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Hangar Flying / Gear Up Landing (No, not that kind!)
« on: August 15, 2006, 01:18:40 PM »
Monday (Aug 14) upon departure from Santa Fe, NM - the nosewheel on my LongEZ sheared off the axle just as we rotated. Not sure if this was due to shimmy or possibly hitting a rut (never saw it if so). Nosewheel ended up misaligned by aprox 120 degrees, due to this the gear would not fully retract. Decided to return to Gillespie due to lower field elevation (385 vs 6300 ft). Landing was benign, very uneventful - aircraft suffered no damage to glass, just some minor scraping of the nose gear. Tower crew at Gillespie did a great job, lots of traffic and radio chatter - they kept distractions down at all times.
My most interesting observation was the "cushioning effect" provided by the gear as the nose settled, seemed very gentle. Directional control was no different than normal, I doubt even a bit of a crosswind would have posed much in the way of added difficulties. News 8's helicopter managed to position themselves perfectly to film the "non-event", don't know if it was Seau's retirement or the lack of drama that kept this off the evening news - a nice turn of events either way.
My "hindsight take" on this is that, if faced with the choice - even a partially retracted gear is a far better choice than down and locked with a disabled wheel.
The situation was also enhanced by the presence of the right kind of passenger - mine kept her concerns to herself, she never once showed signs of nervousness.
I would appreciate any feedback pertaining to a more robust wheel design. As I understand, a shimmy dampener was installed on my nosegear. This is one EZ pilot that is actually glad to have joined "the club" ("those who have, those who will").
My most interesting observation was the "cushioning effect" provided by the gear as the nose settled, seemed very gentle. Directional control was no different than normal, I doubt even a bit of a crosswind would have posed much in the way of added difficulties. News 8's helicopter managed to position themselves perfectly to film the "non-event", don't know if it was Seau's retirement or the lack of drama that kept this off the evening news - a nice turn of events either way.
My "hindsight take" on this is that, if faced with the choice - even a partially retracted gear is a far better choice than down and locked with a disabled wheel.
The situation was also enhanced by the presence of the right kind of passenger - mine kept her concerns to herself, she never once showed signs of nervousness.
I would appreciate any feedback pertaining to a more robust wheel design. As I understand, a shimmy dampener was installed on my nosegear. This is one EZ pilot that is actually glad to have joined "the club" ("those who have, those who will").