N2334S Gear up landing in Dothan, AL

[kdiel11]

Originally Posted by Skymaster337B

I think some one else posted on this site that they banged (kicked) the hyd pack to make the shuttle selinoid un-stick. Additionally, I hear a cargo pod will keep the air frame off the ground while gear up.

perhaps negative g's would have worked to lock the mains down...but who knows.

That would have been something to try. I know it is on the pilot's side somewhere, but not exactly sure where. It does sound as though that was our problem. We did perform dive pull-outs (positive g's trying to get them to lock) and my friend thinks he heard them hit the forward stop but they never locked. Another thing might have been to see if it released after we shut down the forward engine. KD

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate mishap and glad to hear you are ok.

In discussion with Tom Carr a couple years ago regarding landing gear failing to come down, he had said if this happens to shut the master switch off for 5 or maybe 10 minutes. The reason you need to do this is to let the solenoid in the power pack cool down.

If it does turn out to be a faulty solenoid, it can be changed in situ. I had to change mine. They are fairly expensive but after some research I found alternate part numbers which brings the price down considerably.

[Skymaster337B]

Originally Posted by kdiel11

That would have been something to try. I know it is on the pilot's side somewhere, but not exactly sure where. It does sound as though that was our problem. We did perform dive pull-outs (positive g's trying to get them to lock) and my friend thinks he heard them hit the forward stop but they never locked. Another thing might have been to see if it released after we shut down the forward engine. KD

I think positive g's work for the nose gear, but negative g's might work for the mains. Reason, nose gear must come down and aft to lock, while the mains must go forward and down to lock. That's why I think positive g's will push the main gear aft towards the retract position..but negative g's might push the mains forward to the down and locked position.

[kdiel11]

Originally Posted by Skymaster337B

I think positive g's work for the nose gear, but negative g's might work for the mains. Reason, nose gear must come down and aft to lock, while the mains must go forward and down to lock. That's why I think positive g's will push the main gear aft towards the retract position..but negative g's might push the mains forward to the down and locked position.

We also did the negative g's as well, but the only thing the gear did was go back up into the wheel well.

[Skymaster337B]

Originally Posted by kdiel11

We also did the negative g's as well, but the only thing the gear did was go back up into the wheel well.

Thanks for the clarification. That is good info to know.

[kdiel11]

I was just looking at the pictures I got from the Airfield Safety Ofc. It appears as if there is a definite "wrinkle" in the fuselage skin in the left rear lower sheet metal (about the same place as where the cargo door is on the other side). I've talked with a couple of other folks about this and they are in agreement with me that it is likely secondary to fuselage warpage at that point just forward of the main bulkhead for the rear engine. We were vertical for the last couple of feet. It was enough force for the nose piece of my sunglasses to scrape the skin off of my nose. I'm thinking it may have been enough to cause the rear engine to flex downward, transmit that energy to the bulkhead and then to the fuselage outer skin. If my assumptions are correct, it probably condemns the airframe without getting major work on the back of the plane. Thoughts? KD

[kdiel11]

Oh! One other thing....... I hope your wife won't do this to you, what mine did to me. I called her to come and pick us up at the firehouse. So we are waiting there with several other firemen, policemen and a lady front he local FBO when my wife shows up and tosses me a clean pair of underwear and says, "I thought you might need these." Talk about kicking a guy on the ground! My daughter thinks I now am the real version of "Mayhem" on the commercials. Just because I have rolled 3 lawnmowers on steep hills, got a boat stuck on a piling and then ran it out of gas a couple of miles from our dock and then burned one to the waterline, does not make me "Mayhem" does it? KD

[jchronic]

Sounds to me like after all that you should have all the bad ju-ju out of your system and are good to go!

Nice work handling the situation. Been there twice; once in a Navy fighter and once in an F-27.

Joe