and you're driving home? I still find
myself thinking, "Oh my god, did I put the gear down for that landing?"
when I'm a few miles away from the airport in my car...

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

Are you married?
This is a syndrome common to the married male pilot. It usually begins on
the way home from a trip to the store where the wife of the pilot has giving
him a list of items to bring home.
The symtoms involve the car having to be waiting for a light to change half
way home ; fingers gently tapping on the top of the steering wheel; and
thoughts of a wife looking at the pilot in disbelief as she tells him.
"I can't BELIEVE you went to the store and forgot the ONE item I REALLY
needed!"
If this has happened to you, don't worry. You're normal like the rest of us
:-)
Dudley Henriques

"Ben Jackson" wrote in message
...
On 2006-06-08, Dudley Henriques wrote:
the need for the gear cross check on final.

Is anyone aware of any techniques for stopping the gear cross check after
the plane is put away in the hangar and you're driving home? I still find
myself thinking, "Oh my god, did I put the gear down for that landing?"
when I'm a few miles away from the airport in my car...

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

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

Ben Jackson wrote:

On 2006-06-08, Dudley Henriques wrote:

the need for the gear cross check on final.


Is anyone aware of any techniques for stopping the gear cross check after
the plane is put away in the hangar and you're driving home? I still find
myself thinking, "Oh my god, did I put the gear down for that landing?"
when I'm a few miles away from the airport in my car...

Sorry, I can't help you. I relax as soon as the hangar door closes. :-)


Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...

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

It sounds like you have had a rock solid learning curve that by it's very
definition, is ongoing, and will continue on with you as long as you fly.
DH

On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 16:33:54 -0500, Ben Jackson wrote:

On 2006-06-08, Dudley Henriques wrote:
the need for the gear cross check on final.

Is anyone aware of any techniques for stopping the gear cross check after
the plane is put away in the hangar and you're driving home? I still find
myself thinking, "Oh my god, did I put the gear down for that landing?"
when I'm a few miles away from the airport in my car...

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/


After just reading this I had to make a trip to the airport to check
mine.

Regards
Daveb

Yes, BUT. I was talking to a tower controller, and he told of the time he check
a plane on final,. The pilot had his gear up. The controller said "XXXXX GEAR
DOWN." And the pilot said "Roger, gear down" and the preceded to land gear up.


On 7 Jun 2006 21:00:32 -0700, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:

I thought the military had someone who's just is specifically to watch
the planes come in and ensure the gear is down. When I've flown on base
in my Mooney they've had such a guy.

-Robert

GeorgeC

"GeorgeC" wrote in message
...
Yes, BUT. I was talking to a tower controller, and he told of the time he
check
a plane on final,. The pilot had his gear up. The controller said "XXXXX
GEAR
DOWN." And the pilot said "Roger, gear down" and the preceded to land gear
up.

Point of note;

When told something like this by someone over the radio, the right thing to
do, even if the voice tells you exactly what is wrong and what to do, is to
treat it as a warning to recheck the airplane's configuration.
At that point you should do nothing automatically. The correct response is
to back up and recheck for a properly configured airplane by redoing the
final check.
If any doubt exists and/or there is no time to perform a recheck before
crossing the threshold, go around and set up again for another landing.
Dudley Henriques

Is anyone aware of any techniques for stopping the gear cross check after
the plane is put away in the hangar and you're driving home? I still find
myself thinking, "Oh my god, did I put the gear down for that landing?"
when I'm a few miles away from the airport in my car...

After just reading this I had to make a trip to the airport to check
mine.

Do you remember the trip from the runway to where you parked?

If you had to use full power to taxi, you "might have" forgotten to put them
down. g

Such an oldie, but it fit here so nicely!
--
Jim in NC

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
nk.net...
Are you married?
This is a syndrome common to the married male pilot. It usually begins on
the way home from a trip to the store where the wife of the pilot has
giving him a list of items to bring home.
The symtoms involve the car having to be waiting for a light to change
half way home ; fingers gently tapping on the top of the steering wheel;
and thoughts of a wife looking at the pilot in disbelief as she tells him.
"I can't BELIEVE you went to the store and forgot the ONE item I REALLY
needed!"
If this has happened to you, don't worry. You're normal like the rest of
us :-)
Dudley Henriques

Like, for example, wife asks you to go to the grocery store and you return
after spending an hour and a half, two hours.... at the (Insert: hardware,
sporting goods, etc) store having never gotten to the grocery store at all.


--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO (MTJ)