337 Gear Up Landing

[Dale Campbell]

Here is a good example of what to do if gear will not come down. Does anyone know who it was. Dale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbZlgHofgrI

[Ernie Martin]

Great video. One question: better on the grass or the runway? I had always been told that it's safer and there would be less damage to the aircraft on the runway. This pilot thought differently, and the results suggest that it might have been the right choice.

Ernie

[Dale Campbell]

My personal though is, if you know the grass area is smooth with no ruts with good approach like a known smooth grass strip and maybe wet grass there would less damage to belly. There is another plane a 182Rg on that same site that did the gear up landing. the 182RG slide further and slide off runway to the left and all you could hear was metal being ground off. You could also hear the warning horn sounding in the background, but the pilot and co-pilot where to busy talking to notice gear horn sounding. We use to land a PA-11 Cub with floats, on morning wet grass, when it came winter, to remove floats. Dale

[rick bell]

landing on pavement actually creates very little damage. in my case a slight belly damage maybe 12 inch square(just the skin not any stringers) right at the back where is large clam doors were (deleted it with a mod).so it just eats the strut doors, which acts like skis. the big problem IS - WHAT POSITION IS THE BACK PROP IN? if someone isn't talking to you (ie tower) as in my case the tower did'nt ansewer and after waisting 30sec time to open the door, shut off the gas and master. oh it stops just as fast as that video of the landing on the grass.

[Paul462]

I like Lynn Justice's approach (he attended the OK City SOAPA Fly-In from Guatemala a few years ago).

His 337 had a cargo pod, so when his gear wouldn't come down to land at La Aurora (Guatemala City) he feathered the front prop and nudged it horizontal with the starter, landed flat (on the cargo pod) so as not to strike the still-running rear prop, and slid to a stop on the cargo pod on the concrete runway.

The bottom of the cargo pod was scraped up some (it was still useable, though), so he jacked up the plane, got the gear extended, and taxiid off with no damage. :-)

[hharney]

It's at Coventry Airport, maybe in UK because that is where the posting is from. By the looks of the firetrucks and background it looks to be across the pond somewhere. Dad had the main gear collapse once in the first Skymaster we had, N5464S (look that one up on the FAA site, nasty ending) and the nose wheel stayed locked but the mains folded back. Actually not a lot of damage except for the prop on the rear. Of course he didn't know anything was wrong so it was all a surprise. No engine shutdown or fuel off or door open.