Gear-up landings are often dismissed as embarrassing pilot mistakes, but landing gear mishaps are far more common, complicated, and expensive than many pilots realize. In this episode, Max talks with Tom Turner of the American Bonanza Society Air Safety Foundation about why gear-up landings and landing gear collapses continue to happen—and the operating habits and maintenance practices that can prevent them.
Turner says the Beechcraft Bonanza, Baron, Debonair, and Travel Air fleet averages about one reported landing gear mishap every week. Those events represent roughly 40 percent of the mishaps reported to the American Bonanza Society. And because many landing gear events do not meet NTSB reporting thresholds, Turner says contacts in the insurance, aircraft rebuilding, and salvage industries believe the actual number may be two to three times higher.
The problem is not unique to Beechcraft. Turner previously tracked landing gear events across piston retractable-gear aircraft and found comparable or even higher rates in some other types. Landing gear mishaps also have an outsized impact on aircraft insurance because a seemingly survivable gear-up landing can result in propeller damage, an engine teardown, belly damage, and repair costs high enough for an insurer to total the airplane.
Much of the conversation focuses on developing habits that make forgetting the landing gear less likely. Turner teaches the concept "gear down to go down." Rather than beginning the final descent simply by reducing power, landing gear extension becomes the event that initiates the descent from traffic pattern altitude or onto the final portion of an instrument approach.
He also teaches Gear Extension Altitude, or GEA. On a straight-in or other nonstandard arrival, the pilot selects an altitude below which the airplane will not descend until the landing gear has been extended and confirmed.
Max relates two occasions during his flying career when normal landing gear cues broke down. In one, while training in a Diamond DA42, he reached the flare before his instructor revealed that the gear was still up. In another, while flying a Vision Jet instrument approach, the normal glidepath cue used for gear extension never appeared. The airplane's warning system ultimately caught the omission.
That leads to one of Turner's strongest recommendations: regardless of when you normally extend the landing gear, establish a deliberate final gear confirmation on short final, around 400 to 500 feet AGL. If distraction, a changed traffic pattern, a go-around, or some other interruption causes you to miss your normal extension cue, that final check provides one more opportunity to catch the error.
Warning systems alone are not enough. Turner describes pilots who continued toward landing while gear warning horns sounded and bright warning lights flashed. During high workload, pilots may simply stop processing repetitive warnings. In multi-engine training, the problem can become particularly insidious because pilots may listen to a landing gear warning horn throughout a simulated engine-out exercise and effectively tune it out before landing.
Turner recommends using more than cockpit lights to verify the gear. Listen to the gear motor and notice whether it sounds normal. Feel and observe the expected change in drag and pitch. Compare airspeed, power, descent rate, and aircraft performance with what you normally expect. Then verify the cockpit indications. ABS even recommends holding the gear handle until this entire confirmation process is complete.
Go-arounds introduce another human-factors trap. Pilots may vividly remember extending the gear—but the memory may be from the previous trip around the pattern. Turner favors making a go-around resemble a normal takeoff, then using the same normal extension cue on the next approach. Whatever technique a pilot chooses, the key is consistency and making sure the cue will still occur following a go-around.
The discussion then turns to touch-and-go landings, which both Max and Tom strongly discourage in retractable-gear airplanes. A pilot reaching to retract the flaps can inadvertently select the landing gear instead. They similarly recommend not reconfiguring the airplane during the landing roll. Wait until the airplane is clear of the runway and preferably stopped on the taxiway before moving flap or similar controls.
And pilots should not assume squat switches will save them. Turner describes observations showing that systems tied to weight-on-wheels switches may not recognize the airplane as firmly on the ground until surprisingly late in the landing roll—and may switch to flight mode early during takeoff. Bumps and unloading of the landing gear can further reduce their effectiveness.
Gear collapses also have a significant maintenance component. At American Bonanza Society maintenance evaluation events, aircraft are placed on jacks and their landing gear rigging and downlock tensions are carefully inspected. Turner says it is not unusual for roughly two airplanes out of a 24-aircraft event to have gear tensions so far out of tolerance that the owners are advised not to fly until adjustments are made.
ABS considers improper rigging serious enough that it developed a 38-step landing gear inspection checklist to supplement normal Beechcraft inspection procedures.
Finally, Turner discusses what to do when the gear itself malfunctions. If the gear begins to extend and then jams, perhaps popping the motor circuit breaker, repeatedly cycling it may turn a damaged push rod or rod end into a complete failure. Instead, Turner recommends following the airplane's approved manual landing gear extension procedure, which can place less stress on a compromised system and may give the pilot the best chance of getting all the gear down.
The episode highlights the American Bonanza Society's Put Your Gear Down campaign, which makes decades of landing gear operating and maintenance information available to pilots of all retractable-gear airplanes. Its goal is simple: replace the familiar saying that there are "those who have and those who will" have a gear mishap with a third category—pilots who use disciplined operating and maintenance practices to make sure it never happens to them.
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There’s always something new happening above the clouds, and Aviation News Talk-Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News is where those stories come together. Host Max Trescott, with four decades of experience flying general aviation aircraft, doesn’t just report the news-he breaks it down from a pilot’s perspective. This podcast serves as a regular hangar session, blending the latest updates with practical knowledge you can use. You’ll hear detailed technical discussions on systems like the G1000 and Perspective glass cockpits, learn the intricacies of flying GPS approaches, and get safety tips that are relevant whether you’re just starting out or have thousands of hours in your logbook.
As an active flight instructor and a Platinum Cirrus CSIP, Max brings his daily experiences straight from the cockpit to each episode. He regularly answers listener questions and hosts interviews that delve into the real-world challenges and joys of flying. The conversation is grounded in a deep commitment to safety and education, aiming to help both current and future pilots navigate the skies with greater confidence. Tune in for a straightforward, informative take on general aviation that feels like getting advice from a trusted mentor. Each episode of this podcast is built on a foundation of real-world experience, designed to inform and engage anyone with a passion for flight.
Author: Max Trescott | Aviation News Talk Network
Language: English
Episodes: 50
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