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Unread 10-10-06, 12:55 PM
Ernie Martin's Avatar
Ernie Martin Ernie Martin is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2002
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Not on purpose, but, yes, it's happened and the results were spectacular: essentially zero damage to the aircraft. This was reported at the Skymaster fly-in and meeting in Oklahoma City in 2004 by Lynn Justice, an American missionary in Latin America who uses his Skymaster with a cargo pod to ferry supplies to several of the schools that his family runs. He reported that in in one instance his gear failed to extend so he belly landed it (with the pod on). An inspection showed no damage to the aircraft. Also, the damage to the pod was moderate; it did not fail structurally (become crushed), and the damage was limited to scarring of the pod's lower surface, some of them deep (I can't remember if the scars were so deep as to result in holes). The pod was repaired locally with fiberglass.

This is my recollection from Lynn's statements, and I believe that they are accurate. If others present at the Oklahoma City meeting remember differently, please feel free to let us know.

Ernie
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